Episode highlights
00:01:52 – Every UX research career is unique
00:02:58 – AI in the interview process
00:04:12 – Using AI in UX research
00:05:51 – Switching the industries
00:10:38 – Representation in UX research studies
00:11:58 – Framing your resume for success
00:13:01 – Importance of networking
00:19:13 – Discovering your strengths and weaknesses
00:22:40 – Learning from your connections
00:28:26 – Final advice
About our guest
Mujaahida is a Behavioral Scientist with 10 years of experience. With a background in Psychology and Public Health, she has dedicated her career to increasing equitable access to products, programs, and services that support traditionally marginalized populations. She has applied this interest across a variety of industries, including Education, Non-profit, Public Health, and Tech. She’s currently working as a UXR, studying the ways people use and interact with technology to drive product and program strategy and development.
If you're going to network, you should be really clear about what you wanna get out of the process. 
Podcast summary
In this episode of UXR Geeks, Petra Rajkov talks with Mujaahida Shakur, a behavioral scientist and UX researcher with ten years of experience across education, non-profit, public health, and tech, about how to navigate a career pivot into UX research.
Mujaahida pushes back on using AI as an interviewer, arguing that it struggles with accents and cannot show whether it understood the participant, while it works well as a backup note taker and transcriber if outputs are checked for hallucinations. She also questions whether each AI use case is worth its climate impact.
The conversation also looks at how public health skills transfer into tech, from empathy in moderation to translating terms like key informant interview into stakeholder interview.
Finally, Mujaahida explains why AI-tailored resumes make it harder to stand out and why human connection matters more, with networking treated as a research project. She also highlights the privilege behind setting boundaries in a job search, and why knowing your values and story should guide it.
What this means for UX teams
For UX researchers pivoting from another field
Your existing experience may already count as UX, and the gap is often vocabulary rather than skill. Translate terms such as “key informant interview” into “stakeholder interview” or “in-depth interview,” and be skeptical of advice that you must have a PhD before you can move into the field.
For UX researchers on the job market
When AI lets everyone tailor a resume with the right keywords, tailoring no longer sets you apart, so human connection carries more weight. Reach out to potential colleagues and mentors with a specific reason, treat conversations as research with clear learning goals, and widen your search to adjacent titles such as human factors, service design, or product management.
For hiring managers in the UX field
Keyword-perfect resumes are now the norm, so they reveal less about a candidate, and career changers may describe the same work in different languages. AI interviewers that struggle with accents and fast speech, along with underpaid or misleading job postings, add to the cost for candidates in an already tough market.
For career mentors
Telling a candidate to go back for a PhD can push them toward a path that doesn’t fit. The advice that helped Mujaahida most was hearing that she was already doing UX and needed the right words to tell her story, so help mentees name the experience they already have.
Podcast transcript
[00:00:00] Petra Rajkov: Welcome to UXR Geeks, where we geek out with researchers from all around the world on topics they are passionate about. I’m your host, Petra, a senior UX researcher and a research advocate, and this podcast is brought to you by uxtweak, the UX research platform for recruiting, conducting, analyzing, and sharing insights all in one place.
Today’s guest is Mujahida Shakur, a behavior scientist and UX researcher with 10 years of experience across big tech and public health. She holds a Master of Public Health from Emory University and worked as a senior UX researcher at AWS, where she focused on benchmarking and building more accessible, inclusive digital experiences.
And currently, she’s on the job market. Today, we are getting into mechanics of career pivots, how you translate a background that doesn’t fit the mold, how you position yourself when the market is skeptical, and what it actually takes to get through it.
Hi, everyone. Welcome to the UXR Geeks podcast again. We are happy that you are listening to us, and today’s topic will be career pivots. And we have Mujahida Shakur with us on the podcast. So, hi, Mujahida!
[00:01:36] Mujaahida Shakur: Hello, Petra.
[00:01:37] Petra Rajkov: It’s quite a relevant topic to me because from the talks that I have been having with other researchers, it’s quite common that most of the researchers didn’t start in research.
It’s not a topic that they have studied. They usually started in computer science.
[00:01:55] Mujaahida Shakur: Mm-hmm.
