Getting your dream job at 7shifts
How design principles and attributes help hiring managers choose the best designers.
I have a lot of empathy toward people navigating the uncharted waters of seeking out new career opportunities. There can be so many loose ends to the process, several interviews, and points of contact that it becomes unclear if you actually want to pursue the opportunity at all.
Aside from the actual process, we tend to put a lot of emphasis on the importance of the job description to demonstrate the qualities companies look for in ideal candidates. Unfortunately job descriptions can be unclear, wordy, and full of industry jargon copied and pasted from other job boards for similar roles.
While the job description is good for broad strokes, it doesn’t (at least in my experience) enable hiring managers to quickly measure the team, culture, or behaviour fit of candidates.
This is what I hope this article can help with. In order for the candidate to understand team fit we need to set better expectations for those applying. Likewise, hiring managers need a way to determine if candidates demonstrate the behaviours we’re looking for. Finally, we want to give concrete feedback for candidates who may have been rejected somewhere along the way.
We determined we needed to define some clear attributes that align with our in-house design principles. Here’s what we’ve defined at 7shifts to help determine if a candidate is a good fit for our team in alignment to the role and responsibilities for both individual contributor and management positions.
The starting point: design principles
These principles are used to align the team towards a common understanding of how we produce great outcomes for our customers. We have referenced these in casual conversations, design critiques, and are developing design principle cards which act as a quality checklist for designers moving through the process.
You’ll notice that these not only speak to producing great digital experiences, but they also apply to creating positive touch points across the entire customer journey.
Wait, but why?
Dig to the core “why” behind all information presented. Create solutions with empathy.
Who’s this for?
Practice inclusion by understanding people’s needs and adapting to changing demands.
Design in the open
Invite continuous feedback to ensure ideas fail fast when it’s easy and cheap to pivot.
Remove unnecessary
Always pare down to the smallest change while dreaming of the big picture.
Deliver with delight
Build trust by following through and delivering great experiences.
We developed these as a team a couple of years ago and they continue to prove their value in our approach to design.
Designer attributes
Now that you know the principles, the next step is understanding how those ideals translate to behaviours and skillsets of candidates that make it through the hiring process.
We sprinkle in some of 7shifts’ core values and other models that have been engrained in our culture by our CEO and leadership team. Things like speed as a habit, radical candor, and growth mindset are just some of the elements that make our culture a force to be reckoned with. We’re also obsessed with our customer which plays a big role in how we choose team members.
These principles can still leave a lot of grey area for making those hiring decisions. This is where the following attributes clarify what we look for and continue to develop in designers as they pursue their career growth at 7shifts.
Wait, but why?
Dig to the core “why” behind all information presented. Create solutions with empathy.
Curious and resourceful
Demonstrates they want to understand why things are the way they are to get to the bottom of problems. Brings knowledge to teams.
Data-driven design
Demonstrates they use data and research to drive design decisions. Presents a strong rationale with data when sharing designs.
Growth mindset and learns from mistakes
Demonstrates they continuously grow and develop their hard and soft skills. Sees mistakes as learning opportunities.
Runs towards problems
Organized, can work through tasks effectively, and can take initiative on new projects and opportunities without being told.
Self aware
Showing awareness of different aspects of themselves including strengths, weaknesses, skills, and behaviours.
Who’s this for?
Practice inclusion by understanding people’s needs and adapting to changing demands.
Understands users and their problems
Strive to deeply understand our users and their problems and pain. Understanding the context of how the product is used and how it fits into the users everyday life. Empathize.
Balances users and business goals
Strives to balance the user goals with business goals. Frames things as goals or objectives.
Delivers designs for target user
Design solutions effectively address target users problems identified in research.
Advocates for the user
Stands up for the user and advocates for their needs in team discussions. Strives to create the best user experience for restaurant teams.
Design in the Open
Invite continuous feedback to ensure ideas fail fast when it’s easy and cheap to pivot.
Excellent communication skills
Excellent written and verbal skills to clearly communicate ideas and information to teammates. Listens attentively and considers others’ thoughts and feedback.
Collaborative and works effectively on teams
Has experience working effectively with cross-functional teams. Collaborates with teammates to identify and solve problems. Handles conflict gracefully.
Flexible and open to new ideas
They approach and embrace new information from others. Adapts and changes course as new relevant information becomes available.
Seeks feedback early and often
They seek feedback on a workflow, prototype, or napkin sketch at every stage of the project. They don’t waste time by working toward a grand reveal.
Gives and receives criticism well
Approaches criticism head-on and objectively. Does not take criticism as a personal attack. Uses radical candour when giving feedback.
Remove unnecessary
Always pare down to the smallest change while dreaming of the big picture.
Explore and experiment
Explores several different ideas and solutions. Understands the tradeoffs between each solution. Validate solution’s usability, viability and feasibility.
Speed as a habit
Demonstrate they can move through several ideas and can make decisions quickly. They don’t get caught up in details, wait until things are perfect, or need to have all the information to move forward.
Product innovation through iteration
Collects feedback and creates small yet valuable iterations to improve a product.
Solve with simplicity
Finds the simplest path toward a user goal and reduces bloat wherever possible.
Deliver with delight
Build trust by following through and delivering great experiences.
Well rounded design skills across the entire design process
Demonstrates a good understanding of practices across the entire design process.
Designs experiences, not screens
Demonstrates the ability to think about entire experiences; not just screens. Consider how experiences fit across the customer journey and into users’ lives.
Owns what gets shipped
Can actually get work shipped and takes ownership of what gets shipped. Define success and ensures that progress is made towards the goal.
Creates beautiful and consistent interfaces
Consider the principles of art and design like typography, spacing, alignment, colours, and balance. Consistent use of visual elements and components across interfaces.
This is how we measure the qualities for each candidate and it’s helped us hire great people for our team and provides a framework to elevate our team’s performance moving forward.
Questions? Maybe these will help answer.
Do I need to have all these perfected before applying?
No. It’s impossible for people to have every quality completely aced, so don’t let the long list discourage you. There are certainly baselines that determine what level each designer starts (i.e. Jr, Intermediate, Sr., etc.), but candidates may show promise in certain attributes and benefit from coaching and practice with more experienced team mates. We’ve created a culture that encourages continuous growth and we provide ongoing coaching, stretch projects, and learning benefits (we pay for your books and certain video games!) for personal development.
How does equity and inclusion play into these attributes?
Each candidate brings their own personality to these attributes through different experiences, cultural backgrounds, and belief systems. It’s important for us to have an employee base that is representative of our customer base in an effort to create the best user experience.
What if I’m transitioning into Design from another industry?
Professional background can be a common question for candidates that aren’t traditionally trained in Design, or transitioning into design through bootcamp programs. We have designers that have anthropology backgrounds, straight out of computer science programs, previously account managers, and I personally grew up in construction. The beauty of these attributes is the majority can be demonstrated by anyone with the exception of some hard skills in design execution.
How can I apply my specialty to the position?
Often times we look for experience in a certain specialization such as user research, content design, growth design, or FE development to help fill the gaps that may be in the team. This is where we work with you to develop stretch projects or build a strategy for improving the team’s skills in those areas.
I hope this helps you understand what we’re looking for in each designer and maybe it clarifies what you need to secure your dream job at 7shifts. If you see something you want to learn more about—or just talk shop—I’d love for you to reach out!
Dan Stumph is the Director of Design at 7shifts, a team management platform built to improve performance for restaurants. He enjoys meeting new people, dreaming up big ideas, and trying new coffee shops.
Reach out to learn more about 7shifts or grab a virtual coffee! ☕️
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