20 job interviews passed in 1 month : my takeaways
In late October 2023, I finished a long mission at Lacoste as Lead Product Designer (Freelance). After this adventure, and a 2-month break, I returned at the end of December — beginning of January, with the goal of finding a mission that would start in early February. After a good month of back-to-back interviews, and a success, I thought it would be interesting to share what I learned from this experience. Just because I landed a job doesn’t make me a career coach, but I believe in feedback and sharing, so if it helps even one person then I’ll consider it was worth writing.
Note: Out of respect for your time, I have moved the details about the context (the type of job I was looking for, the type of companies that granted me an interview) to the end of this article so that you can go straight to the most important points and not have to read these details if you are not interested in them. Keep in mind though that my job search was focused for the most part in France.
🇫🇷 Trouvez la version française de cet article en suivant ce lien : 20 entretiens d’embauche en 1 mois : ce que j’en tire
1. What I learned from these interviews
It’s highly likely that you already know all the points that I will mention below. I knew them myself, but if I took the time to write them down, it’s because this experience allowed me to better understand these points. If this article doesn’t teach you anything new, I hope at least it will serve as a reminder, or like me, it will help you deepen what you already knew. Let’s get started:
1.1 — [BEFORE] The interview starts before the job offer exists
— For Designers —
If you wait until the offer is online before starting to show your “expertise”, you are probably a step behind, and then you’ll probably try to prove you are a viable candidate for the position. You don’t want to be in a position where you are trying to “prove” (your value, …), from my experience, this posture is never good.
You need to share what you know, what you do, or even what you have learned along the way (on social media, groups, …) so that:
- Your network knows what you’re doing, so you’re more likely to hear about an opportunity before or as soon as it arises.
- Someone in the company may know you. This may signal that you’ll fit in more easily with the company culture.
- You have a chance of falling on an interviewer who already knows your work
Example:
- 60% (6/10) of the companies where I landed an interview, had interviewers who knew my work
- Of the 50% (5/10) companies whose process I’ve passed, 80% (4/5) of them, had interviewers who already knew my work
It goes without saying that the only reason I passed those interviews isn’t that the people who interviewed me knew my work, but to deny the role it plays would be naive. A candidate whose work the recruiter already knows simply seems less risky.
I have to include consulting firms and agents in the “network”, partly for the sake of transparency, as 4/10 of the companies that gave me an interview were approached by some of them with my portfolio, and partly so that you realize that I was literally not alone in my search.
1.2 — [BEFORE] The Portfolio
— For Designers & Recruiters —
The purpose of a portfolio is still unclear in many recruitment processes. Sometimes, people will try to assess whether you are capable of solving a certain problem X on the basis of the solutions you have proposed to problem Y you have previously encountered. In my opinion, this can be misleading, because the solutions you have proposed in your previous experiences are relevant to the specific problems you encountered, and on top of that, sometimes the solution adopted doesn’t always come from the Designer him·herself. It goes without saying that, faced with a different problem, the designer will propose a different solution. This often happens in processes where there is no case study, so recruiters try to use the content of your portfolio alone to find out if you’re the right candidate. It all comes down to the same thing: how do you filter through 300 applications in a very short time to select the people who will go on to the next stage? It’s not an easy task.
In trying to anticipate this point, I overloaded my portfolio. I wanted to show the depth of my work and my portfolio ended up at 76 pages for 4 projects + 1 design challenge + recommendations from previous colleagues/clients. I was aware that no one would read all 76 pages, but my priority was to show depth at the expense of brevity. In its next iteration, I’m thinking of testing something else: going in-depth on a single project, then showing only the essentials for the following projects: context, challenge, duration, team, rituals, deliverables and impact (3 slides max per project).
What should be valued in a portfolio, in my opinion, is the ability to create a visual communication medium adapted to its target, to tell a story, and the consistency of the quality of the deliverables from one project to the next. In a second stage, during an interview, we can evaluate your methodology, whether the solutions you have proposed to the problems in your portfolio are optimal or not, your communication skills, … and, in a third phase, a quick case study to see how candidates react on the spot to a problem they may have never encountered.
1.3 — [DURING] Case studies
— For Designers & Recruiters —
As I mentioned earlier, some companies rely solely on the portfolio to judge a Designer. Others, in addition to the portfolio, ask them to do an exercise (a case study) to evaluate their skills. Through these two processes, companies want the same thing: to hire what they consider to be a good Designer or at worst to reduce the risks of making a bad hire. Given what a bad hire can cost, it’s totally understandable.
The portfolio is a good filter, but a case study is a better opportunity to see how a Designer thinks. Some case studies are done live with the team, and others are to be done on your own and then submitted after a deadline (x hours/days). In both cases, if the candidate’s work has a chance of feeding into an existing product or thoughts, I think it should be compensated. Otherwise, it would be dishonest. If the recruiter doesn’t want to put themselves in this kind of situation that is confusing from an ethical point of view, it’s better to give case study topics on fictitious products or other than that of the company looking to recruit.
On one hand, there is very little way of ensuring that the designer’s work is not hijacked at this stage, and on the other, there will always be people willing to work for free. So it’s up to the designer to find a balance or his desired level of participation in this way of doing.
For my part, I do my case studies in Figma files that belong to me so I’m able to revoke the consultation rights some time after the interview.
