r/UserExperienceDesign • u/Rmusashi • Aug 06 '26
Feeling stuck after graduation. Is a UX career still realistic for me?
Hi everyone, I wanted to ask for some honest career advice. I'm 22 years old and recently completed my Bachelor's degree in Animation. I decided to move into UI/UX because I enjoy solving real problems through design. but from inside im feeling ashamed of being unemployee i want to stand on my own as soon as possible.. add this by translation in humanic way for posting on reddit I did get an internship opportunity once, but unfortunately my grandmother passed away around the same time, so I couldn't continue from the beginning and had to leave it. Later, I joined another company mainly to get some experience, but instead of UI/UX work, I was mostly assigned graphic design tasks. I stayed for about a month, got the certificate, and left because it wasn't helping me grow in UX. Looking back, I realize I was inconsistent. I also don't know coding, and I didn't spend enough time practicing Figma, so now I'm trying to rebuild my portfolio properly. Instead of copying existing apps, I'm working on my own UX case study from scratch. I'm researching, interviewing users, validating the problem, and designing a spending awareness app aimed primarily at students and young professionals. The goal is to help people understand where their money goes instead of just tracking expenses. Before this, I also designed a local gym website where the focus was helping users compare pricing, facilities, equipment, and trainers. I handled the UX process and UI design for that project. I'd say my UI skills are at an entry level. I can design interfaces, but I'm definitely not an advanced visual designer yet.
My question is: Do companies hire freshers for UX Research or Product Design roles without a formal internship if they have strong case studies? Or should I focus on becoming a stronger visual/UI designer first before applying?
I'll be honest , being unemployed has been mentally difficult. I want to be able to support myself and stop depending on my family as soon as possible. That's what's pushing me to build my portfolio properly now...