[00:01:56] Petra Rajkov: They started in the psychology, and then they kind of transitioned into UXR. So there is a path that we all share, but every path is unique. So we will be talking about that and how you can navigate changing the different industries, changing different fields, and how does it play, what impact does it have on the skills and the language you use.
You have started in the public health sector. Mm-hmm. And most recently you have been working for the Amazon Web Services, which is highly technical organization as I imagine, and now you are at the job market. Mm-hmm. And you had an interesting post on LinkedIn talking about the interview process. So let’s talk about that, an interview process with AI because AI is everywhere.
So how do you feel about having AI in the interview process?
[00:02:47] Mujaahida Shakur: I think there is a time and place. I don’t think AI should be used as the interviewer, so the person or the entity asking questions. I think that should remain in human hands. If you wanna use AI to, like, note take, transcribe, you know, as part of the process, I’m totally okay with that.
But my experience with AI as a interviewer, as a researcher, has been not great. I would say it struggles to understand different accents. It struggles to understand if you’re not speaking super clearly, if you’re speaking too fast. You might have to start all over from the beginning. You don’t get the reaction necessarily, so you don’t know if they heard everything that you said.
It’s hard to get that, like, live feedback, like, you know, in a face-to-face conversation you can always be like, “Hey, I didn’t quite catch that,” or, “The connection was bad. I didn’t really hear. Can you say that again?” But AI hasn’t caught up with the ability to do that yet, so I think it’s really important to keep humans in that process as much as we can.
[00:03:47] Petra Rajkov: You made the connection between AI as a interviewer in the hiring process, and then AI as a moderator in the research process. Can you imagine using AI in the research process in any use cases or anywhere?
[00:04:03] Mujaahida Shakur: Absolutely. There are definitely applications for AI in the research process. Like I mentioned, if you wanna use it for note-taking, it’s an excellent backup.
Usually I work with two. I’ll usually be interviewing as a moderator, and then I’ll have a note-taker, like a physical note-taker as well, just in case I miss anything. So AI as a backup note-taker is super helpful in case someone’s not available. Using it to transcribe interviews after the fact can be very helpful.
I would say check it because I’ve definitely seen some hallucinations happen, but it definitely speeds up the process. I’m not- In any way opposed to AI being incorporated where it is appropriate. I think we need to be incredibly careful about safeguards, be very aware of the climate impact of AI, and really think, “Is this a necessary use case?
Is this worth risking the planet?” It seems like a large leap, but honestly, it is that serious. So like think about, is it really worth risking the planet? Is it worth risking our climate for this?
[00:05:04] Petra Rajkov: It might sound like it’s so far off, but I don’t think that enough people is talking about the impact that AI can have on our planet, on the sustainability that organizations are talking about, but are they that serious?
So I like that you brought it up because it’s something that needs to be repeated, and to have it as part of our DNA as we are using the AI products and developing the AI products. So definitely. But let’s talk about your journey. As I said at the beginning, you have started in the public health sector.
Was there a moment when you realized that you want to switch the industries, or how did you transition into the big tech?
[00:05:45] Mujaahida Shakur: It was a pretty natural advancement, like a natural progression of my own interests in the field of public health. So I was working with digital communications techniques in clinical trials, so figuring out how to connect people to clinical trials, how to recruit and retain more diverse populations to clinical trials.
So a lot of my like day-to-day work was around digital communications, using technology to facilitate clinical trials. I was working during COVID. There were a lot of limitations around getting people to clinical trials at that time, obviously. And then also my background is in mental health, in youth and adolescent mental health, so I was getting really interested in like mobile apps that were connecting youth to care.
A lot of youth were talking about using apps or websites to like get access to services that they didn’t have access to in person. And so I was very interested in like, are these apps working? Are these programs working? Are they doing what they’re supposed to do? It got me interested in UX as it applied to like mental health, and then more broadly as I started sort of exploring, I was like, “Oh, this is a really interesting path,” and I think a really interesting opportunity given all of the developments in tech we had seen.
So I came at it from the angle of being an evaluator of like I wanna ensure that these things that we’re building are serving the people that we want them to serve, and in the way that we intend for them to be working. And yeah, it kind of broadened, I guess, from there from looking specifically at mental health to looking at technology and human interaction broadly.
