How To Hire A Designer
By humanizing the interview process.
Over the past two years I’ve interviewed with over 60 Bay Area companies. Everything from a 30 minute phone interview to an accumulative 32 hour onsite at AirBnB. Here’s what I’ve learned:
They’re all the same. Recruiting is hard work; I know first-hand that it costs time, attention, and money. As a designer, finding the right job isn’t cheap either. If you’ve ever taken a vacation day to attend an onsite, or stepped into the hallway for a phone interview, you know how taxing interviewing can be. Re-working your portfolio, gathering artifacts from past work, rekindling your online identity. Not to mention the delicate act of not showing NDA protected work — companies really do ask for this stuff.
At some point I realized I really didn’t want a job.
I wanted to work with people, and the job companies were offering, wasn’t enough of a prize in and of itself. As a candidate — before, during, and after the interview — it’s hard to know what working somewhere will be like. It’s hard to gauge what the people are really like to work with. I left many five-hour-long onsite interviews feeling like I learned nothing about the company, or the people.
Imagine dating someone that asked you out, but never told you much about themselves, always expected you to meet them at their place, and endlessly prompted you to divulge more about yourself. The entire time they controlled every situation. Their only lure is a promise to “go steady” with you; if you have the right dance moves. So dance your ass off, or they’ll ask someone else out. I realized the interview process was mostly at my expense.
After 60 interviews, it’s safe to say I’ve seen it all. Unsurprisingly, always some flavor of the same process. Many times I would leave feeling drained, disappointed, or underwhelmed, but every once in awhile I’d have a delightful interaction. One with sincere consideration for me, as a person.
Below I’ve outlined how to recreate the more rewarding experiences I encountered, and noted some of the typical pain points along the way. I’ve practiced this simple repeatable process, and found that it can save you time, and set both parties up for success:
✉️ The Introduction email:
As an employer:
- Pique their interest. Make it easy for the candidate to get excited about the people and the company. Remember, you haven’t met, and you’re asking someone out for the first time.
- Keep it short, and share interesting details. Include work that the team has done, and consider sharing names (LinkedIn profiles) of team members, so the candidate can get a better idea of who “the team” is.
As the designer:
Dig a little, use google. Spend 10 minutes learning about the people, the company, and the role. If this is the kind of opportunity you’re hungry for, load up on questions.
Intended outcome:
As a company, you’re planting the seed. It’s safe to assume that before this email, the candidate hasn’t imagined working at your company. You’re engaging someone in a conversation, with a shared interest: design.
📞 An Initial Phone call (20 minutes):
Companies often begin by scheduling a one hour “phone interview.” This immediately sets the tone of the conversation to: interview mode. During which you will be prodded with endless questions about yourself. This always left a bad taste in my mouth, because my only context thus far, was an introduction email.
In order to avoid this, I like to keep it short. 15–30 minutes is great.
As an employer:
- Help the candidate understand both the ‘bigger picture’, and immediate needs the team has.
- Talk about the current design process, and expectations for this particular position.
- Talk about current team size & opportunities for growth.
As a Designer:
- Have a list of questions that arose during your 10 minute power-googling session.
- Make sure this role checks all your “career & personal growth” boxes.
- Discuss salary expectations. Most companies will give a ballpark range without knowing much about you. Having ‘the talk’ doesn’t have to be faux pas. You’re just finding a pulse. Figure out if their range includes your target salary. I like to preface this with:
“I’ve had a few startups make pretty weird offers, so before we get too far, I’d like to make sure we’re in the same ballpark for salary…”
Intended Outcome: Make sure both parties are on the same page, excited, and eager to move forward. Be extremely clear about what the team is looking for. This way the candidate can tailor her / his language to emphasize role-specific strengths.
☕️ Meet for coffee (1 hour):
As an employer:
Note: When making introductions, ensure the candidate has context for who they’ll be meeting. By surfacing information about the teammate, you’ll garner a sense of familiarity and stir some excitement.
If a team member has recently written a blog, or shared work online, those are easy excuses to sneak links in there. e.g. “Mari Sheibley, our staff designer, recently wrote a piece about how to keep the team creative by hosting offsites. If you’re interested, [link here].”
- Have the candidate meet with 1–2 people from the team that they’d be working closely with, if hired. This will make for a completely different experience.
- Get out of the office, meet on neutral ground. This sounds inconvenient, because it is. It’s nice to meet people on a personal level, rather than over the phone, or during a routine interview.
As a Designer:
Note: Do your best to ensure that stepping out for coffee isn’t going to be majorly inconvenient. When I ask someone to meet for coffee, I make sure the shop is within a block of their office.
- Talk to them about your career goals as a designer. Ask about theirs.
