Joseph here.

I’m opening 6 spots for the June intake of The Backdoor, and I wanted to share it with you directly.

This is something I’ve been thinking about for a while.

For the last year and a half, I’ve tried a few different ways of helping designers move through the job search. Courses. Group support. Calls. Tools. Different formats.

And the thing I keep coming back to is this:

The biggest transformation happens when I work with someone 1:1.

Not because information is missing.

Most experienced designers already have plenty of information.

The real shift happens when we sit down together, look at their actual portfolio, resume, LinkedIn, career story, target roles, outreach, interviews, and negotiation, and make the work more visible, more specific, and easier for hiring managers to trust.

Over the past few weeks and months, I’ve also been building the AI coaching tools I now use with clients.

They help us move much faster.

A case study that used to take two or three sessions to untangle can now start taking shape in one session.

The first draft of a resume, LinkedIn profile, outreach message, interview answer, or negotiation script no longer takes weeks of staring at a blank page and questioning every career decision you’ve ever made.

The tools don’t replace the coaching.

They make the coaching sharper.

They help us get to the real work faster: positioning, judgement, story, direction, and making sure the material actually sounds like you.

That’s why I’m opening The Backdoor in this format.

6 weeks.

1:1 with me.

Supported by the same custom AI tools I use in the coaching process.

And built around one thing I think experienced designers need more than ever:

Career skills.

Not just craft skills.

Craft matters, of course.

But a lot of the designers I speak to are already strong at the craft. They’ve shipped real work. They’ve handled messy stakeholders. They’ve led projects. They’ve mentored others. They’ve made decisions that changed outcomes.

The issue is not that they can’t do the work.

The issue is that the market can’t see their level clearly enough.

That’s a career skill problem.

Positioning yourself is a career skill.

Writing a case study that shows judgement and impact is a career skill.

Building a LinkedIn profile that makes recruiters understand where you fit is a career skill.

Talking to strangers without feeling weird is a career skill.

Reaching hiring managers directly is a career skill.

Interviewing in a way that builds trust is a career skill.

Negotiating without shrinking is a career skill.

Planning your first 90 days so you can show up as the obvious hire is a career skill.

These are the skills that carry you through this job search, the next one, and the one after that.

And I think this is where a lot of experienced designers are getting caught right now.

For the first few months of a search, it can feel confusing but still manageable.

You think:

I have the skills.

I have the experience.

This should be fine.

Especially if five or ten years ago, recruiters were reaching out, opportunities came through your network, or the search just felt easier.

But the market is noisier now.

There are more people applying. More generic portfolios. More AI-written resumes. More people saying the same things. More hiring teams moving slowly. More roles where the real conversation starts before the job post goes live.

So three months pass.

Then five.

Then nine.

And suddenly the problem is not just the job search.

It starts touching your confidence, your finances, your health, your relationships, and the way you see yourself.

That is the part I hate seeing.

Because I don’t think most people are lazy.

I don’t think they are not trying hard enough.

A lot of them are trying very hard.

They are just working inside a system that is no longer giving them the same response.

And the hardest part is that by the time many people finally ask for help, they are already tired, stretched, and more careful with money than they were three or six months earlier.

I wish more people got help earlier.

Not because everyone needs coaching.

But because the right help at the right time can shorten the loop.

And the work we do here is not just for this search.

Once you learn how to position your experience, tell your story, build the right conversations, interview with more trust, and negotiate from a clearer sense of value, that stays with you.

You’ll use it again.

You’ll teach it to your peers, mentees, team, partner, and maybe even your kids one day.

That’s why I’m keeping this intake to 6 people.

I want to work closely with the people who join.

I want to give real attention to the portfolio, the story, the search, the doubts, the trade-offs, and the decisions that only show up when we’re actually doing the work together.

The last group of people I worked with all landed roles, except one person who was already in a strong role and was exploring a more meaningful next path.

I don’t always share those stories publicly because many of my clients are private people, and I respect that.

But I’ve seen enough now to know what works.

The Backdoor is my 6-week 1:1 career sprint for experienced designers who are ready to become more visible for the roles they actually want.

In 6 weeks, we’ll work on your portfolio story, resume, LinkedIn, right-fit targeting, outreach, interview narrative, and negotiation plan.

You’ll also get access to the custom AI coaching tools that help speed up the work between calls, plus 12 months inside the Monday group course and community.

I wrote the full details here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mci8w5E9so_a5hjT1zIqjYM6W5EKfUooGmWtaUJLe_0/preview

If this feels relevant, read the invite.

See if it makes sense for where you are right now.

I don’t think I need to sell you on the maths of a better role, a better salary, or the opportunity cost of waiting.

You’re smart enough to know that already.

The real question is whether this is the kind of help you want right now.

If it is, reply “I’m in” and I’ll send you the enrollment details.

Joseph

P.S. You probably know how to “get fit” too. Eat better, train consistently, sleep more. Simple. Not easy. Career growth is similar. Sometimes the difference is having someone beside you who can see what you can’t see yet, keep you honest, and help you move faster.