[00:07:25] Petra Rajkov: What I imagine is that when you are working in the public health sector or field and you are doing research there It’s so important to get it right, to read the people, and it’s also very sensitive because people are talking about sensitive issues. And it’s not only about what they say, but it’s about how they feel, how secure they feel about expressing their situation, and also understanding the whole context, the whole environment, and the life situation that they are facing.
Is there also some resemblance that you brought from public health into the tech sector?
[00:08:07] Mujaahida Shakur: Yeah, absolutely. The topics aren’t necessarily as sensitive as some of the things discussed in public health, but that empathy piece is 100% carried over. It’s baked into being a moderator. It’s baked into having those conversations with people.
Even though the stakes aren’t always as high as in public health, you definitely still need to be empathetic, make sure people understand that you’re hearing them, and really centering voices that might traditionally get overlooked. That’s really important to me and has always been something that’s carried throughout my career, is making sure that we’re lifting the voices that don’t traditionally have an opportunity to be front and center.
[00:08:45] Petra Rajkov: So was this, or anything else immediately valued in tech, something what you have brought from the public health background?
[00:08:53] Mujaahida Shakur: I think it’s valued within the research community in tech, for sure. I think researchers inherently understand the importance of that empathy. Not to say that people outside of research don’t.
I think it’s less prioritized in the scale of what is important for the product Sometimes you’ll see things that are like, oh, this is a really big problem that may only be impacting, like, a few people, but it is a very large barrier to them being able to use the technology appropriately. The response is, “Well, we don’t have enough people,” or like, “This isn’t happening to enough people for it to be an issue,” which I completely understand, but I think there’s a duty to explore it more.
So definitely carrying that empathy and having that curiosity of like, oh, this is a new perspective. This isn’t something I’ve heard before. I wonder if it’s impacting other people. So sometimes I’ll bake it into, like, future interviews just to see if it comes up again so that we can get that sample size of like, this came up spontaneously, but when I ask other people, it appears to be, you know, impacting more people than we had thought.
So I think it’s important to follow those instincts as a researcher as well.
[00:10:05] Petra Rajkov: And you have mentioned that sometimes as a researcher you do have that empathy, and you know what’s important. You are on this mission to represent the whole user base. But sometimes the top management maybe doesn’t want to listen.
So are there any strategies that you have to make sure that all the groups are represented in the research and are being heard?
[00:10:28] Mujaahida Shakur: So one important piece is recruiting and making sure you’re being really creative about recruiting from populations that aren’t traditionally represented if you wanna get those perspectives.
And then as far as outcomes, I have found in my experience, particularly at an organization like AWS, if you can connect you’re seeing research-wise to a business outcome, a specific business outcome such as cost or conversion or churn or, you know, one of those metrics that is important on a business level, it goes a long way into making upper management care.
And I know sometimes it’s hard to, like, make that connection. You might not be privy to that kind of information, but you can make guesses and estimates, and I think most of the time people are pretty comfortable with you extrapolating in that way.
[00:11:18] Petra Rajkov: Okay. And as we said at the beginning, you are currently at the job market.
Mm-hmm. And we are talking about these career pivots. Is there anything that you have found new in this situation with having AI, anything different how you are framing your CV or what language you are using when you are looking for a job right now and when you were looking for a job before in the industry that you haven’t been before?
[00:11:45] Mujaahida Shakur: Yeah. So I will say when I was first moving into UX- Tailoring my resume was like a really important piece. So using the terminology of research that UX uses versus the terminology that academia might use. That was super important. So in, you might say, I don’t know, in public health sometimes it was called like a key informant interview.
In UX, it’s either like a stakeholder interview or an in-depth interview. You know? Just making those minor tweaks to your language was really important to let people know I know what we’re talking about. I can do this in this field. But AI has made it super easy for people to make that switch or to use those keywords and identify them.
And so now I’m finding it’s a lot harder to stand out because everyone has tailored their resume, and that’s sort of feedback I’ve been getting as I’ve been talking to other people on the job market as well. It’s like if everyone’s resume is perfectly tailored and is, you know, using all of the correct keywords, how do you stand out?
