Three doors

Jan 28, 2026 12:56 pm

Yesterday I shared that 68% of designers are stuck on visibility.

Today I want to show you why — and what to do about it.

There are three doors to getting hired.

The front door is job boards. LinkedIn. Indeed. Company career pages.

This is where everyone crowds. Hundreds of people. Sometimes thousands. All pushing the same door at the same time.

You submit your resume. A recruiter — overwhelmed with applications — skims it for 8 seconds. Maybe you make the shortlist. Probably you don't.

Response rate: about 1%.

It's like waiting in line at the hottest club in the city. The one with the velvet rope and the bouncer who looks through you like you're invisible. Hundreds of people in line. Most won't get in. The bouncer doesn't care how talented you are. He's just trying to clear the queue.

The harder you push this door, the heavier it feels.

The VIP line is referrals. A friend puts in a good word. Someone forwards your resume. You skip some of the queue.

Better than the front door. But you're still entering through the same entrance. The recruiter still filters you against their shortlist. You're still competing with whoever else made it past the rope.

It's like having a friend who knows the promoter. You get a nod. Maybe you skip a few people. But you're still waiting. Still hoping. Still at the mercy of whoever's guarding the door.

The backdoor is different.

The backdoor is where you get invited in.

No queue. No competition. No bouncer. The hiring manager already knows you. They already trust you. When the role opens — or before it even gets posted — they reach out.

You're not waiting in line. You're walking in through the kitchen because the owner is your friend.

This is where 70% of roles actually get filled.

Not through job boards. Not through applications. Through conversations that happen before anything gets posted.

I've seen this from both sides.

As a hiring manager:

When I was Head of Product Design at ContactOut, I'd sometimes find someone impressive before we even had headcount approved.

A designer would pop up on my radar. Maybe they shared something smart on LinkedIn. Maybe someone mentioned their name. Maybe I saw their work somewhere.

I'd reach out. Have a conversation. Get to know them.

Then when the role opened — sometimes weeks or months later — I already knew who I wanted. I'd call them and say: "Hey, we're posting this role later today. Can you just click the link and fill in your details so HR can process you?"

The job posting was a formality. The decision was already made.

The hundreds of people who applied through the front door? They never had a chance. Not because they weren't good. But because the role was already filled before they knew it existed.

As a candidate:

Every role I've landed worked the same way.

Early in my career, I was broke. Six months out of university. Applying everywhere. Getting nowhere.

Then a recruiter named Lisa invited me to a small networking event. A bar in Club Street, Singapore. A few hiring managers would be there.

I almost didn't go. I'm an introvert. I didn't know what to wear. I didn't know what to say.

But I went.

I met two hiring managers from Barrows, a South African design firm. Andrew and Nuno. We talked for hours. About travel. Life. Family. Everything except work.

The next day, Lisa emailed me. Andrew and Nuno enjoyed meeting me. A new role had just opened. Would I like to come in?

When I showed up for the portfolio review, it was already a done deal. They were excited to see me. A few weeks later, I had my first real job offer.

I didn't apply. I walked in through the backdoor.

The same pattern repeated for every role after that. DBS. Income. ContactOut. All through conversations. Never through a portal.

Here's what I learned:

People hire people. Not resumes. Not portfolios. Not applications.

Hiring managers don't want to sift through 500 applications. They want someone they already trust. Someone who's already proven they get it.

The problem: most designers spend 100% of their time at the front door. Pushing harder. Applying more. Wondering why nothing works.

Career Creators is how I help experienced designers access the backdoor.

You stop waiting in line. You start building relationships before the role exists.

You create what I call a Backstage Pass — something that proves you can solve their problem before they even interview you. A short deck. An audit. An insight. Something that makes the hiring manager think: "This person already gets it."

Response rate from cold applications: 1%.

Response rate from my clients' outreach: 20-30%. One client hit 85%.

Here's what you get:

→ Weekly live coaching — Office Hours every Wednesday. US/Canada and Asia/UK/Europe time zones. All recorded.

→ 90-minute 1:1 kickoff — We map your dream companies. Identify the right people. Craft your first outreach messages. You send them before the call ends.

→ DM access to me — Questions anytime. I reply with text, Loom, or Google Doc comments.

→ All templates and AI tools — Resume, LinkedIn, outreach scripts, Backstage Pass examples, negotiation scripts, 90-day plans.

→ 90+ recorded coaching sessions — Searchable vault of situations you'll encounter.

Investment:

$100/week. Minimum 4 weeks. No long contracts. No $5,000 upfront.

This is not a subscription to stay forever. It's a system you install — with coaching and accountability while you're running it.

Most clients land within 8-12 weeks.

January bonus: My second son just turned one month old. To celebrate — pay for 12 weeks, get 16. One month free.

8 spots. Closes Saturday.

This is for:

Senior, Lead, Principal, Staff, or Manager-level designers with 5+ years experience.

Also works for mid-career changers from marketing, graphic design, research, or adjacent fields — if you're willing to put in extra initiative. Charlene came from 7 years in marketing. Reached final-round UX interviews in weeks.

This is not for you if:

You're a fresh graduate without real client projects. You want someone to do the work for you. You're not willing to reach out to people directly.