UX Writer Jobs: Udemy, Amazon & Deliveroo

A jobs newsletter written by Gordon Macrae. Are you a hiring manager looking for candidates? Then get in touch and your role could be featured in this email next month. Just reply to this email. Exciting.

Klaus Kremmerz

A lot of people are suffering right now, but you already knew that. I'm not going to list the ways life has changed since I last wrote this email. I feel like some practical tips are the best use of your time and mine.

Video interviews are not like in-person interviews. If in-person is like the theatre, online is like cinema. You have to pace your dialogue and frame your shots appropriately.

There is less space for improv. Where you might rely on wit and charm to see you through an in-person interview, online you have to be more deliberate and more scripted.

That's not to say it is harder, but it is different.

What follows are a few tips and tricks I've picked up over the last few years. Take them, ignore them, use them as you so wish.

It seems like we'll all be interviewing and working online for a while. It's harder to create a good first impression when meeting someone online. What follows should make you really good at it. It's the small things that give you an edge after all.

Set Your Frame
- When placing yourself on-screen, follow the rule of thirds. You should aim to position your eyes one-third of the way from the top of the screen and two-thirds of the way from the bottom of the screen
- You should aim for your body to be in the centre of the screen as much as possible
- If you use your hands a lot, consider positioning yourself further back so you have more of your body in the frame. You can use your hands to express yourself more in this position
- If you don't have a separate webcam (and Amazon is mostly sold out these days), try to raise your device on some books or boxes so it is at eye-level
- If you are struggling to look directly at the camera, resize the video conference window to make it smaller and put it at the top of the screen. That way it seems like you are looking (almost) directly into the camera and people will feel more engaged
Background
- Feel free to use a virtual background if you like. Personally, I find them a little tacky. It's much better to set your background yourself (if you can)
- Try to have a clear, neutral background if possible. A bookcase or piece of art is fine but remember, people will obsess over what's in your background so be careful what's back there
- If this isn't possible, always try to position yourself as far away from what's behind you as possible, to provide a sense of depth to the frame
- A common mistake is to only think about what's behind. If there's something happening off to the side of your monitor that's going to be distracting to you so make sure your sightlines are clear before you have a video call
Sound
- Try to use a headset with a microphone (standard Apple earphones are fine), this will reduce the echo for you and the participants
- Personally, I'd steer clear of Bluetooth headphones as the sound quality is so variable, and they add can add extra latency
- Make sure your microphone doesn't rub against your clothes!
- There's a maxim in film-making that says people will watch a film with great sound and poor visuals but they will NOT watch a film with GREAT VISUALS & BAD SOUND
Lighting
- If your room gets a lot of sunlight, shut the blinds or curtains so there's no direct light coming into the room (this can often create visual flares on video calls)
- Avoid having a light shining directly in your face (it makes you look like a hostage) or any bright lights behind you (it makes you look like you're trying to conceal your identity)
- Try to have some soft light shining on your face. You can create this effect by having a light bounce off the wall behind your monitor

Nobody knows when things will go back to normal. Or even if the new normal will be like the old normal. So I'm not including locations on the jobs this month.

It just feels a little odd to stipulate a location, when we're all tapping out words from a lot of locations.

Here we go.

North America Jobs

Amazon is looking for a Senior UX Writer. Udemy wants a Senior Content Strategist. Rally Health is after a UX Writer. Ring Central would like a Content Strategist Director. So would Rivian, Ring and Blink (those are real companies). Google, Microsoft and Amazon Alexa are also hiring.

Europe Jobs

Avalara wants a UX Writer. Castle Hill is recruiting for a UX Writer. SamKnows are after a Content Designer/UX Writer. Deliveroo is hiring for a Senior UX Writer. Klarna would like a UX Writer. Vodafone is on the hunt for a Content Designer as are a lot of places in the UK Civil Service. Spotify wants a Senior UX Writer. And Fiverr would quite like a UX Writer too.

About

My name is Gordon Macrae. Got a job tip or opinions about UX writing roles? I’d love to hear from you, reply directly to this email.

Do you have a role you’d like to feature in the newsletter? Send them to jobs@uxwriterscollective.com.

Good luck out there!

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