Breaking into UX: Case Studies and Portfolio Pieces to Help You Land Offers in 2025

In our last article, we celebrated the success of past cohorts and the accomplishments of Team Tempo. Today, we’re focusing on the future: What kind of UX projects and case studies will help you break into the industry in 2025? What qualities make them stand out, and how should you evaluate opportunities to ensure they elevate your portfolio?

We worked with four big tech recruiters and two hiring managers to break down the key factors they look for in work experiences, portfolios, and case studies. Here are the four categories that matter most, emphasizing quality over quantity—one strong case study is often all you need to land the interview.

1. Evaluating Your Company Tier

Uber Tier: Big Tech Internship

If you’re already working at major tech companies (Google, Meta, Amazon), you’re in the best possible position. But if not, let’s explore the second-best options.

Super Tier: Midsize Companies or High-Impact Startups

Working with YC/A16z-backed startups or midsize companies in AI or innovative fields shows recruiters you’re passionate and capable. These projects often feature strong development teams and mentors, providing great networking opportunities for future business or academic ambitions.

Good Tier: Established Small Businesses or Nonprofits

These organizations can offer meaningful experiences and tangible projects for your portfolio. If they have strong dev teams and social impact, that’s a bonus.

Okay Tier: Unpaid Volunteering

Volunteering for nonprofits can provide valuable experience, but be cautious of projects with weak engineering support. These projects are still worthwhile if you have no other case studies.

Subpar Tier: School Projects or Hackathons

While good for learning, these lack real-world impact. To make them stand out, aim for awards or turn them into a startup—but on their own, they may fall short of what hiring managers expect.

2. The Importance of Your Design Team

Uber/Super Tier: Big Tech Mentors

Working with experienced mentors from major tech companies can transform your project. Not only do they guide your work, but they also provide valuable references for future job applications or even graduate programs like an MBA or HCI master’s.

Subpar Tier: Contractors or Less-Experienced Leads

Avoid teams where the design lead lacks industry experience or mentorship. This can slow your growth and leave you without strong references.

Worst Tier: Solo or Volunteer-Heavy Teams

If you’re working alone or in a team of interns without guidance, you’ll need to do extra self-learning. This can be a challenging environment to grow in, so seek out external resources if necessary.

3. Cross-Functional Team Experience

Uber Tier: Dedicated PMs and Developers

Collaboration with product managers and developers is key. Ideally, you’ll work with cross-functional teams that mirror the workflows of large companies, making your experience highly relevant to hiring managers.

Bad Tier: No Cross-Functional Feedback

If your project doesn’t include feedback from PMs or devs, it’ll be harder to address common interview questions or demonstrate your real-world experience.

4. Choosing the Right Project Type

Bad Tier: Simple Website Redesigns

Avoid these unless you want to gain basic experience. These projects offer little in terms of UX complexity or value for recruiters.

Good Tier: Complex Dashboards and AI Products

Recruiters are drawn to case studies that feature complex systems—like AI-driven tools or intricate dashboards. These projects demonstrate both your design skills and problem-solving abilities.

Fun Projects: AR/VR

Passion projects involving AR/VR or cutting-edge tech are niche but attractive to companies like Meta. These fields are growing, and such projects can make your portfolio stand out.

Cohort Spotlight: Real Projects with Real Impact

Now that you know how recruiters rank projects, here’s an example from our upcoming cohort: Butternut, the world’s first text-to-website builder, which creates multi-page websites from a single prompt. This project ranks in the Uber or Super tiers, with UX managers from big tech guiding our teams over ten weeks.

We’re also excited to partner with AI companion app developers and women in tech leaders, including a former Head of Engineering at Stripe/Google. These mentors offer invaluable support, especially for the 80% of our members who are women in tech.

With half of our spots already filled from early applications, we encourage you to apply for our advanced internship project courses. In our next story, we’ll spotlight how our coaches from Meta, Microsoft, Google, and more will help you build the critical skills needed to get hired in just 10 weeks.

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