Designers usually come to the interview with their work.

Portfolio questions can include:

• Did you work alone or in a team?
• What was the task?
• How much time has been spent?
• What do you think is the best job?
• What do you see as disadvantages?

Block 2. Questions to assess overall understanding of the process

There are designers who just “draw pictures”, and there are those who have a deeper understanding of the product and user needs.

To understand what type of candidate a candidate is, at an interview you can ask:

1. Tell us how the design process should ideally go from start to finish.

If the candidate immediately starts telling how he opens Photoshop, then this is just a “drawer” of pictures.

If the candidate starts with what is needed:

• understand the purpose for which the design is being done
• poll users
• identify work scenarios
• And so on.

In this case, you have a more serious specialist.

2. Another question that allows you to assess the general understanding can be this: who has a better design - apple or samsung?

You have to watch how the candidate thinks. In particular, you need to pay attention to what “chips” the designer highlights, what he focuses on.

This will mean that these are the aspects that are important to him in design.

Advice: in the case of hiring a designer, it is also very important to call the previous employer and find out if there are any “pitfalls”.

Block 3. General standard questions

Questions such as:

• Are you a loner or do you like to work in a team?
• What is your preferred mode of operation?

Since designers are creative people, a flexible schedule will be important for them.

• What do you see as your strengths and weaknesses?
• What else are you interested in besides design?
• And so on

A designer is a person with a developed sense of taste, style, beauty, knowledge of the basics of marketing, consumer psychology, knowledge of various graphic editors and leaving his ideas on paper.

Since now a designer can specialize in completely different areas (graphics, landscape, interior, printing, etc.), the requirements for them at interviews can be completely different.

From the fundamentals that define good designer, there is no escape, and we can still give you some tips on how to pass a designer interview.

Even if you consider yourself an impeccable specialist, you should not go to an interview at random. Better buy yourself presentable clothes and try to look your best. Think about what good things you can say about a specialist.

The second part of a successful designer interview is having a portfolio. You yourself understand that in your industry, it is better for the employer to show the fruits of your skills than to talk about them.

Select best work, compose a competent portfolio and confidently hand it to the recruiting manager.

Interview Questions

You may be asked the most standard questions, such as: “Why did you leave your last job?” or “What are your goals for the next 2 years?”.

But it is more important for the employer to know about your skills, so they may ask:

• What software do you own?
• What is your most successful and unsuccessful project (you shouldn’t focus on the unsuccessful one - it’s better to say that everyone was good, but one just exceeded expectations)?
• Do you know color theory, etc.
• Did you work alone or in a team?
• What was the task?
• How much time has been spent?
• Are you a loner or do you like to work in a team?
• What mode of operation is convenient for you?

You can ask your employer the following questions:

• How is the recycling going?
• How many designers are on the team?
• What prospects await me?

If you pass the first stage of the interview, you may be asked to complete a test task. For example, a UI/UX designer might be asked to make the site's top menu clear, simple, and attractive.

UI/UX designer - a user guide to reach a goal on a website or app. The designer pushes the user to choose in favor of a product or service on the Internet. You like the site, it is convenient for you to use it, why not open another page? UI / UX acts as a conditional sales manager.

Companies look at the candidate’s work style, whether the designer has empathy for the user, whether he can share the company’s values ​​and convey them to target audience? As in the case of developers, a UI/UX designer must understand the subject area, otherwise he will not be able to offer quality solutions.

UI / UX designers are divided into those who work only with the web or only with mobile applications, and generalists, for whom both directions are on the shoulder. Unfortunately, often designers who have a lot of experience on the web and little experience on mobile do not understand the difference between design for web and mobile clients, between design for iOS and Android applications.

For example, UI/UX designer mobile applications must understand how iOS 11 differs from 10 or 9, how to use new OS features in designing customer experience in mobile applications and tablets. Yes, when we talk about mobile, we mean not only phones, but also tablets.

Making a beautiful and functional design for mobile applications and tablets is difficult. Fit a lot of data on a small screen - the task is not easy. Make it understandable, solve user problems - practically unsolvable problems. However, there are candidates on the market who succeed!

The main thing for a startup candidate is a fire in the eyes (because the salary in the first couple will most likely be lower than in large companies), interest in the project (because everyone participates in the discussion of ideas, every opinion is important, it needs to be ).

Designers are often asked about how they dealt with difficult situations in project activities, about the relationship with the team and the construction of the work process. A designer interview is rather an opportunity to get to know each other and understand whether a person will join the team, because the level and skills are clear from the portfolio. And nobody ever asked me about higher education.

