I’m working toward a career reset. I recently interviewed an acquaintance about his career as an in-house UX researcher and then later as a consultant. I have been doing these interviews as part of my alternative career exploration process and I believe that UX Design and Research would be a good fit for my interests and capabilities.

My background provides me a strong base with the soft skills side of the job (strategic communications, empathic interviewing, collaborative design work, etc); however, I would like to develop more job specific skills before I attempt to approach companies in my area (Minneapolis).

I am on contract in my current position until fall 2019, and I would like to use this time to build out a resume and adequate experience to make a run at entry level positions.

Can anyone with experience in this field offer general observations about:

1: base level expectations for knowledge/experience to acquire an entry level position in the field

and

2: specific resources that would be valuable sources of knowledge or best practices (books, blogs, discussion forums, slack channels, etc.)