What an interesting six months it’s been

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, I’ve worked from home for more than 100 days in a row.

And during this time, videoconferences have sometimes wreaked havoc on my sanity. Does that sound familiar?

Here’s what I did about it and how you can control your own meeting madness.

All with a meeting manifesto.

Approaching exhaustion

When the shelter-in-place order came down in March, my workdays were immediately filled with hours of videoconferences.

During the first month, all those videoconferences took their physical and mental tolls on me. By the end of a meeting-filled day, I was racked with anxiety (over all the work I didn’t get done) and guilt (over all the work I didn’t get done) and completely exhausted.

I could barely talk. My head ached.

I was suffering from videoconference fatigue. (Yes, that’s a real thing.)

The breaking point

The breaking point came one Friday morning when I opened my laptop to see eight meetings on my schedule. For one day.

Something had to give.

A meeting manifesto was born

I decided to create an official declaration of how I would manage my meetings from then on — to lessen anxiety, to make room for heads-down work, and to take back control of my workday.

I call it a meeting manifesto.

Here’s a screenshot of it:

My meeting manifesto, point by point

• Attend a maximum of four hours of meetings per day. Your maximum may be different from mine. I just figured that I wouldn’t spend more than half my workday in meetings. I even post the maximum right on my calendar so everyone can see it! (See screenshot below.)
• Decline or reschedule meetings that put me over the four-hour limit. Every morning before my workday starts, I prune my calendar. Here are some questions I ask myself:
  - Do I need to attend every design critique? (No.)
  - Can I easily reschedule a 1:1 if it puts me over the four-hour limit? (Yes.)
  - If there are no agenda items for a particular meeting, can we cancel it? (Yes.)
  - If a meeting will be documented or recorded, can I skip attending and read/watch it later? (Sometimes.)
  You get the idea: be ruthless about the meetings you must absolutely attend, and decline/reschedule the rest.
• Auto-decline all Wednesday meetings. At Dropbox, Wednesday is designated as No Meeting Wednesday, so I mark it with an eight-hour “out of office” block. Anyone who adds a meeting on that day will receive an auto-decline message.
• Convert all 1:1s to 25 minutes. I like a short and sweet meeting. It forces you (and the other attendee) to keep the conversation focused!
• Leave one-hour meetings 10 minutes early. That’s my golden rule these days: for every one-hour meeting, I need a 10-minute break — to grab water, take a bathroom break, jot down tasks from the meeting, or prepare for the next meeting.
• Leave 30-minute meetings five minutes early. See point above.
• Use the “Speedy meetings” Google Calendar setting. If your company uses Google Calendar, you can set meetings to end early by default. In your calendar, click the gear icon, choose Settings, then scroll down to the Event settings section.

• Post a goodbye message in videoconference chat before leaving a meeting early. I always try to be transparent and polite. I’ll post something like “Sorry can’t stay, gotta prepare for my next meeting, thanks!” before leaving a videoconference.

How to create your own meeting manifesto

Every person’s calendar is different, and the way each person deals with their calendar is different. To create a meeting manifesto that works for you, follow these steps:

• Do a meeting audit, delete, and shuffle. Take a look at the last two weeks of your work calendar. Which one-hour meetings can you reduce to 30 minutes? Which meetings can you skip every other week? Can you reschedule 1:1s to other days?
• Add some DNS blocks. DNS stands for do not schedule. How many hours of heads-down time do you need per day to feel productive? Add some DNS blocks to your calendar to stake your claim.
• Write down your guidelines. Your meeting audit should naturally lead you to some meeting guidelines — write them down in a document. Use my manifesto as a starting point if you like!
• Communicate your guidelines. Share your guidelines with your team — via email, Slack, and any other normal avenues of communication that your company uses.
• Commit to the guidelines every day. This is the hardest step. The meeting manifesto isn’t a “set it and forget it” sort of thing; you have to stay vigilant! That includes pruning your calendar every morning, asking people to reschedule/shorten/cancel meetings, and helping to keep meetings focused and ending on time. I regularly speak up toward the end of a meeting: “We’re almost at time. Anyone have any final thoughts before we’re done?”

