Why you should approach every interview as a conversation
Emrah Saribaz shares his journey to becoming a Product Design Manager in our Fashion Store, and his advice on how to prepare for the hiring experience.
How did you find out about Zalando?
I’ve known Zalando for quite a while. The company first came on my radar when I was working for a design agency in Turkey, my home country. We were doing a benchmarking exercise for a Turkish e-commerce client, and Zalando was used as a model of best practice. So I was aware of it being a successful company that put customers at the heart of everything long before I ever became one of those customers.
A few years later I moved to Berlin and became a customer. This was to work at a different company, but I attended some Zalando events, and came to know more and more people from within the design community. I heard good things about the high level of design maturity, and the role of design within the company. So when a friend mentioned an open position for a Product Design Manager, I was seriously interested. It offered a great opportunity to talk to design and product leaders within a company I had admired for some time and, ultimately, to drive positive change in a field I was passionate about — customer conversion.
How was the interviewing experience?
It started with an email from a recruiter, then everything moved really quickly and professionally. Because I was interviewing for a manager role it involved some steps focused specifically on my management skills.
There was a case-study walk through where I shared my ways of working as a design leader.
And there was also a manager deep dive in front of Zalando Design leaders, which gave me the chance to talk about my management experience and my approach to helping people grow.
And finally there was a design critique session, where I demonstrated my ability to give feedback on others’ work.
All in all, it was pretty rigorous, assessing me from 360 degrees. And I got plenty of opportunities to ask questions so I could really understand the role, the organization, its expectations and ways of working. And, of course, the people!
As there were a few Product Design Manager positions open, I could choose the team I’d be joining. I got the chance to talk to product and engineering peers in the various teams, and learn first hand about the customer and business challenges they tackle, as well as what they expected from a Product Design Manager.
So which team did you join?
I joined the Customer Conversion team as a Design Manager in April, responsible for a team of four Senior Product Designers. My team looks after purchase and post-purchase areas, focusing on providing the most convenient and seamless purchase and return experiences for customers. There are quite a few benefits Zalando offers customers during that experience, and we design the best ways to communicate these benefits in the right moment and context for customers. For me it’s a very exciting field, full of design opportunities.
(And by the way, the team is growing! We are currently looking for a Principal Product Designer. Also expect more roles opening up next year, so feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn and let me know if you’re passionate about this area.)
How would you describe your candidate experience in three words?
Well-structured — My recruiter outlined all the steps from the get-go, so I knew what to expect and when.
Conversational — The whole process felt like a dialogue with other Design Managers. Very natural. Not like I was being tested!
Fast — Most of my interviews took place within one week. I was seriously impressed by how quickly it all went.
What advice would you give somebody interviewing at Zalando?
Bring your design success stories, and share the challenges you experienced throughout your career. As I mentioned before, think of your interviews as conversations with peers, and you’ll be in the right frame of mind for the experience. And if you’re up for a Design Manager position, don’t focus only on your design approach but make sure you get to show what kind of a manager you are.
What do you value most now you’re part of Zalando?
Zalando has the biggest design community I’ve ever worked in. It’s great to feel part of that, and know the impact we can have collectively. Which also means there are so many experts I can learn from. And, as a people lead I appreciate the dedication to the wellbeing of employees. That’s something Zalando takes very seriously, and is especially important during the current circumstances!
Emrah Saribaz is now a Product Design Manager at Zalando Fashion Store.