1.4 — [DURING] Listening
— For Designers —
Don’t go into the interview with the goal of convincing, but rather understanding. For example, some interlocutors will be more interested in what you have done than in your way of thinking, others on the contrary will be more concerned with your thought process. By rushing to deliver your “presentation” you risk missing all the clues that your interlocutor gives you about what matters to them. To actively listen and be sure to lead the discussion in the direction where you will have the most opportunities to reassure your interviewer, I recommend you :
- Listen carefully and take concise notes
- Rephrase and ask your interviewer if you have understood the question correctly
- Stop often to find out if there is a gray area or if you have been understood
- If you are at the stage where you are meeting a decision maker, ask them how they will know that they have recruited the right person
If you want to learn better how to listen and communicate, I take this opportunity to recommend the book: “Tout s’arrange avec des mots” by Marie Andersen. (I don’t know if there is an English version)
1.5 — [AFTER] Managing Rejection or Incompatibility
— For Designers —
Obviously, I didn’t convert all the interviews I had into job offers or contracts. Although I am fortunate that my career path has forced me to learn to handle rejection, it still hurts the ego, and that’s normal. The most important thing is to try to learn something from this rejection:
- A rejection due to the lack of a certain type of project in your portfolio? → Ask yourself how you could demonstrate that you are capable of working on this type of project in the future
Example: One of the reasons my application have been rejected was because I hadn’t done enough native apps
Possible Action: I decided to do more Design Challenges or side projects that revolve around native apps
- A rejection due to incompatibility between the company’s projects and your skills? → Ask yourself what training to do to make up for this gap.
Example: The subject of accessibility is at the heart of the company and they are looking for designers who are familiar with the subject but you only have a very basic knowledge of accessibility
Possible action: Take a course on accessibility
- A rejection due to incompatibility between the company’s organization and your goals? → This is not a rejection, it’s just not an organization that will facilitate your current professional development goals
Example: The company has UI Designers and wants your solutions to be handed off in the form of Wireframes but you want the “UI” to be included in your scope so that you can show in your future experiences that you are capable of delivering end-to-end improvements.
Possible action: Find another mission and question the validity or necessity of your goals after a few rejections.
1.6 — [AFTER] Thanking
— For Designers —
This may seem trivial, but I would recommend sincerely thanking the people involved in the processes (including your interviewer) that you enjoyed and telling them what you appreciated.
I was fortunate that 3 of these 20 interviews were really atypical. When you’re tired and doing interviews back-to-back, it’s nice to have such interviews. What these 3 interviews had in common is that they were open to thinking and reflection, it wasn’t a Q&A with good or bad answers, but a real philosophical, personal chat, and one of my interlocutors even showed great generosity with his/her time and attention even though he/she was in a rush.
In the end, I felt the need to thank them in writing, and then inform them personally and immediately when my decision was made to accept one of the offers I received.
If by any chance any of you find him·herself reading this article, thank you again.
2. Conclusion
When I told myself that I would use the month of January to find a new job, I had no idea that it would actually take me the whole month of January.
During this month, I had to plan: time to prepare each interview, time to reflect on the improvements I had noted, time to iterate on my portfolio following the feedback from peers, time to adapt my portfolio to the next interview, time to adapt my talk to the next interview, time to continue my training, time to share interesting things on social networks, … it was my full time job during that month.
I have never had so many interviews in such a short amount of time. I am a rather calm and relaxed person but I still found the period stressful and exhausting.
If you are currently in this phase, I wish you a lot of courage and resilience. If you want feedback on your portfolio, a critical eye on a project or your way of presenting, … don’t hesitate. I will do my best to help you.
I hope you found this article enjoyable and useful. If so, let me know by leaving me feedback (reactions or comments), and don’t keep it to yourself, share it with someone who might appreciate it too, whether they’re a candiate or a recruiter.
Looking forward to chating with you,
Colbys
3. Context
3.1 — What I was looking for
Job type: Individual Contributor
Job title: (Senior, Lead, …) Product Designer / UX Designer
Primary Role: Participate in the search for new opportunities, Help define and frame opportunities, Drive the development of hypotheses, Drive or participate in testing hypotheses (design, prototype, test), Iterate until satisfied, Align operational and decision-making teams on solutions, Follow implementation to ensure the quality of the solutions that will be deployed.
Secondary Role: Bring design to life (monitoring, sharing, organizing,…), Educate stakeholders, Train designers with less experience
Duration: 6 months — Indefinite duration
Location: Ile-de-France / Luxembourg
Presence: Mix between teleworking and presence in the office
This can be relatively vague, but I wanted to stay open to as many opportunities as possible. The title didn’t matter to me either, because from one company to another they can have different meanings. What mattered most to me, however, was the role I would play and what would be expected of me.
3.2 — Companies, Design Maturities and Types of Interviews
The companies with which I managed to have interviews can be described as follows :
Number of companies: 10
Types of contracts offered: Consultant, In-house employee, Freelance
Industries/Sectors: Cosmetics, Equipment, Real Estate, Health, Transport, Textile, Services, …
Type of product: E-Commerce, SaaS, Internal Tools
Product marketing: B2C and B2B
Design maturity*: All types (Early digital transformation → Rather mature)
Types of interviews: HR, Team, Case study, Director
(*) Given that I haven’t really worked for all these companies, I estimated the design maturity based on public information and what I learned during the interviews.