Some final words

So how has my meeting manifesto been working?

Things are definitely better! I no longer have days when I’m ready to pass out from exhaustion. My stress level is down.

Steer your career

As you can imagine, I’m not the only one suffering through a flood of videoconferences. I’ve shared my manifesto with coworkers and encouraged them to take control of their own calendars.

Why not become a meeting maverick for your company? Help everyone learn ways to better manage their time.

It’s not only good for you; it’s good for your career.

By getting a handle on your day and sharing your technique with others, you’re demonstrating leadership and impact across your team. Be sure to add it to your annual self-review!

Meeting culture can’t be changed in solitude. Take the first step, and ask others to follow. ■

What are your tips for wrangling a meeting-heavy day? Share them in a comment below!

Thanks to Michelle Morrison, John Mikulenka, and Andrew Richdale for their help in putting together this article.

Want more from the Dropbox Design team? Follow Dropbox Design on Medium, Twitter, and Dribbble. Want to make magic together? Check out our open positions!

Check out my other articles:

• How to mock up UX writing for better collaboration
• Getting a seat at the table as a UX writer
• 4 ways to show the value of UX writing
• How I landed a UX writer job at Dropbox

Take back your day with a meeting manifesto was originally published in Dropbox Design on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.

That holds true for words in UX writing, too!

Yes, if you’re a UX writer, your expertise is words. But you work in a visual medium. Customers will see your words in the context of a UI design, not as lines of text on a blank screen.

Why mock up words?

I’m not suggesting that you always mock up your UX writing. But there are times when a mockup of your work can help you collaborate better with your partners.

A few reasons to mock up your UX writing work:

• So your reviewers can give better feedback, because they can see your work in context
• So you can strengthen your argument for using more text or less text (usually it’s less text)
• When an engineer needs to fix a string, you can show them exactly where the string appears
• To minimize confusion over where your text shows up
• In general, to shorten and strengthen the collaboration process

Here are four methods I use myself to mock up UX writing.

Skitch

My Dropbox colleague and UX writing superstar, John Saito, introduced me to Skitch. It’s a super-easy way to annotate an image with arrows, text, and simple shapes. You can also pixelate content to hide confidential information. Get Skitch (Mac only, free from Evernote).

The image below shows the Skitch arrow, text, shape, and pixelate tools:

Keynote, PowerPoint, and Google Slides

Programs like Apple Keynote, Microsoft PowerPoint, and Google Slides are quite useful in mocking up UX writing!

I have a Keynote “sandbox file” where I compose my work. It’s easy to create layers, blank out sections of a screen, and precisely place updated text. You can also quickly create and organize multiple slides to save “before” and “after” versions or multiple explorations.

The image below shows a Finder menu, copied to two proposals, original name blanked out, and replaced with alternative names:

Web browser “design mode”

Did you know you can edit any web page right in your browser window (at least you can in Chrome and Safari on Mac)? When someone first showed me this, it kinda blew my mind.

Here’s how to get it:

1. Save the following text as a browser bookmark:
   javascript:document.body.contentEditable=’true’; document.designMode=’on’; void 0
   Note: the quotes enclosing ‘true’ and ‘on’ should be straight quotes, not curly quotes. You’ll need to change this on your own.
2. Go to the web page you want to change.
3. Select the bookmark from step 1.
4. Click the text you want to change and start typing!

This method is convenient when you want to mock up a simple text change to a live design.

The image below shows how I select the “Design mode” bookmark on my live Dropbox page and then replace Home with Jennie’s Happy Place in the sidebar.

Figma or Sketch

Lastly, you can mock up UX writing with a full-fledged designer tool, like Sketch or Figma.