- Talk about how the team works, how the company works, and what the company is trying to find in their next designer. Get a clear understanding of what things to emphasize during a more formal interview.
- You’re there to find out who you’d be working with, and determine if the company’s values align with your own. Get to know the people.
Intended Outcome: Make sure the people fit (read: culture).
📱 Technical phone interview (1 hour):
As an employer:
- If the candidate’s portfolio isn’t strong, or they don’t have years of professional experience, prepare something to make this phone call more interesting.
Often companies will ask for a “trial” project. Please, don’t. Requiring the candidate spend their free time designing solutions to hypothetical problems, for what? These one-sided exercises effectively gauge a candidate’s ability to execute ideas in a crunch. However, they don’t help the candidate garner a sense of what it’s like to work with you.
An alternate idea: Actively participate in a design challenge with the candidate. Why not pretend you’re teammates for the duration of this call, and create something together?
- Have the candidate walk you through a full case-study from their portfolio. Ask questions about decisions they made.
- Get a clear understanding of the kinds of problems they excel at solving and their style of working.
As a Designer:
- Make sure you’ve used the company’s product / service before this meeting, so that you can ask more engaging questions.
- Have your work history rehearsed, so that you don’t end up meandering or derailing the conversation.
- Speak about your career and your work in a way that emphasizes the talents they’re looking for. Give them stories that venerate you.
Intended Outcome: Make sure there’s a design-role fit. Both sides: bonus points for learning about each other before going into this. Don’t be too busy to find something that excites you about the other person.
🎉 The Onsite Interview (2 hours):
For some candidates this can be an exciting opportunity to showcase work that they’re proud of. However, without the right setup, these can quickly turn into marathon interviews, requiring a huge time commitment from the candidate.
As an employer:
The current trend is to host a 5 hour interview. These are gruesome. Are you gauging how well someone can enthusiastically talk about themselves for an extended period of time? Didn’t think so.
Instead, try hosting a shorter interview with a small sub-set of teammates. A one hour presentation and a one hour Q&A. Afterwards compare notes and determine who else, if anyone, the candidate should meet.
Important: If you insist on keeping a candidate for 5 hours, feed them lunch, for fuck’s sake! I’ve completed 14 onsite interviews that surpassed the 5 hour threshold. Only two of which provided lunch.
- Ensure the candidate interviews with the people they met previously. That rapport and comfort produce meaningful insights.
- Have the candidate design a solution to a problem with you. Collaborate with them. You’ll have the most amazing experiences by actively participating; don’t just watch the candidate talk at a white board.
As a Designer:
- Don’t pretend; ask uncomfortable questions. Be honest and thoughtful in your responses.
- Don’t be afraid to pull the emergency brake if you decide, mid 5-hour-interview, that this company isn’t right for you. Be open to discussing why, and remain positive.
Note: I’ve had many amazing experiences slamming on the brakes mid-interview. People never expect it, but everyone is appreciative of the time saved, and even more so, of the feedback you have to offer.
Intended Outcome: Get a clear understanding of the candidate’s professional experience and accurately gauge their ability to meet role-specific expectations.
👍 Always Give Feedback.
I’ve been on both sides of the hiring process; I know it’s difficult to break bad news. However, what’s even harder is not understanding why you weren’t selected. Even contestants on the Bachelorette TV series get more feedback than design candidates do. Nothing stings worse than:
“We’ve decided not to move forward at this time…”
— without knowing what to change, or how to improve. Nothing at all. Just an ellipsis, as if this is to be continued?
As an employer:
Here are some simple pieces of feedback you can use to help design candidates that didn’t make the cut:
- Were the projects and stories presented misaligned with the role?
- Was she or he lacking in any part of the design process? What could they further emphasize more of in the future?
- Was their tone, demeanor, or poise seemingly disingenuous? Any slips in positivity or enthusiasm about work or previous employers?
- What kinds of roles do you think would suit her / him best?
As a Designer:
- Be ready to listen to their feedback. Like, truly listen.
- Remember that you weren’t just interviewing for a company. You met a handful of people that will surely be reappearing later in your career.
Intended Outcome: Invest in everyone that walks through your doors. Help them learn and grow. The companies that did this for me, secured a lifetime of referrals. They championed their brand. They reminded me that failing is also learning. It’s a long-game style of play.
If your company is interested in standing out, start connecting with designers on a human level. There’s real value in meeting a person, connecting with another human. Finding people, not just talent. Interviews aren’t auditions, and candidates shouldn’t be treated like contestants.
I’m Eric Lobdell a Designer & aspiring Creative Director (of product). I’m currently employed, and always up for a coffee here in San Francisco.
