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In this video Jacob Olenick reveals how he landed 2 dream design jobs using just Dribbble and LinkedIn. His career journey as a product designer is super inspiring and he gives some great ideas on building a brand as a designer, getting noticed, improving your design skills and more. Enjoy!
CHAPTERS
0:00 Intro
0:30 Meet Jacob Olenick
1:45 What does a Product Designers do?
5:30 How much do Product Designers make?
8:24 How to Use Dribbble to find design jobs
How to land your dream design job using Dribbble
Just a few nights ago I had the chance To sit down with Jacob Olynyk and we had An awesome conversation about his Experience as a lead product designer at Paramount plus and now at Wells Fargo And I was blown away to find out that he Landed both of these high-paying jobs Just using dribble and Linkedin and so In this video he actually shares his Entire process of how we optimized his Profiles to land his dream design job Plus towards the end of the video he Even talks about how much you can expect To earn as a product designer so enjoy The video All right Jacob so first off I guess Talk to us about what it is that you do Yeah so I am a senior lead product Designer at Wells Fargo and previously I Worked at Paramount plus where I was the Head or the lead uh designer over the Home page of the product so essentially When you're on the Paramount Plus app no Matter what platform it is that's I do All that I do the Marquis the layout the Sliders Um that's so cool everything yeah so so Anything that uh was on the home page Would come right through me and then Before that I worked at access which is One of the lead in ticketing companies In the world so tickety what kind of Ticketing um it's kind of like Ticketmaster but even bigger
Dude I love it very cool man well all of These are services that you know like I Use Wells Fargo my wife and I are always Watching Paramount plus so I've seen a Lot of your work awesome so we're going To talk about each of these different Roles and then the whole point of this Video is we want to talk about how you Landed these different positions we're Going to talk about pay a lot of Different things and I'm really excited To dive into those but I guess the first Thing that we need to talk about is what Specifically you do as a a product Designer and we're going to even kind of Dive into how that's different from ux UI web all these things but what does a Product designer do on a day-to-day Basis Yeah so the product designer term some People confuse it with like design and Like the iPhone itself like design and Products so it's kind of like a term That like Silicon Valley kind of put on There because you're designing an app But it's mostly just a lot of people use Ux or UI because it's like user Experience or a user interface so Essentially a product designer focuses On kind of all of that so the UI as well As the ux sometimes they have to jump Into the role of like a ux researcher Um or even like a ux Content writer Etc Depending upon the size of your team so
Like in my day-to-day I will kind of do A lot of research I'll meet with our ux Research team I'll meet with kind of our Junior designers and I'll kind of work On design system stuff or just whatever Features I'm working on at that point so Like I have to figure out the psychology That goes into you know the app like how How can I get users to kind of Do the steps in a little amount of steps As possible so that way they're not Clicking around or they're they're not Disengaged Etc and then kind of what I'm Known for is a UI user interface design So at my last two companies I was a Strategic hire where they wanted to up Their design of their product to compete With competitors so they brought me on To kind of make their product look very Premium Dude I love that you're like the uh the The specialized design assassin that Comes in and uh tightens things up that That's so cool you know I think there's A lot of for me especially there's a lot Of confusion between all these different Design roles and and career paths and There's a lot of overlap I think for me When I hear product designer I certainly Think of someone that has mastered the The design aspect but also like you said There are so many other things that you Have to consider like the psychology and I think you certainly have to have a
Business mindset and then in your case You're managing people and and it is Cool how those other skills kind of Stack on top of each other and then You're able to bring so much more value Than just strictly design and I think it Is cool how Tech in general has is kind of elevated Our platform as designers right like Before a designer was you know what Working with with paints and pencils and And things and now it's like we're Creating these products that get seen by Millions you know hundreds of millions In your case like this is such awesome Stuff and uh and I think this video is Going to be a really good way for other People to kind of see how if we stack Those different skills and values you Can get paid a lot as a designer which Is really really awesome another thing With like the product designer title is You are kind of a master at the business Goals so that's another thing that you Have to think of like typically like a Ux designer Isn't necessarily thinking about you Know the goals as a business so we as Product designers have to kind of make Sure that we're converted and that we're You know getting the numbers that we Need to get well I think that's really Important whether you are working with a Company whether you're running your own
Company I think having those skills of a Product designer are are so important And then like you said you're really Doing the job of of a number of Different designers but you kind of pack It all in one so I think that's a really Really cool attribute to have all right So the next big question I know a lot of People are going to want to know and That I'm really curious about is how Much can you make as a product designer And I know that that's a hard question So it's up to you whether or not we talk Like exact saddlers but maybe talk to us About the salary ranges of each of your Jobs and how that's progressed and Increased over time yeah so when I first Started out as a product designer I was Working for a small startup in Las Vegas And I think all I made was like 60k And then when I started you know Utilizing tools like LinkedIn and Dribble uh to kind of make a brand for Myself I started getting higher salaries So like in my most recent round of Interviews uh the salaries ranged Anywhere between 150k to like 210k and If I was to like go to a company like Google it's up to like 400k for my role So cool when just hearing about that I Think that really speaks to the value That those companies see in a product Designer right like you're you're not Paying 400k or even 200k unless it's a
