How To Break Into Design In 2025 AMA with Florian Boelter
The UX landscape in 2025 is… different.
As a junior, you’re probably asking yourself:
• What tools do I need to know?
• What should I be learning?
• How do I find a job?
Tune to this Ask Me Anything with me and Florian Boelter.
We’re chatting about How To Break Into Design In 2025:
1. Why it’s better to be a generalist vs specialist
2. The “minimum viable toolkit” to start
3. Job post red flags
…And all of your questions!
As a Staff Product Designer and Founder of Open Doors
(platform of curated job listings, for juniors)
Florian knows what juniors need to success
—
Want to learn more about job search?
We partnered with Shift UX for a free 90-minute webinar.
Join Rajeev Subramanian, where you’ll learn:
↳ How to strategically network to build connections
↳ How to stand out to hiring managers with your portfolio
↳ How to be the ideal candidate with your personal brand
📅 Webinar Date: Monday, February 24th
🕒 Time: 12:30 PM EST | 9:30 AM PST
👉 Register free: https://bit.ly/4akIPBT
Looking to land a UX role in 2025?
Don’t miss this!
#jobsearch #sponsored
📚 RESOURCES MENTIONED
UX Playbook - https://uxplaybook.org/
🔗 CONNECT WITH FLORIAN
📩 Newsletter - https://www.opendoorscareers.com/news...
👥 LinkedIn - / florian-boelter
💻 Website - https://www.opendoorscareers.com/
📸 Instagram - / opendoorscareers
🧵 Threads - https://www.threads.net/@florian.open...
🔗 CONNECT WITH CHRIS
📩 Newsletter - https://newsletter.uxplaybook.org/
👥 LinkedIn - / uxchrisnguyen
💻 Website - https://cjh.design/
📸 Instagram - / uxchrisnguyen
🧵 Threads - https://www.threads.net/@uxchrisnguyen
🎥 YouTube - / @uxchrisnguyen
🐦 Twitter - https://x.com/uxchrisnguyen
🎙 ABOUT THE PODCAST
The Design of Everyday People is the bi-monthly Live that delves into the minds of design experts on different topics to help folks level up their careers and answer all the burning questions you may have during a live Q&A event.
📌 If you’re enjoying our Live, sign up here to get notified: https://live.uxplaybook.org/
⌚️TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Intro
04:38 Introduction to Florian Boelter
08:40 Topic covered
09:26 Red flags in job postings
13:30 Copy & paste job description
14:36 Generic description of the company
14:59 Tool-focused skills & requirements
16:21 Outdated tools mentioned
20:15 Summarizing the red flags to watch out for
21:28 Generalists are eating the specialist's lunch
24:25 Specialists vs. generalists: who gets prioritized?
27:57 Can specialists transition into generalist roles?
30:10 Double down on your skills
34:14 The "minimum viable toolkit"
38:18 Some things about tools designers should know
42:10 Communication tools
44:04 Minimum viable skillset for junior designers
47:58 Atomic Design by Brad Frost
49:44 Learn framework used by top professionals
51:28 UX/UI pattern is a huge thing to learn
53:04 Dealing with recruiters when you’re too experienced for internship
56:48 Company viewing hiring juniors as risky
01:01:07 Disappearing recruiting processes
01:05:42 Should junior designers learn HTML/CSS or motion design?
01:08:46 Recommended motion design tools
01:09:06 How do you use AI in the design process?
01:13:13 Landing a job in 2025 with a single case study
01:15:06 What really counts as years of experience?
01:19:23 Outro