What to Include in Your UX Resume, and What to Leave for the Interview
Most designers don’t get rejected because they lack talent.
They get rejected because they force the wrong information into the wrong format.
A resume has one job:
Get you the interview.
Not explain every detail of your work.
Today’s issue breaks down:
- What MUST be on your resume
- What SHOULD be included
- What you should NOT include
- What belongs in your case study
- What to save for the interview voiceover
1. What MUST Be on Your Resume
These are non-negotiables. If they’re unclear, the reviewer moves on in seconds.
Clear Job Titles + Scope
Make the actual employment roles obvious. Add clarifying context if the title doesn’t reflect your real responsibilities.
A High-Clarity Summary
A 2–3 line answer to:
- Who you are
- What type of work you specialize in
- What outcomes you drive
Impact-Driven Bullet Points
Each bullet should follow:
What you did → Why it mattered → What changed
With real signals whenever possible:
- Increased activation by 15%
- Reduced support tickets by 20%
- Shortened a multi-step flow
- Enabled engineers to ship without redesign cycles
Skills, Tools, and Methods
This section is for ATS alignment and quick scanning.
2. What SHOULD Be Included (But Most Designers Skip)
A Case Study Snapshot
Highlight your strongest project briefly:
- 1–2 sentences summarizing the challenge
- One key outcome
- A direct link to the case study
Stakeholder Collaboration
Clarity on how you partnered with PM, engineering, or research.
Ambiguity + Structure
If you brought order to chaos, call it out.
3. What NOT To Include on Your Resume
Detailed Rationale
The resume is not the place for your reasoning.
Save it for:
- The case study (high-level)
- The interview (full detail)
Deep Problem/Process Breakdowns
No long research summaries or design steps.
Irrelevant Roles Without UX Positioning
Only include experience that directly supports your UX narrative.
4. What Belongs in Your Case Study (Not Your Resume)
Your case study should show how you think, but still written at a digestible, strategic level.
Include:
High-Level Problem Framing
What you were solving and why it mattered.
High-Level Rationale (Not Every Detail)
Explain:
- The reasoning behind key decisions
- The trade-offs you evaluated
- Why your final direction made sense in context
The primary goal is to highlight how data led to research insights, which led to design decisions, which influenced the design, which impacted the company's bottom line.
High-Level Difficulties and Constraints
Include a snapshot of the challenging parts:
- Misalignment
- Technical blockers
- Scope pressure
- Research limitations
Show that you can navigate complexity, but keep it crisp.
The full story belongs in the interview.
Evidence of Iteration
Show explorations but don’t turn the case study into a Figma dump.
Impact and Next Steps
The payoff.
5. What You Should Save for the Interview Voiceover
Your interview is where nuance, maturity, and product thinking come to life.
This is where you expand on:
Deeper Rationale
The “why” behind:
- Patterns you rejected
- Prioritization decisions
- Key trade-offs
- The sequence of decisions you made
This works best when guided by the interviewer’s curiosity.
The Difficult Parts in Detail
Expand on:
- How you unblocked the team
- How you handled conflict or misalignment
- What constraints shaped the final design
- What you would have done with more time or resources
The case study hints at these.
The interview provides the real texture.
Collaboration Style + Influence
Explain how you:
- Built alignment
- Facilitated decisions
- Helped engineering deliver
- Adjusted when priorities shifted
If You Want Help Putting This Into Practice
Inside Level Up Your UX Job Search (On-Demand), you’ll learn how to:
- Build a resume that gets callbacks consistently
- Create case studies hiring managers actually read (and remember)
- Communicate your design rationale with clarity and confidence
- Know what belongs in your portfolio vs. what to save for the interview
- Prepare for interviews using proven, reusable frameworks
- Position yourself strategically so you stand out in a crowded market
This self-paced course gives you the clarity, structure, and expert guidance you need for a top-notch UX job search, all on your own schedule.
Sign up today
Want the full course breakdown first? Learn more here.
Warmly,
David Campana
Founder, Level^Up
Head of UX | Ex-Apple, WeWork, Verizon
