User Experience Professionals Association (UXPA), NJ chapter

Welcome to UXPA NJ's first 2026 program event.

These days, many of us have been looking for guidance and insights regarding how UX professionals can get hired in 2026. The hiring landscape continues to change and shift, especially for UXers. Assistance and support is on the way in tonight's program, which focuses on strategies for getting hired in 2026.

In the current economy, it's expected that many of you may be struggling with coming up with winning strategies for getting hired in 2026. There are so many choices in terms of where you should focus your time and energy, for example: Should you focus on networking exclusively? Should you modify your resume so it gets past the Applicant Tracking System? Should you have multiple resumes, and if so, why? Should you be doing more information interviewing? Should you be taking more courses to upgrade your skill set, and if so, which ones? Should you be learning new tools, and if so, which ones? Should you pivot into a different vertical or job title? How does AI currently influence your job search? Should you get a career coach? Should you get a mentor? Should you upgrade your portfolio? Should you change portfolio platforms? Should you completely rewrite your resume and/or portfolio? Etc.

At UXPA NJ, we realize that if you are currently employed, you are busy with your current job, working on your current UX projects. We're of the belief that it's always a good idea to spend time every week doing a little networking and updating your resume and/or portfolio. This will be one of the topics we'll be discussing.

Some of you may be getting responses but not interviews. Some of you may be getting interviews but not offers. Let's zero in on what to do in these situations. During this program, we're here to assist and support you.

So, come and share your experiences and points of struggle with us in tonight's round table discussion. In preparation, we've invited several UXers who were hired recently to share their own personal experiences, specific details of their 2025 journeys towards getting hired. We've also invited several attendees and co-facilitators of our recent two-month program, "Build Your UX Portfolio, One Bite at a Time", to share their insights. We'd like to hear about your recent experiences, too, so we may better assist and support you at this point in your professional journey.

This event is free and open to the public. UXers of all stripes are welcome to attend and participate.

Agenda

7:30 pm - 7:45 pm Welcome and Announcements
7:45 pm - 9:00 pm Roundtable Discussion
9:00 pm Closing

About Our Facilitator

Josephine M. Giaimo is the Founder of User Experience Research, LLC. With degrees in psychology and engineering, she has been working in the UX field since the 1980s. Clients and employers have included ADP, AT&T, NJIT, IITRI, Google, Medidata, Vital Decisions, and others. Her UX research at NJIT was funded by IBM, The Annenberg Foundation, the Office of Naval Research, and the State of New Jersey. Her original research as part of her masters degree proposed a framework for evaluating the performance of neural networks and statistical approaches in predicting project profits.

She taught college-level courses in general psychology and the dynamics of group processes for several years at Bloomfield College in Bloomfield, New Jersey.

Josephine is also a certified career coach who has mentored and coached numerous UX and other professionals over the years.

In her spare time, she works in her garden, cooks, participates in civic activities, including "craftivism", and listens to Indian ragas.