Role that is incredibly vital to what They're doing right and never yeah even 10 years ago never would a designer have Had the opportunity to to make that kind Of money so that is cool that gets me Really excited one thing that you said Is you mentioned building a brand for Yourself which opened up all of these Doors and I'm such a huge believer that Regardless of our career path as a Designer whether we're going to apply For jobs whether we're freelancing or a Combination of the two or just it's a Side gig whatever it is building a brand On these different platforms is so huge Because people find you they get to know You they see your face if you're making Videos they hear your voice and then When opportunities come up you're the First person that comes to mind and and I think it's so cool that you put Yourself in a position To be able to kind of work through that Progression of eventually reaching this Awesome point where you're making so Much money so we're definitely going to Dive more into what you mentioned about Dribble and Linkedin as well because I Think that is super super fascinating so I was pretty much unhappy with with my Career uh just a few years ago So that's what I did and I'm like okay I Need to think of this as if I'm a Business to where these companies that I
Desire to work for like Paramount Plus Or Wells Fargo Etc Um they're not gonna hire someone who's Just a designer but they want to hire Someone who basically has this brand Attached to them and and that brand is Is me and my design aesthetic so I think That that's that's really important to Uh showcase that on a tool like dribble I guess just starting from the very Beginning what made you want to get into Dribble and and then I guess when did You notice that big switch where you Started getting a lot of eyes on your Work and people reaching out like tell Us about that whole process yeah so I Think it was in this early summer of 2021 maybe 2020 I uh I started posting like dribble work Almost maybe like once twice maybe three Times a week and what I would do was I Would purposely design apps that because On dribble like you see so many apps on There where it's like this stuff it just It can't be coded it can't be done it it Doesn't make sense so what I would do is I would uh design apps that would Actually be used in the real world like This could be a product and uh I Developed this kind of aesthetic where I Use you know really strong typography And high contrast I use like a good Amount of white space or negative space I kind of rounded a lot of my Corners
Just use like really premium looking Design kind of like if if Apple was to Design you know say an nft app or Something like that and uh then what I Would do was I I wanted to kind of get It in front of people so I signed up for Dribble Pro Um so that way I can have kind of the Head in in in the the banner and all of That and I can do case studies Etc And then on the post that I I wanted to Kind of have that type of work or that Type of company to hire me I would boost It so I think like the minimum amount That you can do is twelve dollars for You know the promotion or whatnot And then I would link that to my LinkedIn because you can on dribble you Can boost it and have it linked to Whatever link that you want it to be so And then what I would do is I would take That shot and share it to my LinkedIn And then it would get even more traction On dribble so recruiters they're Constantly living on dribble to find Designers but they're also on LinkedIn So when you pair the two You have this LinkedIn profile that's Optimized for your type of work that you Want to do and then you have a really Clean premium looking dribble portfolio That is so cool I have a ton of Questions about this and I'm gonna go Through these so the first question
Slash kind of comment is is I've had Experiences where I find someone's work On dribble and then I try to reach out To them through email or whatever and I Just can never connect with them or I'm Like dming them on Instagram and I think That's the critical part of us Connecting that end point and then for For you being on LinkedIn that's where People go to make business connections That's where people go to you know offer Jobs and and different things like that Projects and so I think that's really Smart to make sure that you have that End point is that the main place where People are reaching out to you I'm sure People are still hitting you up on other Social media channels right yeah so Mostly some people will roll DM me on Dribble but I don't I don't see those Messages a ton of times like sometimes I'll see them months later and I'm like Oh my God Google just reached out to me Um and I'm like so that's why I I always Even in in my um I guess description and Dribble I link my LinkedIn because I Want people to reach out to me on LinkedIn but I also want them to go to My LinkedIn because then they can see The previous companies I worked for and Be like okay this guy's like the real Deal like we need to have them on our Team and it just shows like uh that You're an expert in your field if you're
You know if your portfolio is on dribble But you have a pretty good LinkedIn Profile it's not like you're just kind Of uh average designer but you're taking It very seriously Absolutely well I think it checks all The boxes right because on dribble they See your work and they're like okay you Know this guy he knows what he's doing He can design But then they go to your LinkedIn and They say oh he's also a professional he Could also be a leader he's also Articulate like they see a lot of other Aspects of you and I think these two are I mean I'm not even I have a I have a Dribble account but I've never posted Anything on there my LinkedIn is super Outdated and I've got so many messages That I've never gone through and and all Of a sudden I'm thinking tomorrow Morning I gotta wake up and uh and get After and update these things because This is such a cool way to connect so The other thing that I kind of want to Ask you to elaborate on is I thought it Was interesting that you mentioned Simplistic designs but also designing For the types of companies that you Would want to work with and I think That's really important because a lot of Times we waste all of our time and Efforts building these super crazy Complex things to get noticed on like