Kirill Vlasov, interface designer at Mos.ru team

What should you pay attention to when interviewing a UI/UX designer?

• Every working day of a designer should be productive - ask the candidate to talk about one of his working days, for example, yesterday.
• Discipline is important for any designer, so at the interview, find out how the candidate communicated with the internal customer, what work algorithm he was used to.
• Have there been situations where the art director or product manager did not agree with the candidate's idea or implementation? What did the candidate do? How did you behave?
• What do you like doing the most? What inspires? Here you can ask to talk about the service that the candidate considers ideal - you will immediately see how the eyes of this particular candidate can burn!
• What are your most memorable projects? What are you proud of?
• Can the candidate consistently explain why the proposed design is better or worse than the other?
• What mobile app design principles do you know? (for mobile positions)

Final recommendation: even if you really like a candidate's portfolio, don't be too lazy to take a recommendation from his previous colleagues. This will help you make sure that the candidate is able to work effectively not only alone, but also in a team.

Recently, as an exercise, I took part in the Affinity Mapping study (Affinity Chart method. - Approx. ed.) with the participation of volunteers. His goal is to create a survival guide for the master's program in human-computer interaction at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Classifying guidelines career development, I came across a respondent's question:

“What do companies want from UX designer candidates?”

As soon as I saw it, it seemed to me that I was asking exactly the same question in the first semester when I applied for internships in the UX design specialty. I've tried searching for articles on the subject, reading UX discussion boards, and talking to design professionals, but these efforts have cleared up little. While I was studying hard, I did not have time to dig deeper into this issue. And then I never found out what qualities a candidate should demonstrate during an interview for the corresponding position.
Finally now, in my second year of graduate school, I have overcome this stage of uncertainty. My own experience of interviewing in several companies has allowed me to take a stand on this issue. I realized that each company where I was interviewed had different expectations and different criteria for evaluating candidates. There are many factors that matter during an interview: the team that is interviewing you, the potential project you will be working on, your skills, the culture of the company, the position, experience, the skills of the person who is interviewing you, and so on. All these factors set the evaluation criterion. In this article, I'll share what I've learned from my interview experience at Google, Apple, and Salesforce.
The information I share is based solely on my experience and my point of view. Of course, the experience of candidates may vary.

Google - Interaction Designer

For the sixth year in a row, Google has been named the best company to work for by Fortune. The company has grown many times over in the past year alone. In addition, Google has a consistent practice of hiring UX/Interaction Design interns for projects ranging from Daydream (VR platform) to Project Sunroof(analysis of the potential for saving solar energy). I interviewed and found out that Google values ​​the following characteristics:

#1 Curiosity and desire to learn new things

Stay up to date with what's happening in the design world

UX design is a young and dynamic field that is constantly looking to redefine itself. Design teams from well-known companies and individual designers are constantly contributing to the design community by experimenting and standardizing new patterns. I think that young designers just have to do their best to keep up with the recent boom in our industry. From my experience, I can say that the knowledge gained in school is research-oriented and limited to courses. I find it very helpful to set aside time each week specifically to explore the world of design today.

My personal selection of useful resources:

Work with designers/developers from a wide range of backgrounds

UX design is a field where you will find people with a wide range of knowledge from related disciplines and beyond. Take for example the program I'm in - we have students from the departments of computer science, data science, psychology, marketing, industrial design, literary media, animation, graphic design, and more. Being able to work in a team and listen to others is an ability that becomes a key differentiator of a successful UX designer. I am happy that the university provides an opportunity to work together with talented students from various fields - this should not be missed. The more you work with people with backgrounds different from yours, the more perspectives open up for you, and this path leads to only one result - you become cooler in UX design.

How to achieve this?

• Enroll in courses that cross with other majors. They are especially good if they include a joint project that lasts an entire semester. This will give you the opportunity to work closely with masters and graduate students of a different profile, who have a completely different perspective on the project.
• Participate in hackathons! I understand that most participants come with a specific team that they have already worked with and trust. However, I would suggest at least once to try to experience the unknown! Build a team right at the event, with people you've never met before. In this process, you will learn to trust strangers, communicate effectively, and work together to solve a problem. Seriously, try it once and then share your impressions in the comments.

• Which of the latest design trends do you find attractive?
• Why do you think he is popular?
• How does it affect user experience?
• If you had a chance to correct this trend to make it even better, what would you do?
• How do you keep up with the latest news and design trends? What do you learn along the way and how do you apply the new knowledge to your practice and approach?
• While working on [a project in your portfolio], what new tools did you learn to achieve the best results? How is this tool different from others in our industry?

#2 Learn to do a critical design review

Why is it important?

