Researchers across industries have been impacted by an unfortunate wave of layoffs in the past few years.
According to this tech layoff tracker, at the time of writing, there have been 193 tech companies with layoffs and 49.736 employees laid off in 2024.
That means that there are a lot of talented researchers out there who are currently #OpenToWork. If you’re one of them, this post is for you.
The UX research and design job board (updated March 2024)
Here’s a database of full-time roles in user research and design from the past month.
Other places to find UX research jobs
👀 Don’t see what you’re looking for? We’re not the jealous type. Check out these other UX research job boards and hiring groups for additional listings:
- UX Research Job Postings – Learners Community
- UX, Design, & Research Jobs – DesignX
- Jobs – Interaction Design Association
- UXR Hunt
- Smashing Magazine job board
- work in startups job board
- Job Bank – UXPA International
- EPIC (ethnography focused) job board
- Remote Rocketship job board
- Junior UX/UI Designer Job Board — Ideate Labs LLC
- UX Research Jobs
- Coroflot jobs board (UX/UI designers)
- UI/UX Jobs Board
- Wellfound (formerly AngelList—jobs in startups)
- Games UX Research job board
- Behance job board
- UXinsight (monthly newsletter)
- Remotive – A fully remote job board
- Authentic jobs (creators focused)
- Dribbble job board (graphic and UX design)
- Linkedin groups like UX Jobs, UX Jobs Board, and UX Hires
- Twitter groups UX Jobs and UX Jobs Board
- Facebook groups like User Research Collective, Tech Jobs, Remote Digital Jobs
UX career resources
Whether you want pointers for that job interview or help developing specific skills, here are more free UX career resources to check out.
Transitioning into UX research from other fields
Looking to transfer into UXR from another field? You’re not alone—according to this year’s State of User Research Survey, 77% of UXRs began their career in a different field. Folks who transitioned into User Research came from Design (21%), Marketing (20%), Education (13%), and Anthropology/Sociology (11%), among others.
Here are some resources to help you make the switch:
- UX Research Resources for Beginners – Curated by Simon Taylor, Staff UX Researcher at YouTube
- Anthropology to UX Podcast with Matt Artz
- 10 Things You Should Know about Moving from Academia to Industry – EPIC People
- My career transition from marketing to UX research – UX Design Bootcamp
- Things you need to transition your career to UX research – UX Tweak
- PhD to UXR - from academia to UX research – Facebook Group
Leveling up your UX research career
Have you already gotten into UX research but want to move into a more senior position? Here are a few resources to help you level up your career:
- Finding a UXR Mentor or Coach: How Why, and Where
- How to Become a UXR: The Ultimate Career Guide
- How to Track the Impact of Your UX Research
- UX Career Growth Crossroads: Should You Take the Manager or IC Path?
- How to Build a UX Research Team From Scratch
- Scaling Research Through Enablement: A UXR Leader's Approach to Democratization 2.0
Applying to and interviewing for UX research roles
Have an email from a recruiter or hiring manager in your inbox? Woohoo! Check out these before your first interview:
- Common UX Research Job Interview Questions
- How to Build a Stronger UX Research Portfolio
- 20 UX Research Portfolio Templates and Examples
- How Three Researchers Landed Their Dream Jobs
- How to Land a UX Research Internship
- Reframing the Imposter Syndrome
Other jobs that involve user research
There are other roles that may involve doing user research on a semi-regular basis—like product marketing or customer success. To some extent, almost any job can involve user research if it’s something you're interested in doing (and that your company values).
For example, I'm a Content Marketing Manager; user research isn’t an inherent part of my job description but it’s something I do fairly often. Since I work for a company that values user research, I get to participate in company-wide studies and can advocate for additional user research to make our content even better.
If you’re interested in pursuing a career in user research but don’t work directly in that space yet, think of how you could incorporate talking to users into your work:
- Could a project you’re working on be more efficient with some user feedback?
- Would you be able to learn more about your customers through research?
- What are you guessing about that you shouldn't be?