[00:12:42] Petra Rajkov: So, how do you?
[00:12:43] Mujaahida Shakur: Yeah, it’s hard. It’s hard. I fall back on making those human connections with people. I know that sounds so cliche, but so far I’ve had the most success when I’m making that human connection with another person, whether it’s a hiring manager or the person who’s interviewing me. It goes a long way in, like, finding out a little bit more about that person, asking questions during interviews, reaching out.
I know people say don’t cold reach out to people, but I’ve had success with that, especially if you’re intentional about the messaging that you send. So yeah, it’s just about shifting your approach, shifting your focus from certain components of the job search process to others.
[00:13:22] Petra Rajkov: So being proactive and reaching out to people and doing that extra step in the hiring process is something that can make you stand out, right?
[00:13:31] Mujaahida Shakur: Yeah. And definitely building those connections. Especially right now, sometimes things can feel very transactional, I think. Sometimes reaching out to people, I feel very like, oh, I don’t wanna be that person who’s just reaching out like, “Oh, I need a job,” or like “Can I get a referral?” So I try to be very intentional about who I reach out to and why.
A lot of the time it’s someone who’s, like, working on something that I’m really genuinely interested in learning more about, or if they have a similar journey to mine to UX, just reaching out to them like, “Hey, we have a very similar background. I’d love to connect and talk to you about that.” And, uh, you’d be surprised where those conversations go.
[00:14:09] Petra Rajkov: So do you even build friendships or connections this way?
[00:14:13] Mujaahida Shakur: Yeah, absolutely. I’ve definitely made a lot of friends in the last couple months. People that I sort of see and talk to beyond the job search. You know, usually we’re checking in on each other like, “Hey, how’s it going?” One of the people that I connected with and, like, we built a friendship was able to connect me to a recruiter that she was working with.
So those connections do matter, and they do help. But even if she hadn’t been able to connect me with a recruiter, our friendship would still be there.
[00:14:40] Petra Rajkov: We’ll be right back after a short break with a commercial message from our sponsors.
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So that makes me think because when people enter the job market, it can go two ways, I think, and maybe it’s based on the personality, based on the confidence of that person, but for some people it’s very anxious process. When you are not sure how the other side will react to you, they are trying to check whether you really have all those skills that you have written down in your CV, how they look at you.
Some people are not so good at those first interviews because there is this kind of way how you have to sell yourself, how you have to pitch your career. But then there’s also the other group of people that are excited about this process because they’re building the new connections. They are stepping into an unknown, but maybe they receive a constructive feedback on the way, or they learn something new.
They get to know new people, new companies, and then at the end of the process, they left out feeling stronger and more powerful. Where do you stand? How do you feel about these two groups?
[00:16:41] Mujaahida Shakur: Would you believe that I’ve been in both groups of people? I am an introvert. I think that’s very clear from, like, my general branding, so to speak.
So I’ve always been much more comfortable in one-to-one conversations. Mm-hmm. Unless there was, like, a pressure of an interview or of, like, having to self-promote in some way, and it used to make me very anxious, and it used to make me very uncomfortable networking, connecting with people. I think part of the shift was changing my framing, what networking was for me.
And again, for me, it was just, like, finding other people who could relate to me or could relate to my experience, and that shift actually happened for me as I was making the transition from public health to UX. Once I made the mental shift of, like, I’m not networking, I am doing research I treated that experience as, like, a research project.
So I was very careful about my recruiting criteria and, like, screening criteria. Like, who do I wanna reach out to? Why am I talking to them? What am I trying to learn from this conversation? And once I made that mental shift, it became so much easier because I’m not necessarily super extroverted, but I am incredibly curious.
So I wanna know so many things. I just find other people’s lives so fascinating. So once I made that shift of, like, I’m not networking to get a job, I’m networking because I wanna learn more about this person. I’m talking to them because I wanna know more about who they are and their job. That was a super helpful mental shift for me.
So I think if you’re going to network, you should be really clear about what you wanna get out of the process. Yes, if you’re interviewing for a job, you want the job, right? But also, what can you learn about the company? What can you learn about the person who’s interviewing you? What can you learn about the role itself?