While this is the most advanced (and time-consuming) of the four methods, it lets you meet your designers where they are, using the app they use.

If the designer you’re collaborating with has a Figma file of the project, ask them to create a sandbox area where you can do content explorations (so you’re mocking up in their file). Or make a copy of their file in your Drafts folder (so you’re mocking up in your own file).

If no design file exists yet, fear not! You can start from scratch by searching for UI kits on the web.

For example, I downloaded the macOS Sketch files, imported them into my Figma Drafts folder, and then mocked up a new alert message.

The image below shows the macOS alert pattern copied into my Figma draft file called “Jennie’s Sandbox of Wonder” and then updated with new text:

Screenshot and archive everything

OK, so you’ve done all this work to mock up your UX writing. Shouldn’t you now save it for posterity? Or at least so you can reuse your work for future projects?

I can’t tell you how many items I get handed a new project and think, “Wait a minute, I did this kind of work a few months ago, I can just reuse what I did, if only I can find it…”

If it’s in your “everything doc,” then it’s easy!

It’s pretty simple: every time you mock something up, take a picture of it and throw it in your everything doc.

My everything doc is just a simple Paper doc of screenshots, reverse-ordered by date (so the newest screenshot is at the top). I’ll type the actual UX copy right below the screenshot so it’s easier to search for. That’s it.

Get in the habit of archiving your work, even if it never sees the light of day. You never know when a project might come back to life. And if it does, your copy will be all ready to go!

Steer your career

As with my previous articles, I want to end this one with a reminder to #steeryourcareer.

By following the suggestions in this article, you can:

• Mock up your UX writing work to collaborate better with your partners
• Count on an “everything doc” for easy reuse of your work
• And lastly, use your everything doc as a ready source of writing samples for your portfolio

In the words of The Office’s Michael Scott, that’s what I call a win-win-win! 😁

Thanks to Andrea Drugay, John Mikulenka, and Michelle Morrison for their help in putting together this article.

Want more from the Dropbox Design team? Follow Dropbox Design on Medium, Twitter, and Dribbble. Want to make magic together? Check out our open positions!

Check out my other articles:

• Taking back your day with a meeting manifesto
• Getting a seat at the table as a UX writer
• 4 ways to show the value of UX writing
• How I landed a UX writer job at Dropbox

How to mock up UX writing for better collaboration was originally published in Dropbox Design on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Do you sometimes feel a little invisible as a UX writer? Like you don’t have a seat at the table?

Getting a seat at the table means two things to me:

• Being seen and treated as an essential member of the project team
• Feeling empowered to make UX writing decisions for the project

Here are some tips on how to raise your visibility (and gain more recognition) for the work you do!

Tip 1: Explain what you do

You might work with someone who has never heard of a UX writer. Or maybe you work with a designer who is used to writing their own copy.

Either way, it’s helpful to explain what you do as a UX writer and how you do it. Introduce yourself in a 1:1 chat when someone new joins the team, or get on the agenda at the next team meeting.

I recently gave a short presentation to our summer interns about UX writing at Dropbox. It included these introductory slides:

Don’t assume people know what you do as UX writer. And once you explain it to them, they’ll better understand what you’re bringing to the table as a project team member.

Tip 2: Get included in team meetings

I have sometimes been accidentally excluded from team meetings.

Here are a few tips for this situation:

• Tell people you want to be invited to team meetings. I know that seems obvious, but people may assume that you don’t want to be invited to every meeting, especially if you work on multiple teams.
• Be clear about the type of meeting (team status, sprint planning, vision, brainstorm, retrospective, etc.) you want to be invited to.
• Physically sit with your team. It’s easier to remember to invite you when you’re in the line of sight.
• Check that you’re on the right email distribution lists.
• Browse people’s calendars. If work calendars are shareable, occasionally check out member calendars to see if there are meetings you should be attending.

