Hey and welcome back to another week! 👋 

In this issue:

• Stand Out With A Unique Approach: See what I do when I want to be guaranteed to be noticed by a company — especially if there is no active role out.

• Workshop With Me: I’m running a workshop showing you how to craft a 60-minute design pitch based on what I describe in today’s article. Also make sure to lock in the exclusive Open Doors discount!

• Jackson’s Portfolio: One of the best I’ve seen in a while. Jackson has carefully crafted interactions, good storytelling and high quality work to show for.

🤝 TODAY’S PARTNER

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Breaking Into the Hidden Job Market as a Designer 🧨

You can have good work, solid experience, and a polished portfolio — and still not land interviews.

But the problem often isn’t that your portfolio is bad.

It’s that you’re only visible where everyone else is looking.

The real opportunities — the ones that don’t get posted publicly — live in the hidden job market.

That’s where companies quietly start thinking about hiring, but haven’t yet written a job ad.

And if you wait until they do, you’re already one of a hundred applicants.

So how do you reach them before everyone else does?

You make yourself impossible to ignore.

Why You’re Probably Invisible

Sending your portfolio cold to a company that hasn’t posted a job is like shouting into the void.

It rarely leads anywhere. There’s no context, no urgency, and no reason for them to care — even if your work is great.

But imagine instead that you reach out to a founder or design lead with something they didn’t expect:

a focused, tangible idea that shows how you can make their product better.

You’ve suddenly changed the conversation.

Now you’re not asking for a job — you’re showing what you could do if they gave you one.

That’s what I call a design pitch.

The Design Pitch: Your Entry Ticket to the Hidden Job Market

A design pitch is a small, self-initiated case study that focuses on one concrete improvement for a product you admire or want to work on.

It’s not a redesign for Dribbble. It’s not a fantasy project.

It’s a real, thought-out, high-signal exercise that says:

It’s the fastest way to show initiative, insight, and value — the three things founders and hiring managers actually pay attention to.

How to Build One

You don’t need months. You don’t even need a full weekend.

One or two hours is often enough if you approach it right.

Here’s the process:

1. Pick the right companyLook for recently funded teams on platforms like Wellfound or Crunchbase.

   Choose one where your skills and interests align with their product.

   Early-stage startups are perfect because design resources are usually stretched thin.

2. Learn their product and problem

   Use the product as if you were a real user. Take screenshots, note friction points, and look at user reviews.

   Try to understand what the company is actually solving and how it positions itself in the market.

3. Find a leverage point

   You don’t need to rethink their entire product.

   Spot one thing that could meaningfully improve user experience, clarity, or conversion.

   Example: tightening an onboarding flow, simplifying a pricing page, improving readability in the dashboard.

4. Design fast

   Spend 60 minutes creating one or two focused visuals.

   Keep fidelity high enough to feel real, but not so polished that it looks like you spent days on it.

5. Explain your reasoning

   Write a short paragraph describing:

   • What problem you saw

   • Why it matters

   • What you changed and why

   • The potential impact

6. Reach out directly

   Send it to the founder or design lead with a short, respectful message:

You’re not pitching yourself as a candidate — you’re demonstrating value.

Even if they don’t reply, you’ve just created a strong, real-world piece for your portfolio.

Why This Matters Even More Now

The hiring landscape has shifted.

The old distinctions between “junior” and “mid-level” are dissolving. I talked about that before.

Most teams don’t care how many years you’ve been in design or where you studied — they care if you can do the work and think clearly while doing it.

If you can demonstrate that in a way that’s quick, relevant, and high-signal, you’re already far ahead of the competition.

A 60-minute design pitch does exactly that.

It shows that you can:

• Identify real problems worth solving

• Produce tangible results fast

• Think about the business, not just the interface

That combination is what gets people hired now — not credentials, not internships, and not certificates.

So if you can show the quality of your thinking through a single, well-chosen example, that’s often all it takes to get a foot in the door.

See It in Action

One of my favorite examples of this approach working in practice is Jack Bernstein, who used this exact method to secure freelance work and full-time roles by approaching companies directly with mini case studies. He didn’t wait for job listings — he created his own opportunities.

And that’s exactly the method I’ll be teaching live later this month.

If you want to watch me go through this process — picking a company, exploring its product, identifying opportunities, and building a focused design pitch in real time — you can join my upcoming workshop.

You’ll see how to structure your own version, apply it to the roles or clients you want, and walk away with a replicable framework to use anytime you want to get on someone’s radar.

(Scroll down for all details — including an exclusive discount for Open Doors readers.)

TL;DR

There’s a hidden job market — and you can’t access it by waiting for listings.

The fastest way in is to show initiative through a targeted, thoughtful design pitch.

It’s one of the most powerful ways to turn “I like this company” into “I’m on their radar.”

If you want to see the process in action and learn to build your own pitch live, check the section about the workshop — and make sure to sign up early as my workshops tend to sell out quickly!

🎙️ SEE ME CRAFT A 60-MINUTE DESIGN PITCH LIVE

Workshop | The 60-Minute Design Pitch: From Overlooked to Unmissable

Tired of sending portfolios that vanish into hiring managers’ inboxes?

​In this live, 90-minute sprint, you’ll learn a repeatable framework for turning just one hour into a compelling mini case study that makes your design thinking impossible to ignore.

​Follow me, as I research, frame, and prototype a small improvement idea live. Then, apply the same process yourself using provided templates.

​You’ll leave with a method to pitch yourself confidently, a toolkit you can reuse for take-home assignments or quick portfolio projects, and a way to showcase your problem-solving skills even with limited time or access.

When? Tuesday, November 25 (5:30PM - 7:00PM GMT+1)
Where? Online via Zoom

Open Doors readers get an exclusive 20% off by using the code FLORIAN20 at checkout!

👀 Portfolio Showcase

Today: Jackson Ringger

Jackson Ringger’s portfolio is a masterclass in clarity, craft, and control.

A recent graduate now working across contract and freelance projects, Jackson’s portfolio feels anything but junior. Every inch of it is deliberate — from how he greets you on the landing screen to how he guides you through complex case studies. It’s the kind of portfolio that instantly makes you think, “I’d like to work with this person.”

What stands out first is the feeling of polish. Jackson positions himself as a product and visual designer, and that balance holds true throughout. His work is beautiful without being overdesigned, functional without being flat. He understands hierarchy, motion, and restraint — three things that even many senior designers still struggle with.

It’s rare that I look at a portfolio and can immediately imagine a range of teams wanting to reach out — from SaaS products that need clarity and control, to consumer apps that want style and charm. But that’s where Jackson’s work lands: right in that sweet spot of taste, maturity, and execution.

That’s it for this week—thanks so much for the support! ♥️

Do you want your own portfolio reviewed in-depth with a 30-minute advice-packed video review? Or do you require mentoring to figure out a proper strategy for your job search?

I got you!

• Book an in-depth portfolio or resume review with me

• Book a mentoring session with me

• Book a quick 15 min chat to ask a question and see if we vibe

Keep kicking doors open and see you next week!
- Florian