My journey to becoming a UX designer: How I started UX design in 2025 with no experience

This is a case study. Of me. Of how I went from zero experience in UX to having a few companies in my resume.
Six years ago, I was a civil engineer living abroad, realizing my degree was a mistake. Now I work full-time as a UX Designer/Product Designer/Product Owner. No fluff. No magic. Just an honest trail through trial and error.

Why I chose UX design with no prior experience

Civil engineering wasn’t cutting it. I was staring down a career path where I could predict my future salary — and it wasn’t impressive.
Follow the family tradition and join a tire factory? Even less appealing.
It took me a long time to figure out what my next move was. IT seemed like an option, but I had zero knowledge about the field. I didn’t know what UX was. I didn’t know what any tech job was. But I knew I needed a stable, high-income job that didn't make me want to gouge my eyes out.
So I made a bet: “I’ll transition to a geek.”
Why UX? Because coding was too difficult. Because it was a low-barrier entry into IT. And because it was actually interesting.

How I prepared to start UX design from zero

I started on the Interaction Design Foundation (IDF). Good for learning vocabulary. Bad for feeling remotely employable.
After work and on weekends, I studied in my small room in Barcelona. Six months and ten completed courses later, I realized this wasn't the path to employment.

UX/UI Bootcamp: Was it worth it?

Then I went to Ironhack — an intensive bootcamp that cost me $8,000. Two months. 540 hours of studying and creating UX/UI projects.
Was it enough to get a junior position? Honestly — I don’t think so. Only 2 out of every 100 job offers were aimed at juniors. That means brutal competition. And it wasn’t nearly as delightful as the Ironhack sales pitch made it sound.

Should you go to a UX bootcamp? (Brutally honest edition)

It depends on your expectations. If you think you’ll graduate and have recruiters flooding your inbox — prepare for disappointment.
Most bootcamp grads I knew were job hunting for months. The ones who landed roles? They already had transferable experience — copywriting, dev, project management.
If you worked in marketing, apply to marketing tech companies. If you worked in real estate, target proptech. Use your background. Companies save money on training — and that’s an advantage.

Job hunting: The grind no one advertises

I had one advantage: I was willing to move anywhere. My mindset: any job is better than no job. Low pay, hard work. Later on, as a mid-level UX designer, things get easier. But you need to survive the junior phase.
Some people burn out after sending ten resumes and hearing nothing. I sent 200 in two months. Quantity over quality. As a junior, your job is to get a job — not the job.
I got callbacks. Some interviews. A few second rounds. Each one made me more confident.
Pro tip: start with companies you don’t want. Use them as practice interviews. Refine your answers. Polish your story.

Rejections: They’re not personal

Rejection hurts. But it’s not about you. Luck matters. Timing matters. Companies open and close roles all the time.
I applied for UX roles and quickly realized: if your UI isn’t good, you won’t even get a chance to show your UX thinking.
You need to build momentum. Sometimes that means taking freelance gigs. Redesigning a nonprofit site. Reworking an old side project. Keep moving. Stagnation kills motivation.

What I’d tell my younger self (after 3 beers): Job interviews > design skills

If you’re amazing at Figma but awkward in person — good luck. If you're decent at design and great in interviews — you’ve got a shot.
Interviews aren’t about showing you're perfect. They’re about showing you’re not a risk.
You need to:

  • Sound like a normal person. If you’re not — pretend for 60 minutes.
  • Explain your process with clarity and confidence.
  • Prove you’ve worked under constraints: time, budget, feedback loops.
  • Treat interviews like user testing. Prepare, iterate, repeat.

Tips for beginners trying to land their first UX job

  • Build a real portfolio — not just pretty screens. Show thinking. Show mistakes. Tell a story they won’t forget in a few days.
  • Work for free, if needed — but only if it gives you real case studies.
  • Join communities — Slack, Reddit, LinkedIn. Local meetups are gold.
  • Get feedback — from ADPList, mentors, strangers. Cold message people.
  • Make it look good — no one reads your case study if it looks like a PowerPoint from 2012.

Tools and resources I recommend to beginners

  • Figma — obvious.
  • Notion or Google Sheets — for documenting your process.
  • Not much else needed.

How I got my first job as a junior UX Designer

The company needed a junior to take grunt work off a senior’s plate. That was me. I moved back to Poland. New city. New job. Real responsibilities.
My job: deliver small projects and learn how to talk to clients without sweating bullets. I was terrified. I had to fake confidence until I started believing it.
What helped? Over-preparing. Asking dumb questions early. Writing everything down.

Final thoughts

Is it too late to become a UX Designer? No.
AI isn’t the threat. It’s a tool. Just like mobile phones made Uber possible — new tech creates new opportunities.
I’m more worried about market consolidation — fewer apps, bigger players. But UX isn’t going away. If anything, it’s more essential than ever. Every product still needs to make sense to a human. That’s not going out of style.