Tip 3: Send out regular project status updates

I track all my projects in an Airtable, and share it with the teams I work on. If your team regularly sends out status reports, ask to be included on them!

Tip 4: Make UX writing a required sprint or pre-release checklist item

Are you sometimes consulted for copy at the last minute? That can be frustrating.

One way to minimize those last-minute requests is to add “UX writing review” as a formal item on the project’s sprint or pre-release checklist.

For example, there is now this item in our DoD (“definition of done”) template:

☑︎ If there is customer-facing content in this story (button labels, menu names, error messages, etc.), has Jennie reviewed it?

Not only will this make your workload a little more predictable, it’ll show that UX writing is an essential project task.

Tip 5: Include an approval section in your content specs

I write a document for each chunk of work I do for a project. I call these docs content specs.

You can include an approval section at the top of each content spec. This helps show that a content spec is as an essential component of every project.

Dropbox Paper makes this easy by letting you tag people in to-dos with due dates:

Tip 6: Show the value of UX writing

Part of your job as a UX writer is to explain why you choose the words you do. By explaining your decisions objectively and on a regular basis, you’ll elevate your visibility as the go-to words person. I laid out a few tips about this in my previous article, 4 ways to show the value of UX writing.

Tip 7: Create a terms list and update it regularly

To keep track of customer-facing terms I was using for a multi-team project, I created a terms list. I update it every few weeks and notify doc subscribers of updates.

The doc is simply organized as an A-to-Z list. It includes links (and acknowledgements) to other teams and their docs.

Doing this helped establish the doc as a go-to resource for the project.

When the project is over, you can then spend some time to turn the terms list into a full-fledged style guide. Or integrate the list into the company style guide if it already exists.

Tip 8: Be a bridge builder

UX writers often work on multiple workstreams and develop unique cross-project insights. Why not share learnings and boost your visibility companywide? Lead the way with docs and meetings that bridge teams and help solve common problems together.

For example, are there multiple teams at your company that contribute menu items to your product’s context (right-click) menu? You can be the person who tracks these items in a single doc to make sure they are consistent and follow your company’s style guide.

Doing this shows your ability to not only craft words, but craft content strategy.

Tip 9: Learn team tools and encourage members to tag you in them

I’m kind of a geek for apps, so this is definitely my favorite tip of the bunch!

Whatever tools your team uses to track work — whether it be Git, Jira, Trello, Figma, Dropbox Paper, or something else, learn them. And ask team members to tag you in them when they have UX writing questions.

Others will see you being tagged and will learn to tag you, too. This raises your visibility.

And if you really want to go deep on this one, learn how to implement strings in code. (It’s one of the most fun things I’ve ever done.) After getting set up by a few awesome engineers, I can now reply to their tags right in the code, as well as update actual strings!

This allows you more freedom and flexibility in making UX writing decisions.

Tip 10: Ask your manager for help

My manager rallied to literally get me a seat at a leadership table for a high-visibility project. I’m the sole UX writing representative at a table full of group managers and directors. I never would have gotten a seat at that table without my managers’ support.

I share UX writing updates as well as give feedback on other members’ updates. This helps the project run smoothly.

And lastly, a plug to #steeryourcareer

Okay, there you have it. Yes, getting seen takes some work.

As Shirley Chisholm is quoted as saying, “If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.”

Pull up that chair. And then ask for what you want, show and tell your value, and get help from your allies. Then repeat.

Changes won’t happen overnight. But with a little patience, you can get more seen and valued as a UX writer. Take an active role because it’s all part of steering your career.

Words matter. Writers matter. You matter.

️What are your tips for getting more seen as a UX writer? Share them in a comment below!

Thanks to Andrea Drugay and Michelle Morrison for their help.

Want more from the Dropbox Design team? Follow Dropbox Design on Medium, Twitter, and Dribbble. Want to make magic together? Check out our open positions!

