Your previous career isn't baggage. It's the edge most designers would kill for.
A portfolio strategy for career switchers.
After mass layoffs, senior designers flooded the same entry-level pool you're trying to break into. AI took the simple tasks juniors used to learn from. Some people spend years in unpaid internships going nowhere.
That's not a skills problem. That's a positioning problem.
Your certificate won't save you — every inbox is full of them. But your ten years in hospitality, retail, healthcare, or logistics? No bootcamp grad can fake that. Domain expertise is the rarest thing in any UX room, and you already have it.
Your past isn't a liability. It's your edge.
1
Apply and tell us your story
We review each application ourselves. This isn't a funnel — it's a filter. We only take people we're confident we can help.
2
Get your personal acceptance email
Not an automated receipt. A real email from a real person who read what you wrote and believes you're ready. That's when you know you're in.
3
Reposition, build, get hired
Reframe your experience as your edge. Build a portfolio that makes you the obvious choice. Enter interviews with the confidence of someone who knows their value.
A positioning strategy that sets you apart
Stop leading with your certificate. Identify your niche and own it. Make each application feel tailored to that company—because it is.
2 case studies that make hiring managers stop scrolling
Not five mediocre ones. Two that show real research, real decision-making, and real business impact. Built the way senior designers build them — problem first, deliverables second.
A portfolio that works in 10 seconds
Who you are and what you solve — instantly clear. Structure, visual presentation, and the mistakes that make strong work look weak. We cover all of it.
Interview preparation that actually prepares you
Discuss your process with clarity. Defend your choices with confidence. Walk into any room as the expert, not the career changer asking for a chance.
Most career changers make the same mistake: they hide their background and try to look like junior designers with no previous experience. This module shows you why that's the wrong strategy — and how to flip it. You'll identify your niche, define your unique angle, and build the positioning foundation that makes everything else — your portfolio, your case studies, your interviews — work harder.
You’ll learn how to:
✔ Find the industry niche that fits your background
✔ Reframe your experience as domain expertise, not baggage
✔ Define a clear professional stance that runs through your entire presence
✔ Write a personal positioning statement hiring managers remember
Hiring managers don't want to see your process. They want to see your thinking. This module shows you how to create 2 case studies like senior designers. You’ll start with the problem, finish with the impact, and highlight the decisions made along the way. For most students, that means building new projects rooted in your niche. The course shows you exactly how.
You’ll learn how to:
✔ Choose the right two projects to feature — and why they should come from your niche, not your bootcamp
✔ Build new projects if you need to — the course shows you how, step by step
✔ Frame each case study by focusing on the problem, your choices, and the outcome — not just what you created
✔ Show real research with real depth — not personas you made up
✔ Make your domain expertise visible throughout the work
A step-by-step walkthrough from blank canvas to published portfolio. You'll learn what recruiters look for in the first 10 seconds, how to present your work visually, and how to make your positioning come through on every page — not just the case studies.
You’ll learn how to:
✔ Build a portfolio website. No tech skills needed
✔ Make your portfolio easy to scan. Keep it clear so managers can understand it in under 10 seconds
✔ Write your About page with your niche. Not your certificate.
✔ Your résumé, LinkedIn, and portfolio should all match. This module shows you how.
Learn how to apply, interview, and pick the right offer. You'll know which roles to go after, how to talk about your work, and how to show up as an expert. You’ll also learn to spot red flags early. These include predatory internships, companies that exploit career changers, and first-job traps that set you back instead of forward.
You’ll learn how to:
✔ Find roles that fit your background and niche
✔ Apply with a plan. Not to every job you see
✔ Talk through your case studies. Stand behind your decisions
✔ Handle the "you don't have real UX experience" question
✔ Spot red flags in job ads and interviews before it's too late
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Freelance UX designer
Indrė Čingaitė
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Position, Company name
Name Surname
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Position, Company name
Name Surname
Gytis Markevicius
Senior Product Designer · Founder, GytisMark Studio · Educator
I have designed digital products for almost 10 years. I work with Toptal, where I’m in the top 3% of designers worldwide. I run GytisMark, a product design studio. My clients include fintech companies, health startups, AI tools and more.
