#122- Exploring UX Research Career Options with Marieke McCloskey of LinkedIn

Awkward Silences

What are the best UX career options? How do you vet a potential employer to ensure it’s the right fit? Should you join a smaller firm that offers plenty of autonomy and flexibility, or does it make more sense to work for a larger company with a ton of resources? Erin, JH, and Marieke McClosky, Director of UX Research at LinkedIn, address these questions, examining UX research as a career and a practice as they discuss Marieke’s journey as a UX researcher.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Navigating a career path in UX research
• Making career moves that align with your goals
• How to start a career in UX research
• Pros and cons of different working environments
• Vetting potential employers

Highlights

• [01:27] Marieke’s first job was at Nielsen Norman Group
• [04:42] The benefits of working at a large organization like LinkedIn
• [7:12] Getting started with– choosing a direction when you are new to UX research
• [12:57] How to vetMarieke shares valuable advice on vetting employers
• [19:37] How does the UX research team come up with research questions?
• [25:29] TJH summarizes the differences between working at a large company vs. a smaller firm
• [39:24] The best thing about consulting is “the breadth of who you get to work with, the different industries, different teams”

About our guest

Marieke McCloskey is the Director of UX Research at LinkedIn. For over a decade, she has worked as a UX researcher and consultant with the world’s most innovative companies, including Nielsen Norman Group and the NFL. She completed her undergraduate degree in Neuroscience at the University College Utrecht and earned a MA in Cognitive Science at John Hopkins University.