Check out my other articles:

• Take back your day with a meeting manifesto
• How to mock up UX writing
• 4 ways to show the value of UX writing
• How I landed a UX writer job at Dropbox

Getting a seat at the table as a UX writer was originally published in Dropbox Design on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

It happened last year, when I was interviewing for a UX writing position.

After I presented a writing sample in front of a room of people, the sole researcher in the group asked, “Did you test your copy in front of users?”

I winced. No, I didn’t, I had to admit. It would have been great to have worked with a researcher to do some testing, I added, but we didn’t have time for it.

When you can’t test your content in front of real users, does that mean it’s not valuable? Not at all.

Here are several ways you can show your team the value of good UX writing, all without user testing.

1. You follow your company’s content style guide

What this is and why it’s valuable

A content style guide is a document that explains how your company’s customer-facing content should be written. It usually includes rules for grammar, punctuation, terminology, and voice and tone.

Aligning your content to a style guide means it sounds like it’s coming from one voice and one brand. It helps your customers feel confident in your product.

If your company has a content style guide, make sure your content follows it, and that people know you follow it. Before long, your team will see you as the go-to person for the style guide. That’s showing value as a UX writer!

How to show it

If you’re working with existing text, a nice little “before and after” does the trick. If not, you can show a range of different explorations, and then mark the option that matches most closely to your company’s style guide.

For example, let’s say you’re working on a confirmation message, “File saved.” Your content style guide promotes quietly playful content.

You could offer a few suggestions, from conservative to super casual:

File saved.

File saved, nicely done. ⭐️

Congrats on saving the file.

You saved the file. Let’s do a happy dance.

Yo mad props on saving the file.

You might add a star ⭐️ to “File saved, nicely done” as the one that most closely supports quietly playful. You can then say, “I wrote content that supports our content style guide and uses the voice best suited for our customers.” ✅

2. You write at a lower grade reading level

What this is and why it’s valuable

Writing at a lower grade level helps people understand your content faster. Aim for a 7th grade reading level or lower. This also helps non-native speakers.

How to show it

Run your text through a tool like Hemingway or readable.io. If your text reads at an 8th grade level or higher, keep tweaking.

Once you’re done editing, you can say, “I rewrote the text at a sixth-grade level, making it easier to read, even for non-native English speaking customers.” ✅

Here’s an example of UI text run through Hemingway.

3. You write scannable content

What this is and why it’s valuable

When people read on the web, they’re likely browsing for specific words or phrases that are meaningful to them.

By making your content scannable, you help customers get to the words they need in the fastest way possible. But don’t take my word for it. Read what usability expert Jakob Nielsen says about How Users Read on the Web (this article is 21 years old and more relevant than ever).

How to show it

• Break long paragraphs into shorter ones.
• Rewrite short paragraphs as bulleted lists.
• Add headings to break up content into digestible sections.

Show the before and after, and then say, “I made the content more scannable, saving our customers time getting the information they need.” ✅

Here’s an example of making content more scannable.

4. You use words people search for

What this is and why it’s valuable

By choosing words that people most commonly use in online searches, you’re showing customer empathy by writing “in their own words.”

How to show it

My favorite tool for this is Google Trends, and my favorite example of this is the classic clash of sign in vs log on. Besides the fact that sign in sounds more conversational and less technical than log in, it’s also the term that is more searched on by web users.

Google Trends confirms this. Just screenshot the chart and insert it into your content spec, and say, “I updated the content with terminology people search for the most.” ✅

Showing the way is leading the way

Explaining your wording rationale is part of the UX writing job. Using the tips in this article can help your team understand your wording decisions are grounded on reasoning (and not on a writer’s whim).

And if you work at a company that is new to (and maybe, unsure of) UX writing, your rationale can help put the team at ease.

And lastly, a plug to #steeryourcareer

Follow these tips to show the value of good UX writing. Not only to the teams you work with now, but to the teams you might work with in the future.