What can you learn about yourself? That sounds so existential or, like, deep, but, like, what might you find out about yourself in the process of doing the interviews? Maybe you find out, hey, I actually am not that interested in this path, and, like, what does that look like if I make a pivot or make a shift?
So be open to what could come out of those conversations and connections, I think is what helped me.
[00:18:51] Petra Rajkov: And was there anything that you did find out about yourself during this process? And was there anything that maybe you didn’t want to hear at first but then pushed you forward?
[00:19:03] Mujaahida Shakur: Oh, that’s a good question.
Like a lot of people, I struggle with imposter syndrome sometimes. I struggle sometimes to feel like I belong in the rooms that I’ve been in. But in the process of talking to other people and talking about my journey, I found myself getting more confident in my ability, more confident in my skills as a researcher, and more confident in my ability to just, like, navigate certain things.
So that was, like, very surprising to me.
[00:19:31] Petra Rajkov: Was there anything that you didn’t want to hear at first, but then pushed you forward?
[00:19:36] Mujaahida Shakur: Yes. The advice that I kept getting in the beginning when I was making the transition to UX was I would have to go back to school to get a PhD. Everyone I talked to for a very long time kept telling me that. “You have to go get a PhD, you can’t get the types of roles you’re interested in without it.”
[00:19:51] Petra Rajkov: I think that’s super common in US, right?
[00:19:53] Mujaahida Shakur: Mm-hmm. Yes. Mm-hmm. Yes. I’m not… That’s actually a good point. I’m not sure what the conversations sound like sort of internationally around that, but here in the US, there was a huge push for me to get a PhD to get these types of roles, and that just didn’t feel right.
Something about that kept making me kind of uncomfortable until I did one of the informational interviews or conversations I had with someone where we were just talking about, like, what my experience was, what I’d done before, and he said to me, “You’re already doing UX. Like, you’ve been doing it. You just have to find the right words to tell your story to other people so they know that you’re doing it.”
That was super helpful to hear ’cause I was like, “I feel like I’m being forced into this path or direction that might not be right for me.” And once he was like, “You’re already on that path or direction,” I was like, “Oh, yeah. I am. Good point.”
[00:20:45] Petra Rajkov: Was that someone that you had an interview with?
[00:20:48] Mujaahida Shakur: It was someone that I had an informational interview with.
He was working at a company that I was really interested in, so I just reached out, one of those cold reach-outs, and I was like, “Hey, you have a very interesting job, and I’m, like, trying to pivot into this space. I’d love to talk to you about what your experience was.” I remember asking a lot of people at that time what were they reading or watching that they thought was helpful.
I had a lot of conversations during that time. That one stands out.
[00:21:14] Petra Rajkov: Mm-hmm. I think it’s crucial to have that someone that lifts you up. From my experience, I had that as well. My former team lead gave me the trust and confidence and made me look at my superpowers. And at that point of time, I didn’t want to use that term because skills that I had that other people didn’t, it just felt natural to me.
And it felt like bragging talking about it. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s because of the imposter syndrome. Maybe it’s about how we were brought up, that you cannot feel or you cannot act too confident. But when I embraced this and when I looked at my skillset and compared myself to other people and started building on that, it completely changed the way I felt about myself and about the outlook for my future.
So I think it’s really important to talk to people, and you have mentioned the informational interviews, and to find that one person that gives you that boost. And when it comes to the informational interviews, a lot of people just treat it as a networking checkbox, even if they do them. Is there anything else that you were trying to get out of them besides learning what it takes to become a UXR person?
[00:22:34] Mujaahida Shakur: I was being very meta about the process in the sense of, like, I was also evaluating my process at the time. So I was figuring out what questions elicited, like, the best responses. Again, as a researcher, I was, like, constantly doing my own assessment. I was always like, “Are these the right questions? Did this question get us to talk about the thing that I actually wanted to talk about, or do I need to change this question?”
So it actually, the process has helped me become a better researcher because I really had to refine, okay, I’m asking this question, but I’m not really getting at the thing that I want to be getting at, so how do I rephrase or reframe this question so that it’s clearer? Or, like, the way that I asked that kind of elicited maybe a negative reaction.
