​What does the design job market look like right now and how can designers stand out?

​Join Carl Wheatley and Design Buddies for a candid conversation on hiring for UX, product design, design engineering, and founding designer roles in the age of AI.

​Carl Wheatley is a design talent partner and founder of X2Talent. A former founding and product designer, he has 10+ years of experience building and scaling design and product teams at Meta, BCG Digital Ventures, and startups. He partners with founders to hire founding designers, product designers, design engineers, and design leaders focusing on craft, problem-solving, and product thinking over keywords.

​Moderated by Grace Ling, founder of Design Buddies!

​We’ll cover where opportunities are concentrated, why on-site and relocation flexibility matter, what recruiters look for in portfolios, and practical ways to get in front of hiring managers.

​Topics include:

• ​The current market for UX, product, founding designer, and design engineering roles

• ​How AI is shaping design roles and candidate expectations

• ​Portfolio advice and common hiring signals

• ​Remote, hybrid, on-site, relocation, and visa considerations

• ​How to build recruiter relationships and navigate the job search

• ​Live Q&A

​Carl is also a mentor on Hop, new design mentorship & coaching platform by Design Buddies. Join Hop as a founding mentor (5+ years professional design experience) or mentee

​About Design Buddies

​Design Buddies is our community where you level up your design career. Land jobs, improve your design skills, and make friends. We have resources, events, design challenges, job boards, fun perks, and more.

​🐰 Join Hop as a founding mentee or mentor@

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​🙌🏻 Partner with us (events, content, sponsorship, and more), email Grace Ling grace@designbuddies.community

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