Yes, I’m talking about at your next job.

By including rationale in your portfolio samples, you’re showing your thought process and your depth of experience. Hiring managers love to see that.

I passionately believe in documenting your work and letting people know what you can do. I wrote more about this in my article, How I landed a UX writer job at Dropbox.

You’re the best person to #steeryourcareer. Do it diligently! Like regular flossing, it’ll pay off in the long run. 😁

How do you show the value of good UX writing? Please share in the comments.

A big thank you to Andrea Drugay and Justin Tran for their contributions to this article! 🤗

Want more from the Dropbox Design team? Follow our publication, Twitter, and Dribbble. Want to make magic together? Check out our open positions!

Check out my other articles:

• Take back your day with a meeting manifesto
• How to mock up UX writing
• Getting a seat at the table as a UX writer
• How I landed a UX writer job at Dropbox

4 ways to show the value of UX writing was originally published in Dropbox Design on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

With feedback from the Dropbox team

A little intro

Back in August 2017, I was a content designer at Intuit. I wasn’t unhappy, just a little restless.

I started looking for other UX writing jobs. I ended up interviewing with a handful of companies. And in the end, I happily accepted a UX Writer position at Dropbox in San Francisco.

Here are the tips I learned along the way, as well as some feedback from the team that hired me.

The basic process

Applying for a UX writing job usually involves these steps:

1. Prepare your resume and portfolio
2. Find a job
3. Apply for the job
4. Complete a writing exercise
5. Present your portfolio
6. Interview with a bunch of people

And my first tip for you is this:

Plan for this entire process to take a few months. Of course, different companies have different timelines, so your mileage may vary. But the point is, don’t apply for a job and then make plans for a little vacay a few weeks later. (Or at least get some trip insurance if you do.)

My entire end-to-end process, including Dropbox and a few other companies, took about three months.

The resume

The resume is a summary of your work experience. If you’re a UX writer, though, think of it as your frontline writing sample. Make that first impression count!

Emphasize relevant information. And by relevant, I mean UX writing experience — make sure it’s front and center. If you don’t have direct UX writing experience, then highlight what UX writing lead Chris Baty calls “adjacent experience” — work that demonstrates comparable writing skills in a different field, for example, as a blogger or marketing writer. Chris adds that resumes can get rejected if they don’t show the required amount of experience.

Try to keep it to one page. If you make it short and sweet, you’re showing a love of brevity, which is an important UX writing principle.

Make it scannable. Instead of long paragraphs, list your accomplishments using short phrases and bulleted lists so readers can quickly pick up the main points.

A nice layout sets you apart. This is just a personal preference, but I like a resume that shows a little design skill. After all, a UX writer often collaborates with designers, so a clean and modern resume will be noticed. For my own resume, I created a custom version of this free Sketch template.

And for the love of words, spellcheck the thing. The Dropbox team has seen an alarming number of resumes with typos. UX writer Andrea Drugay once saw a resume that misspelled the name of the city the applicant lived in. These mistakes are huge red flags on a UX writing application!

The portfolio

A portfolio is a collection of your writing samples, usually viewable online.

Before last year, I didn’t have a portfolio. I had to create one from the ground up. Why was this so painful? Because I hadn’t ever bothered to archive my work.

Which meant I had to go slogging through directories and folders and wikis and Slack channels and chat transcripts looking for proof that I, did indeed, know how to do UX writing.

So my biggest tip on putting together a portfolio?

Make a habit of archiving portfolio-ready work. Create a to-do item for yourself, maybe once a month, when you gather your screenshots, word explorations, content specs, feedback from PMs, user research, final content pieces, etc. in a format that you can easily pull into a portfolio later. UX writer John Saito agrees: “Keep a record of your work, even when you’re not looking for a job. Star the things you’re proud of.” It is so much easier to archive your work when it’s still fresh in your memory, rather than looking for a needle in a content haystack months later.

