u/KhlarisaDupont00

I’m struggling with something that has started to seriously affect how I think about my career. I believe I’m experiencing severe appearance-based discrimination in hiring. I’ve had repeated experiences where I felt that hiring managers judged me very negatively because of how I look, rather than because of my skills or the quality of my work. Yesterday, I spoke with some hiring managers who essentially told me that, given my situation, I should focus on careers where I can remain mostly invisible and where appearance supposedly matters as little as possible, things like backend development, data work, etc. The problem is: AI. Those jobs are highly automated, so only jobs where being presentable is a requirement left. If appearance discrimination is severe enough that I’m systematically rejected from jobs involving presentations, which non physical jobs are left? I also don’t currently have the money to go back to university for another degree just to switch into a more technical field. So I’m trying to figure out what the realistic options are.I’m not looking for reassurance that “appearance doesn’t matter.” I’m looking for practical advice from people who have actually dealt with this.

This might be a somewhat unusual question, but it’s something I’ve been thinking about seriously.

I want to become a UI/UX designer, but I've had several experiences with hiring managers telling me, directly or indirectly, that because of the way my face looks, I wouldn’t be suitable for roles where I’d have to be visible to clients.

I'm not talking about being on camera occasionally. I mean situations where being present in client meetings, video calls, presentations, etc. is considered part of the job.

After hearing this multiple times, I’ve started wondering whether I should build my career around roles where I can contribute primarily through my design work without having to show my face.

For those of you working in UI/UX:

• How client-facing is the average UI/UX designer role?
• Are there UI/UX jobs where you can mostly work behind the scenes?
• Is it realistic to build a career where most communication happens through written messages, presentations, prototypes, or async collaboration?
• How much does physical appearance actually matter once you have a strong portfolio and experience?
• Are there specific types of UI/UX roles or companies I should target if I want to minimize face-to-face/client-facing work?

I’d really appreciate hearing from people who actually work in the industry, especially anyone who has managed to build a career without being particularly client-facing.

I’m not looking for sympathy, I'm genuinely trying to understand whether this is a realistic career path for me and, if so, what I should focus on.

This might be a somewhat unusual question, but it’s something I’ve been thinking about seriously.

I want to become a UI/UX designer, but I've had several experiences with hiring managers telling me, directly or indirectly, that because of the way my face looks, I wouldn’t be suitable for roles where I’d have to be visible to clients.

I'm not talking about being on camera occasionally. I mean situations where being present in client meetings, video calls, presentations, etc. is considered part of the job.

After hearing this multiple times, I’ve started wondering whether I should build my career around roles where I can contribute primarily through my design work without having to show my face.

For those of you working in UI/UX:

• How client-facing is the average UI/UX designer role?
• Are there UI/UX jobs where you can mostly work behind the scenes?
• Is it realistic to build a career where most communication happens through written messages, presentations, prototypes, or async collaboration?
• How much does physical appearance actually matter once you have a strong portfolio and experience?
• Are there specific types of UI/UX roles or companies I should target if I want to minimize face-to-face/client-facing work?

I’d really appreciate hearing from people who actually work in the industry, especially anyone who has managed to build a career without being particularly client-facing.

I’m not looking for sympathy, I'm genuinely trying to understand whether this is a realistic career path for me and, if so, what I should focus on.

I posted my face on reddit and asked whether I’m too unattractive to work in client-facing roles. The photos were all taken with makeup, styled hair, and nice clothes.

Unfortunately, almost all of the comments told me that despite the effort I put into my appearance, I’m "genetically a 1/10" and have a "deformed face." Some people said I would be rejected from essentially all client-facing jobs and that I should stick to completely back-office or technical roles.

The problem is, I really want to become a UIUX designer. UIUX is something I’m genuinely interested in, and I don’t want to give up on it just because my appearence blocks me.

How much does appearance actually matter in UIUX? Am I being unrealistic about pursuing this career, or should I just ignore those comments and focus on building my skills and portfolio?

I’d really appreciate honest but constructive advice.