Those little things weren’t the intent at all, but I started to pick up on some of those things, something that I use in my own work, in my own research, and that I thought was really helpful in the process.
[00:23:30] Petra Rajkov: A part of the process when you’re looking for a job, a big part, is social media and LinkedIn specifically.
And you share on LinkedIn as well, like, you talk about the process that you are going through, what are your thoughts on it, maybe interesting moments, and stuff like that. So when it comes to sharing on LinkedIn, again, let’s look at two sides of things. The first one, is there something that you do very intentionally, some type of posts that you do?
And then is there something what you decide not to share?
[00:24:05] Mujaahida Shakur: Yes to both. There are definitely things I don’t share on LinkedIn. I very much keep my professional persona separate from my personal- So there are just certain things about my personal life I will never share on LinkedIn, and that’s very intentional.
I’m also very intentional about the types of posts that I make. I try very hard to post about topics that are not expressly discussed. Like, there’s a lot of unspoken rules, just things that, like, people know but don’t talk about, things that you might intuitively or instinctively know but isn’t ever explicitly said.
And I like to make things like that very clear. So how do you navigate an office environment? How do you navigate the workspace? That might not be explicit to some people. So, like, talking about how do you keep track of your accomplishments, how are you tracking what the impact of your research was if you’re a researcher and you’re like, “They’re asking me for impact and I don’t know.”
How do you keep track of that? What does that look like? I regularly do a values assessment, so I do a regular check-in with myself of, like, work values. What do I value in my professional life? What do I value in a work environment? And whenever I post, I keep those values in mind. So one of them for me is always candidness and honesty.
So am I being honest? Am I being truthful when I make these posts? Am I representing and information or topics truthfully? That’s really important to me. Those are, like, the main things that I think about when I’m posting or interacting with LinkedIn.
[00:25:41] Petra Rajkov: And do you do these checks also when you are working on a project or for a company?
[00:25:45] Mujaahida Shakur: I do. It’s become more of, like, an automatic process. Before, it definitely was like I took out a pen and a paper and, like, wrote down, like, okay, what things are important to me? What do I value? But, like, doing those exercises has made it second nature and practice. So if I come up against something in the workplace that is not aligned with my values, then I’m comfortable expressing it and/or navigating that disconnect.
I think sometimes we run up against things that are not necessarily aligned with our values or make us a little bit uncomfortable, and I think it’s really important to practice setting those boundaries, even at work.
[00:26:23] Petra Rajkov: And also, when you are looking for a job, do not let the people that are interviewing you step on you, because just the fact that you are on this side of the table doesn’t mean that they’re above you.
So I think setting those guardrails is crucial as well.
[00:26:40] Mujaahida Shakur: I just wanted to add, I do wanna acknowledge that there is a certain amount of, like, privilege in being able to set those types of boundaries. I am lucky enough to be in a position where I, like, have a savings account. I’m able to rely on my savings.
I’m really able to rely on certain, like, social safety nets and social supports that not everyone will have access to. In some cases- Mm-hmm … it can be detrimental to be super firm in your boundaries. It could be causing you harm if you are not in a privileged position where you’re able to do that. And so I wanna acknowledge that and say this is coming from a place of privilege, knowing that I am able to set those boundaries in an interview setting as I’m job hunting, but there are definitely people who might not be in a space where they’re able to do that.
[00:27:27] Petra Rajkov: I think that’s an important note. Everyone is coming from a different situation, different background. So yeah, thank you for calling that out, because I am also very privileged, and when I look at all those processes, I tend to look at it from my perspective. But definitely there are people that are not that lucky and do not have those options that I have or you might have.
[00:27:49] Mujaahida Shakur: I want interviewers and employers to keep that in mind, too. These are people’s lives. I don’t mean to, like, go off on, like, a tangent, but these are people’s livelihoods, and so seeing businesses engaging in unethical practices or purposely underpaying people, purposely misleading people when they make job postings, it rubs me the wrong way.
[00:28:11] Petra Rajkov: Do you have any advice for the people that are right now on the job market? And it could be people that are just trying to get into UXR or maybe people that have been impacted by layoffs, are trying to figure out what’s the next step. Any advice for them?
