Hiring outside of checked boxes

How many products have you shipped? Zero.
A little background. I moved to SF from New York, with a background in digital advertising. In San Francisco, I got culture shock — there are few advertising agencies, but a ton of product design opportunities. I was really optimistic to make the transition. Ultimately, I was not met with an equal sense of excitement.

The majority of tech / product companies I looked at asked for multiple shipped products, amongst other very specific requirements. I just never fit the bill. Despite networking for months, I was barely able to get an interview. Fortunately, I met the head of design at Weight Watchers through mutual friends. He saw beyond the standard superficial requirements, and brought me in based on my fundamental design knowledge.

I was hired to manage the visual design team. In this role, I work a lot on recruiting and hiring. My past experiences have definitely shaped what I look for in candidates.

Separating skills from experience
Visual design does exist beyond product. There’s plenty of talent in advertising and marketing. Completely shutting out these industries can lead to missed opportunities. I constantly hear how there aren’t enough designers out there. There are plenty if you know where to look.

There are a few basic criteria that can be used to evaluate a designer, which is applicable to any background

• Creating purposeful design.
  - Is there a clear reasoning behind visual design choices? What are they?
  - Is the end user considered in the design? How?
  - What are considerations for creating a design system?
  - Is the design appropriate for the platform / medium?
• Creating ownable visual design
  - Are there unique design elements that elevate the brand / experience?
  - Were there several options created, ultimately leading to a design that is beyond the obvious?
• Relationships
  -What is their process working within a team? How have they collaborated?
  - How do they come to compromise?
  - How are their communication skills?

If a designer meets this criteria, he or she can transition to product under the right leadership.

The learning curve
There are three areas that help this transition:

• Showing work in the early stages of the process, versus a big reveal at the end.
• Steering away from the mindset of “selling” or “defending” work, and receiving feedback in a productive way.
• Focusing on designing systems and patterns, as opposed to one off solutions.

Personality > Talent
Culture fit is everything. It can make or break a team. I have worked with some incredibly talented people in the past. Unfortunately, I’ve also worked with some incredibly large egos. I would take personality over talent any day of the week. A really passionate designer, hungry to learn more, is an invaluable asset to any team.

Ease up on pre-requisites
Ultimately, there is a way to look at a candidate’s design foundations, rather than looking to fit every cookie-cutter pre-requisite. In the end, how much does that really matter? Both the company and candidate benefit by being more open-minded. The company can obtain talent from more diverse mindsets. For the candidate, he or she can take advantage of opportunities that are beyond their specific background.

P.S. We’re hiring
https://goo.gl/9UOXtk