Career Strategy Podcast with Sarah Doody | UX, Product Design, UX Research 167 - Stop Asking How: Speed Up Your UX Job Search With This One Question
If your first move when updating your resume, building your UX portfolio, or preparing for an interview is to Google "how do I…" — you're falling into a trap that's slowing down your entire UX job search. In this episode, Sarah Doody breaks down the "Who Not How" framework and explains why the question you should be asking isn't how — it's who. You'll learn why DIYing your job search with Google searches and Reddit threads is costing you time, money, and momentum, and how to start thinking like a high performer instead.
Topics discussed in this episode:
✅ The "Who Not How" framework from Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy
✅ Why Googling "how to get a UX job" keeps you spinning your wheels
✅ The hidden time and money cost of DIYing your job search
✅ How high performers think differently about getting help
✅ A 3-step exercise to identify where you're stuck and what to do about it
✅ Why this concept applies to your career, business, and life
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction: Are you stuck in the "how" trap?
01:43 The concept I can't stop thinking about
02:11 The "Who Not How" book explained
03:30 The physical therapist analogy
04:36 How this applies to your UX job search
05:30 The how trap costs you time, money, and momentum
07:04 Why asking for help is not a weakness
08:15 The "how trap" with your resume
09:29 The "how trap" with your portfolio
10:15 The "how trap" with job interviews
11:44 Takeaway 1: Audit where you've been stuck
14:09 Takeaway 2: Match your "how" list to a "who"
16:36 Takeaway 3: The real cost of staying stuck
17:30 How I took 20 minutes off my marathon with a coach
18:54 This applies way beyond your job search
💸 See how I help UX & Product people get 5-figure salary increases in my UX job search coaching program