The referral-ready profile
What to fix before you ask anyone to put their name next to yours — and a short, specific way to write the ask.
By Abhijeet’s resource desk
THE GOOD STUFF, ALL IN ONE PLACE
Free UX portfolio and design career resources.
Prepare a clearer portfolio, resume, and application with original checklists, credible public guidance, and editable starting points.
12 resources · Curated September 2026
Tailor the evidence to the role rather than copying a generic success story. Explain your contribution accurately, check every shared link, and use official hiring guidance for current requirements. No template or course guarantees a job.
The portfolio self-review
A practical pre-send checklist: clarity, evidence, accessibility, ownership, and the details easy to miss.
By Abhijeet’s resource desk
Design job application tracker
Keep roles, portfolio versions, outreach, and follow-ups in one simple spreadsheet. Open in Sheets or Excel.
By Abhijeet’s resource desk
Talking about your work
Prepare three defensible project stories, handle trade-off questions, and say “I don’t know” without losing the room.
By Abhijeet’s resource desk
How Microsoft Hires
Go straight to the official recruiting lifecycle, interview-preparation guidance, and accessibility support.
By Microsoft Careers
Harvard bullet-point resume template
Start a bullet-based resume in Word or Google Docs, including an accessible Word version. Replace the example material with your own experience and project impact.
By Harvard FAS Mignone Center for Career Success
MIT resume guide and samples
Use the downloadable guide and sample resumes to make experience descriptions specific and relevant. Public resources are available without booking MIT career advising.
By MIT Career Advising & Professional Development
AltaCV — Overleaf template
Adapt a structured LaTeX CV in Overleaf and produce a PDF version for applications. Check the reading order and extracted text instead of assuming any layout is ATS-safe.
By LianTze Lim
Europass CV builder
Prepare a CV and cover letter using the EU’s free editable templates. Your information is entered on the external Europass service, not stored by this resource desk.
By European Commission
Google resume and application guidance
Go to Google’s own resume-advice and hiring-overview links before preparing an application. This is public guidance, not a UX course or a downloadable resume template.
By Google Careers
Microsoft interview preparation
Prepare for the conversation before, during, and after a Microsoft interview. The official guide covers showing your thinking, role-specific formats, and accommodations.
By Microsoft Careers
5 Steps to Creating a UX-Design Portfolio
Choose relevant projects and explain your role, decisions, and outcomes in readable case studies. A practical guide to portfolio structure rather than a gallery of final screens.
By Rachel Krause · Nielsen Norman Group
Good work deserves credit. Third-party resources open at the original creator’s site. Free editions may have limits; check each resource’s notes.