I didn't study design. I studied neuroscience and psychology. Understanding why people behave the way they do — that's the whole job.
I switched to UX nine years ago, without a portfolio or design background. So when I say your previous career is an advantage, I'm not being motivational. I've watched it play out — in my own work and in the work of everyone I've helped since.
9+
3%
20+
Companies Gytis has designed for
My wife was pregnant with our first child. A major project I'd been on for two years had just ended. I needed a new client fast and I was confident I'd find one quickly. Instead I got rejected. Then again. Then again.
We were in Prague for a few days — an a cappella concert I'd been looking forward to. I couldn't enjoy a minute of it. I reached out to the recruiters at Toptal, where most of my clients came from, and asked them directly: what's wrong?
They told me my portfolio didn't look like something businesses were looking for. That it was too flashy and didn’t look trustworthy.
That's when I looked at it properly for the first time in years. I had one of my juniors redesign it— give it a new fresh look, more colorful, more visually interesting. I'd never questioned it. The work inside was good. I just assumed the rest was fine too.
It wasn't. It was designed to impress other designers. Not to convince a business to trust you with their product.
So I sat down — right there in Prague — and rebuilt the whole thing in a day. Based on what businesses actually wanted to see. My positioning, my niche, my way of solving problems in a package that was appropriate for my clients.
I had a new client within days.
That day is where this course came from. Not from theory. From sitting in a hotel room, our first child two months away, figuring it out at a hotel desk in Prague, figuring out what actually works and finally putting all those years of experience into strategy and portfolio that works.
I'm not the hero of this story. You are. I'm just handing you the map I wish I'd had.
That experience is what this course is built on.
— Gytis
June 15, 2026
Career changers who are already learning or practising UX — and want to turn that into a job. You might be mid-bootcamp, recently certified, or self-taught with a few projects under your belt. What you have in common is a previous career in another field, and the sense that it should be working harder for you than it is.
Yes — one or the other. This course doesn't teach UX from scratch. It teaches you how to position and present the UX skills you already have. If you're still in the early weeks of a bootcamp with no projects yet, finish that first, then come back. If you have a certificate, some self-taught UX work, or real job experience in UX — you're ready.
Not yet — this is the first cohort. I can show you ten years of client work, plus real testimonials from CEOs and CTOs I’ve designed for. I also have a personal application process. I only accept people I’m sure I can help. If that's not enough to go on, I'd rather you wait until reviews exist than join with doubt.
In most cases, no — and that's a good thing.This course centres on a different idea. Your edge as a UX designer is not your bootcamp. It's the career you had before it.
If you spent 10 years in retail, that's your niche. Retail companies struggle to find a UX designer who knows their world. You do.
Your case studies should come from that world, not from general bootcamp briefs. Most students need to build new projects. The course shows you exactly how to do that, step by step.It's more work up front. But it's also what changes your positioning for good.
No. You’ll create your portfolio with easy website builders. No coding needed.
We'll share the full breakdown when the cohort opens. What we can tell you is that it's built around doing, not just watching — so the time you put in goes directly toward a finished portfolio, not passive learning.
That depends on how much time you commit each week. We'll give you a realistic estimate when the cohort details are confirmed. If you want to be first to know, join the waitlist.
No course can promise you a job. What this does is make sure your portfolio, positioning, and interview answers are no longer the reason you're not getting one.
Yes — it's built specifically for people switching from another career. Your previous experience isn't a gap to explain away. It's the foundation the whole course is built on.
Because you get immediate access to all templates and materials, we don't offer refunds. If you have any concerns before joining, email me directly — I'd rather answer your questions upfront than have you join with doubt.
This isn't for you if you lack UX training or work experience.
If you don't have either, you're not ready yet.
It's not for you if you want a quick portfolio refresh
This goes deeper — it means rethinking how you present yourself from the ground up.
It's not for you if you're not willing to put in the work
You'll create new projects in your niche and write real case studies around it. Nobody can do that part for you.
It's not for you if you're looking for someone to hand you the result
We share our system and guide you all the way. You do the work. We help and support you.
You have the training, a past career behind you, and you're ready to do the work. Then this is the right decision.
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