Awards.com right get noticed by other Designers when in reality we want to get Noticed by those companies and those Clients that are looking for that type Of work so I guess talk to me about your Thought thought process behind that do You do research about the types of Companies you want to work with and then How do you determine what projects to do Yeah so it changes Um every season so for instance like I Really wanted to work for Paramount plus So what I would do is I would design Um apps it wasn't necessarily TV apps But I would design apps that like even Mobile apps that I would think Paramount Would want to use this type of design And then what I would do is I would go Into my LinkedIn headline and I'll put My my title and then I'll put like a bar And then I'll put interested in and then I would put streaming platforms or you Know music streaming Etc and then people Would search me oh then I would like put Put that like dribble project into my Featured section where it's like right There So then like I did that and within eight Hours I put it in at like maybe 10 O'clock at night by the morning time I Had uh reached out to by Paramount plus And had the job of being way yeah it's Crazy And what's really cool is because I
Would my general portfolio was like full Of the most recent shots for that type Of style that Paramount wanted they then Put me in charge of the home page which They said they never put any new hire in Charge of something so important like That see that is what a baller move just Coming right in and taking over I love That dude dribble is is so undervalued By designers but I feel dumb for not Having taken more advantage of it this Is really cool advice so yeah for for Those that are watching this definitely It you don't need anything to get Started right you can Dive Right In Start posting your work and along the Way you're going to learn how to Optimize you're gonna learn what it's More views and what catches more Attention but certainly when you're Starting out don't just throw anything Out there like you know as Jacob said Build and design the types of things That uh that those people are going to Be interested in that you want to work With so the next question I want to ask You Jacob is can anyone do this I'm sure There are people feeling discouraged Saying well maybe I'm not as good of a Designer or I don't have the experience Or I haven't worked with other companies Yet what advice would you give those People yeah I actually have a lot of Friends that are in this field and some
Of them aren't the greatest designers Or some of them are really good at you Know Um writing for example so there's Different niches within you know uh the Ux or UI design field Um so for instance like on my team we Have ux content people so they just Focus on the right copy that goes into The design or there's ux designers where Say they're very analytical or they can Really think about user flows or uh They're good at Psychology they can just Focus on the ux and the wireframe so They figure out the structure and They'll use like little blocks to kind Of map it out and then the UI designers Say you're like a a graphic designer and You wanna this is I was a graphic Designer and I'm like okay so you're Maxed out at maybe like 50k and I'm like I can't survive on that especially with Inflation Um so what I did was I focused on UI Um and so you you can basically design Visually and it's it's like you put Little squares on on a on like a screen And then you just stylize them add Images and stuff it's I think it's Easier than graphic design graphic Designers man they they gotta learn Everything I think that's really great Advice because certainly for those of You that maybe feel like you're not as
Good or you're not quite there I think That's totally normal but uh but Jacob's A great example of of just putting your Stuff out there and the opportunities Are are going to come so with that said And I could talk about this for for Hours but the last point that I wanted To make is there are so many free Resources out there to learn these Skills just go on YouTube and there's so Much good stuff out there we were just Talking about some of our favorite YouTubers Jesse showalter's name came up I also want to mention that Jacob is Just starting his YouTube channel that I'm really excited to see the content That he pumps out and I think his whole Story and experience is really inspiring So we're gonna make sure to drop that Link down in the description option Definitely go give Jacob a follow over There and check out his stuff because I Think it's going to be really really Good for you regardless of where you're At in your in your career as a designer So uh with that said I guess Jacob is There any last things that you would Like to leave us with any last bits of Advice or wisdom yeah I mean I would Just say like I look back two years ago At my work and I I was trash And then when I I took this method of Like I'm gonna really focus on my my Aesthetic what I want to be known for
And then when I started sharing that to Dribble I then eventually got better and Better because you know I was I was Doing more um design so it's like if you Really want this Then it doesn't take that much time to Kind of design a screen or two you know You design you know a login screen and Then next thing you know your 30 screens In and it's you know only been two hours Or so and you just keep doing that and You're gonna get better and better man Well thanks so much Jacob for your time I think uh there's a lot that we can Take from this video and I definitely Want to have you on again we even talked About having you come give a training Insides our paid Pro Group because There's a lot more that we could learn From from your experience so thanks so Much for uh for joining us so we'll Catch everyone in the next video
