How I got hired in 48 hours
Preparing for our Hiring Days? Senior Product Designer at Zalando Lounge, Federica Lacania, shares her surprising experience of our fast-track interview process.
How did you find out about Zalando Hiring Days?
I moved to Berlin about 10 years ago, and knew a few designers that worked in Zalando. At the time I was following a consultancy path, so didn’t really consider a career here. When I did move to product design it was for a brand that served the restaurant sector. As restaurants really suffered during the pandemic, it became time to look for a new challenge. A friend who’d recently joined Zalando suggested I apply for the next Hiring Days.
What was your experience of the Hiring Days?
I was totally sold on the concept from the start. I had applied for quite a few jobs, and some of these involved up to twelve rounds of interviews and took forever. That’s really demanding and difficult to manage when you’re working. The idea of a single-day interview with a decision directly after really appealed to me.
The day involved three sessions. A portfolio interview, where I presented a project I had worked on in detail. A whiteboard challenge where I had to come up with a solution on the spot. And an interview with a design manager, where we talked more in detail about my soft skills and past experiences. It felt very complete, covering all perspectives. It sounds intense to have three interviews in one day but I didn’t feel overwhelmed.
How would you describe the Hiring Days in three words?
Fast — I had all my interviews on the same day. I got an offer the day after. I had a weekend to think about it. I accepted it on the Monday.
Challenging — I was a bit daunted by the whiteboard challenge at first, but then it became more like a conversation. Very co-creative. It felt like we were solving the problem together, and that the interviewers were actually interested in getting to know me and understand my design process.
Straightforward — I got an email the day before the interviews explaining the process, so there were no surprises about what the day involved.
What advice would you give somebody going through the next Hiring Days?
Be open and just do it! It’s a great experience to connect with other people and to see how Zalando works. No matter what the final outcome, it’s only one day. What have you got to lose?
And now you’re part of Zalando?
It’s the first time for me joining a company remotely, so I didn’t know what to expect. However, everybody was so welcoming! Another nice surprise was how dedicated to diversity and inclusion Zalando is. In my first conversation I was asked ‘What pronoun would you prefer?’. I’ve never experienced that before. It set the tone for our internal communications, and it’s a genuine part of the company culture here.
Federica is now a Senior Product Designer in Customer Facing Applications at Zalando Lounge.
