I interviewed 3 designers & hired 0 of them — here’s why
I didn’t hire any of the last few designers I interviewed because all of them left me wondering…
I’ve been hiring for a couple roles for the last few months and I keep seeing designers repeat the same mistakes. Even if the designer could be a great fit for the role the following mistakes don’t allow me to see what I’m looking for.
And before you ask, of course I asked questions during the interviews to help surface the info I was looking for. But whether it was due to lack of experience or lack of preparation none of the designers could sufficiently answer and therefore myself and the other interviewers didn’t see them as a good fit.
I didn’t hire any of the last few designers I interviewed because all of them left me wondering…
What skills/experience do you have relevant to the role?
Not choosing a case study that actually shows relevant experience for the role that I am hiring for seems to be a repeat offense. People seem to just be picking the latest project they worked on or just talk about the company they currently work for. But, I’m looking for a particular criteria and these designers know what it is so I always find it baffling when the case study they’ve chosen doesn’t fit.
What to do instead:
Be selective with the case study you choose to present in an interview. You don’t have to curate a specific presentation for every company but you can cater your voiceover quite easily to highlight key skills/experience you know they are looking for. Even if you have to show off a few parts of a couple case studies to show that you have the relevant experience, do that.
Where’s the project impact?
Not being able to articulate the impact of your project. I’ll take anything from user feedback, client feedback, to measurable business impact. It doesn’t always have to be quantitive but it can’t just be “here’s my design”.
No impact to show?
If you’ve done a quick turnaround project or maybe even a student project and you don’t have any impact to show, include a section on what you would do next, given more time to work on it or see it through. This is a great way to show your holistic project thinking past just the design deliverable step :)
Bonus tip: Be sure to include what you learned through the process, as well, to bolster your case studies and show a bit more of your thinking.
What value did YOU bring vs others?
I often find myself probing to know which part of the process candidates drove vs contributed too. I get it, it’s super weird to talk about yourself and say “I did this, and that” but that’s the point of an interview. It’s your time to shine. So be very explicit in what you drove and specifically how you brought value to the project. If you can, try and avoid “we” statements.
Bad example: We created a project plan and did some workshops. Then we did some usability testing and created a new dashboard feature.
Good example: I created the project plan and then facilitated several workshops with my team. Then after our researcher was done running usability testing I used those insights to create a new dashboard feature.
This statement very clearly tells me that you drove the project plan and workshops. Then the researcher drove usability testing but you used the insights in your design solution.
How did you collaborate with others?
Collaboration is key when you’re a UX/Product Designer. This goes for when you’re working with a team or even just 1:1 with your client. I want to know how you brought people on board to your ideas and included them in your process. So be sure and include what types of sessions or ways of working you established to do this.
This next one is easily the one that no one ever seems to include…
What were the challenges and how did you handle them?
No project ever goes perfectly whether you had to iterated due to feedback or handle difficult stakeholders. Hiring managers really want to know what these challenges were and how you managed them. It gives us an insight on how you tackle problems that will inevitably come up in future projects. This is a quentessesial interview question that pretty much any company will ask you, set yourself apart and bake this into your case study so the interviewers can see how you handle challenge.
Think you know how to “speak” like a designer? Let’s see if you pass the test
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