Focus on UX writing samples. UX writer Nik Nordlof advises: “the best samples are UX writing samples, so prioritize those. But any sample that shows your thought process across end-to-end experiences can be helpful, like help center articles, tooltips, and emails.” Andrea advises keeping your portfolio current: “if your most recent sample is 10 years old, that’s a red flag.”

Again, a little bit of good design can be delightful. Just like a resume, a portfolio is a reflection of you as a UX writer. Make sure it’s clean, easy to read, and a little design-y.

For my portfolio, I use WordPress.com. I chose the Sketch theme because it looked most like a designer’s portfolio, masonry grid and all. But instead of tiles with graphics, I created tiles with words, using Canva.

UX writer Angela Gorden says that portfolios should be scannable, adding that when she reviews portfolios, “I make up my mind kind of fast. If a portfolio is wordy or dense, it puts you off because you have to work harder to find the good stuff.”

Check out more tips in Andrea Drugay’s article How to create a UX writing portfolio.

Finding a job

UX writing is a relatively young discipline, so there really isn’t a standard job title for it. Not every company will post a job for a “UX writer,” even if that’s what they’re looking for.

So when you search online, look for UX writing jobs under other titles. Some of these titles include UI Writer, Content Writer, Content Designer, Content Strategist, User Experience Writer, and Product Writer.

Go beyond LinkedIn. You might start your search on LinkedIn, but also check out Indeed, The Muse, the Content + UX Slack channel (request an invite), the Content Strategists Facebook group, and connect with writers in person at local meetups and conferences. In San Francisco, for example, we have the UX Writers Meetup.

Applying for a job

Okay, so you’ve identified some UX writing jobs and it’s now time to submit your application. Here are a few tips.

Apply even if you don’t have an internal referral. I didn’t know anybody at Dropbox when I applied there, and I submitted my application through their standard LinkedIn page. With no internal referral, I half expected not to hear from them at all. So you can imagine my excitement when I received an email from them the very next day!

That being said, if you have an internal referral that can actually speak to your UX writing experience, go for it. John adds that applying via a referral can sometimes help you “get a faster response from the company.” UX designer Arthur Che says it’s a “huge bonus to be referred by someone I know.” As UX writing becomes a more valued and sought-after skill, a referral can carry considerable weight.

The UX writing exercise

Almost every company I interviewed with asked me to complete an at-home writing exercise.

The writing exercise can vary depending on the company. Some will ask for you to rewrite an existing UX flow (modals, error messages, informational screens, tooltips, etc.); others might ask you to create an entire content strategy for a new feature area.

This is a timed exercise, and companies will often give you the choice of when you’d like to receive it and return it. Time it so you have the weekend to work on the exercise. This gives you larger blocks of uninterrupted time to work on it.

Follow the instructions carefully. John says there is specific intent behind the instructions. If you’re asked to provide rationale behind your content choices, make sure to include it.

The onsite interview

The onsite interview can last more than 3 hours, and may include a portfolio presentation, several 1:1 meetings with writers and other staff, and sometimes an on-the-spot writing exercise.

If you’re an introvert, push yourself out of your comfort zone a little. You’re not there to sit quietly and observe, even if that’s your go-to style. This is, in a way, a performance. Get energized beforehand — do some cardio, eat an energy bar, meditate, whatever it takes to get amped. (Air guitar optional.)

Say “no, but.” You might be asked “have you ever been in situation xyz, and how did you handle it?” If your answer is no, say “no, I’ve never encountered that situation, but if I did, I might handle it this way…” Interviewers are just as interested in your thought process as they are in your actual answer.

Express an opinion when asked, but be gentle. UX writing lead Roxy Aliaga acknowledges this is a delicate balancing act. “It’s not good to not have an opinion,” Roxy says, “but read the room to gauge how far to push it.” You are, after all, interviewing with experts. Roxy suggests that “before you voice an opinion, ask a few clarifying questions.” That way, you’re not jumping in uninformed.

