Ace the Design Interview
Ace the Interview
So all the hard work on your portfolio, case studies, and project briefs paid off — you’re getting the recognition you deserve from recruiters and hiring managers and you finally got an interview scheduled! You’re excited and can already see yourself working at the company.
Soon your excitement turned into nervousness and anxiety. What are they gonna ask? What am I gonna say?
After a few anxiety attacks, you’ve decided to practice a mock interview in front of the mirror.
“So tell me about yourself”
“Uhmm….I’m ___, I graduated from XYZ Design school...I’m 23….I love design….uhmm….I don’t know what to say”
It’s scary, right?
But usually, there are a few things to keep in mind to calm your nerves and be self-assured in the process.
1. You’re good enough.
Just relax. You’re good enough. Your work is good enough.
How am I this confident in saying this?
Because you got the interview! You’re qualified enough. People don't call designers in because they want to just spend time talking. They’ve looked at your portfolio, at your projects and then decided to give you their most precious resource - time!
So feel confident going in and just relax.
2. Be a good listener.
If the interviewer shows interest in some particular things, spend time talking about it. And if you’re talking about some particular thing and you see no interest, stop talking about that - don’t be a boring person.
You need to gauge the interest level of the person interviewing you.
And you can do this only by actually listening.
3. It’s okay to not have an answer.
Just don’t lie. You’ll be rejected straight away if you get caught lying (or stretching the truth) in your interview. So when you don’t know the answer to a question, say "That's a great question, I don't have any answer for you. I'd like to follow up later.”
Be humble and honest and show them that you’ll learn it.
4. Research the company
Go through the company’s website, their social media handles, their founder’s social media. You need to research the company you’re applying to.
Walking in for an interview not knowing a thing about the company gives this clear signal that you’ve applied to a bunch of companies and will go for the job wherever you’re selected, without really caring about the company and its values.
Research the company, research the role you’re applying for, address the job posting that they made and clear on how you can add value and things you can bring that would make you stand out from the crowd.
5. Be memorable. Be yourself.
The interviewer is not only interviewing you but a bunch of more candidates.
And almost all of them will show their different backgrounds and different reasons to hire them.
The interviewer is talking to several candidates.
When facing such a case, standing out from the crowd is gonna be your power. Stand out. Be memorable. They’re gonna remember little things about you. So it’s on you how you make yourself the most memorable.
And this is where you let your personality come through. Be yourself, have fun and be your most genuine self while talking with the interviewer.
6. Explain your Design Process
When applying for a UX/UI position, you will definitely show your final projects and creations in your portfolio. But that doesn’t help you much.
You’ll have to show your process. Show how you work, how you think, how you come up with solutions, how to test those solutions. Show everything about your process and let them know that you actually know your stuff.
These are things that really matter to the company and will even help you set yourself apart from the competition.
7. Follow up Immediately
Follow up after your meeting. And don’t take days doing this.
This is a great sign of professionalism.
After the interview, take the time and effort to thank the person or people who interviewed you and try to recall something memorable that happened in the interview (that’s why you need to listen carefully).
Have confidence walking in, play your cards right and ace that interview!
And if you’re someone who’s starting out, someone who’s figuring out how to make a stellar design portfolio, someone learning UX/UI, or even someone completely starting and wants to know the exact difference between UX and UI, we’ve got resources for you as well!
Check out archive of all our articles at https://keming.substack.com/
See you next week :)