Hiring a Designer

Some pointers to help hire the best designer

An ideal design hire

1. Needs to be a fast learner. Invariably you will come across new stuff everyday in a start up so you need someone who can pick up stuff faster. There is no time to pick up a book and read. You got to learn on the job.

Possible Test: For a graphic designer, ask him to work on a software he has no previous experience with and see how much time he takes to learn.

2. Needs to be a good articulator. When you really understand something you are able to articulate it well. Nodding your head is not articulation. Good articulation saves a lot of time by eliminating miscommunication.

Possible Test: Asking them to explain previous works is a good way to test this.

3. Should be Intelligent. Design is problem solving. A basic IQ test should be mandatory for all employees.

Possible Test: IQ test

4. Should have Composure. In a start up you invariably end up doing a lot of things. There will always be more things in your to do list than you can manage. The employee needs to have the composure to prioritise the work and say no to things they think are not important.

Possible Test: Packing their trial day with stuff and seeing how they perform is a good test.

5. Software skills. Without mastery of design softwares people will end up working inefficiently and waste everyone’s precious time.

Possible Test: Giving tasks where in the person has to follow certain methods will be a good test.

6. Never hire the better guy, always find out and hire the best guy, else do not hire. You will end up wasting more time if you hire for an immediate need.

7. Birds of the same feather flock together. Always build a team with people of diverse/different talents and not a team of diverse/different people.

8. Hire people you can trust. If you expect someone to turn up for work on a particular day, you need not have to call them up half an hour before the meeting to make sure that they are coming. It is a sign of bad things to come.

9. Humble is good but meek is not.

10. Hire people with opinions. Without opinions there are no arguments, without arguments thoughts don’t get refined and without refined thoughts you are going to do the same thing over and over and learn nothing new.

Possible Test: Ask candidates about their opinions on things that are happening in the design world.

11. Actions speak louder than words. A good portfolio is a must. Never hire on promise atleast at a start up. No one has time to mould someone.

12. Hire people who can design not tools to paint your thoughts.