[00:28:28] Mujaahida Shakur: Give yourself grace. It is incredibly hard right now.
And I know everyone’s saying that, and even before I left Amazon, even I was like, “Everyone’s saying it’s really hard, but I don’t know. I’m not sure if it’s as hard as people are saying.” It is as hard as people are saying, if not worse. It’s a really tough job market. You’re not doing anything wrong. It’s very hard to navigate, and I think a lot of people will blame themselves.
I have friends who have been unemployed much longer than myself who have been blaming themselves. It’s not you. You’re not doing anything wrong. This is just a tough job market right now. Again, in the US.
[00:29:02] Petra Rajkov: I think that this is pretty global because there are global companies that are laying people off and it’s everywhere.
So definitely I think many people can relate. So when you are feeling down and you have been through many rounds of interviews, try to pick yourself up. Besides that, is there anything that worked for you? Maybe reframing the problem or, like, building on certain skill set or anything like that?
[00:29:31] Mujaahida Shakur: More practical, I think, tip that’s worked for me is changing the types of jobs I’m looking for or the job title.
I’ve found a lot of product manager roles actually have, like, a research lens baked in. Like, just reading the job descriptions, I’m like, “Oh, this is, this is a UX research job description,” and there’s definitely overlap. But, like, changing the keywords that you’re looking for, so don’t just stick to, like, whatever your last job title was or whatever job title you want.
Try to, like, play around. So for me, UX research, human factors, even service design, product management. Just think outside the box a little bit because you might find different terms have, like, openings available than, like, a traditional UX researcher role. I’ve had luck with that. I know other people who have had luck with that.
If you’re in a position to change your location, maybe look in a different space. I know my friends on the West Coast have had an easier time than here on the East Coast. There are just more openings available over there. So if you’re in a position where you’re able to do that, expand your search, like geographically.
[00:30:51] Petra Rajkov: And now I have to ask, do you know what’s next for you?
[00:30:55] Mujaahida Shakur: I don’t, and this is the first time in my life I think I’ve ever said that. I have no idea what I’m doing next. Every day I’m just trying to, like, navigate the job market. I’ve considered other pathways and alternative pathways. I’ve thought about returning to school.
Not sure if that’s something that I want to do. So this has been a period of discovery for me in a lot of ways. I did take some time to just, like, relax and recuperate after leaving Amazon. And again, I’m privileged enough to have been in a position to be able to do that. I guess I’m on a journey of self-discovery.
[00:31:30] Petra Rajkov: Okay. That’s exciting journey as well, in my opinion, and very needed, and sometimes very healing as well. Mm-hmm. So to take the time, if you are able to, is a definitely great thing to do. So if there is… After talking about all of this, is there any, like, a main takeaway that our listeners can have from this conversation?
[00:31:36] Mujaahida Shakur: I think for me, the biggest thing is know your values and your worth, know what’s important to you in the jobs that you’re seeking, and use that as a guide throughout your career, throughout your job search. That’s what I’ve done, and I’ve been very happy with, like, the trajectory my career has taken. It helped with the transition from public health to UX.
Getting really clear with myself about what my story was, what my reason was for wanting to make that transition, what was, like, the connecting piece. Make sure that you’re very clear on what your story is and why you’re interested in the things that you’re interested in, and, like, what difference it is that you wanna make as a part of that career path.
[00:32:19] Petra Rajkov: I think that’s a lovely message for the end of this episode. So thank you everyone that was listening to us, and thank you Mujahida for coming to UX Our Geeks podcast. And I wish you all the best for your future, and I’m curious to see where you go next. But for now, take your time and enjoy.
[00:32:38] Mujaahida Shakur: Awesome.
Thank you for having me. I had a lot of fun.
[00:32:46] Petra Rajkov:
If you have any tips on fantastic speakers from across the globe, feedback, or any questions, we would love to hear from you, so reach out to geekspodcast@uxtweak.com.
Special thanks goes to my colleagues, to our podcast producer, Ekaterina Novikova, our social media specialist, Daria Krasovskaya, and our audio specialist, Melissa Danisova.
And to all of you, thank you for tuning in.
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