Lunch is never “just lunch.” It’s common to have lunch with team members on interview day. I have been told at several companies that lunch isn’t an official part of the interview. Not quite true. Angela says that “lunch is an opportunity to see if the candidate is a good fit for the team on an interpersonal level.”

The portfolio presentation

A portfolio presentation is a live presentation of your writing portfolio to the interview team.

Get a little personal. I laughed when Roxy remembered I introduced myself with a picture of my cat! Sharing a personal bit about yourself can be a charming way to start your presentation and break the ice.

Don’t cram too much content on each slide. Chances are you’ll be presenting a Powerpoint, Keynote, or Google Slides deck projected on a large screen. Make sure each slide is easy to read. White space is your friend.

Provide enough background info. Arthur suggests, “introduce each writing sample with some info about the company and product where it comes from, and maybe a little about the intended audience. Assume the interview team knows less about your projects, not more.”

Tell a story. For example, start each sample with a brief explanation of the product/feature, follow that with the problem you were trying to solve, present some explorations, explain your decisions on final content, and conclude with user feedback and metrics. Nik adds, “What we do isn’t magic. It’s the result of a lot of trial and error.” So it’s helpful to show that process.

Show actual writing. John says, “make it clear what you actually wrote, and show a flow, not static content; for example ‘after you click this, you’ll get a message that says this.’ Explain the rationale behind your content choices in a way that’s easy to understand, without jargon.”

Review some of the hiring company’s content. That’s right — I ended my portfolio presentation by giving Dropbox feedback on their own content! (Actually, I did this for all the companies I interviewed with.)

To be completely honest, this tip got a mixed reaction from the Dropbox team.

On one hand, John says, “wow, that’s bold and risky.” Andrea adds, “if we were undecided about somebody up to that point, and then they critiqued the company’s content, it would give us more to consider about their presentation.”

On the other hand, Chris says, “it shows engagement and interest, and it can be great if you do all the required stuff first.” Nik adds, “If they do a good job, it can be a positive. And it might be a good thing for people who don’t have a lot of samples to show.” Arthur agrees, adding that presenting company content is “a big plus, it shows that you’re thoughtful about the company you’re interviewing with.”

I personally think that as long as you’re respectful and empathetic (after all, someone in the room might have actually written the content you’re reviewing), it can be a powerful way to share your feedback style.

Learn grace under pressure. Angela shared an awesome story of when she gave her own portfolio presentation at Dropbox. She described a moment when a writer made a suggestion on one of the samples she was presenting. Inside, she was thinking, “he just suggested wording that’s better than what I came up with.” But instead of crumbling, she calmly asked him a few follow-up questions, and the whole conversation turned into an impromptu writing workshop! By learning grace under pressure, you can show your openness to receiving feedback and your strength as a collaborator.

Final thoughts

And there you have it. A multi-step journey to the job finish line.

The point is, the whole experience of getting a UX writer job is a marathon, not a sprint.

If you’re mindful of all the details along the way and show you’re engaged throughout, you’re sure to make a great connection with the hiring company.

I hope this article inspires you to navigate your UX writing journey with confidence! 💪🏼

What’s your UX writing job story? Please share in the comments!

Thanks to Fanny Luor for the wonderful illustration, and to Andrea, Angela, Anya, Arthur, Chris, John, Nik, Roxy, and the rest of the interview team at Dropbox for hiring me 😄. The UX writing group here is small but mighty, and I’m thrilled to be a member!

Want more from the Dropbox Design team? Follow our publication, Twitter, and Dribbble. Want to make magic together? Check out our open positions!

Check out my other articles:

• Take back your day with a meeting manifesto
• How to mock up UX writing
• Getting a seat at the table as a UX writer
• 4 ways to show the value of UX writing

How I landed a UX writer job at Dropbox was originally published in Dropbox Design on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.