Criticism can be comfortable

Google pays great attention to establishing effective collaboration. The Google Aristotle project took two years of research to understand how the ideal team works. The main key to its creation is psychological safety. Team members should feel comfortable expressing their opinions. It is worth accepting criticism as an integral part of a productive design process. I like this tweet from Adam Connor:

“Criticism is the foundation of collaboration… Criticism is not a design skill. Criticism is an essential life skill.”

Adam Connor, designer at MadPow.

An increasing number of teams around the world are making critical sessions a standard practice in the design process. It is invaluable to be able to criticize other people's projects and to digest and accept criticisms addressed to you. Worth a try.

Questions to prepare for the interview:

• Were there any challenges you faced as a team while working on [project in your portfolio]? What was the difficulty? What did you and your team members do in this situation? How was the situation resolved?
• Imagine that you work for Google. One of the employees came and told you to change the color of the button to yellow. What will you do in this situation?
• What are you doing to get feedback and get a third-party opinion about your projects? How do you analyze feedback? How do you account for the feedback received?

Optional: Google UX Internship Application Process

• Google has a strict submission deadline. I would recommend applying for early stage- so recruiters have more time to familiarize themselves with your profile and move on to the next step.
• If your portfolio is selected, you will enter a pool of applicants from which teams at Google looking to hire interns can choose.
• Next, you are waiting for a letter with an invitation to an interview. The number of interview rounds depends on the team.

Apple - UX Designer

Needless to say, Apple is very selective in its process of hiring design interns. You're unlikely to find internship jobs on the site, but that doesn't mean Apple isn't looking for them. From my experience I can say that The best way Sign in to the Recruitment System - Attend Apple campus events and hand in your resume in person. It is with the help of such events that an orderly recruiting process is carried out. Below I have described the aspects that the Apple team noted as the most important in my interview:

#1 Critical Thinking

The Apple team wanted to find out everything from why I chose the design to the opacity percentage of a particular button. In the Research Methods course, I acquired the firm conviction that:

Good design is based on good insights

How can I prepare?

• Document your project process. Keep track of what the choice of a particular research method was based on, what the group discussions led to and what the results of the data analysis were, what ideas you came up with and why you prioritized the way you did.
• Tell your friends who work in related fields about the project: UX designers, developers, product managers. Ask them to be brutal and give honest feedback on how you describe your project. Ask them if they understand the problem that you faced and if your solution seems to them appropriate, if the logic of your every step is available. Their honest response and potential criticism will help you prepare for the unexpected.

Questions for preparation:

• Why did you conduct this particular study? What did you learn from him? Why did you decide to include this particular user base in the study?
• How did you go from prototypes to the final design? Why did you use this particular design tool? How is it different from others in the industry and why did you choose it?
• Were your hypotheses confirmed? What did you learn during this chant and after its release?

#2 Design Research

Designers at Apple have quite a lot of responsibility because they have to be in complete control of their project. Despite weekly statuses with other designers, you still have to make most of the design decisions on your own. That's why it's important in an interview to figure out how much time and effort you put into a problem, project, and research before you settle on a specific solution. Be sure to talk about the research carried out during the project. This will show that you are carefully approaching the search for a solution. Process documentation is very helpful here.

Questions for preparation:

• Do you explore non-technology solutions?
• What workflows have you learned to successfully meet the challenges of your project?
• How did you look for and explore approaches and design options for a particular component on the page?

Optional: Apple internship application process.

• Attend an event that is recruiting for Apple campuses (even if it's not for your group) and talk to a staff member for the position you're interested in. Say you're very interested in a UX design intern position, offer to show one of your portfolio projects, and, of course, leave a resume.
• If any team is interested in you, then you will receive an email from the recruiter with further instructions.
• You will most likely have two rounds of interviews with designers where you will discuss your portfolio and design challenges in detail.

Salesforce - UX Designer

In 2017, Salesforce was ranked 4th in Fortune's "Best Place to Work for Millennials" and 8th overall. I interned there this summer on the Customer Experience Tools team as a UX designer and gained amazing new experience and knowledge. Here is what they wanted from me during the interview:

#1 Self-motivation will help you gain a broad knowledge of design

The Salesforce UX team has played a huge role in improving the user experience of the B2B products that the company develops. It's amazing how cool this design team is in its segment (enterprise). I'm a big fan of the Lightning Design System. This tool really brings convenience, aesthetics to enterprise products and makes them accessible. Salesforce UX certainly still has a number of aspects of the product where designers didn't have a chance to get their hands dirty. But they are constantly working on the product, expanding it, and it is for this reason that they are looking for designers who are happy to take the initiative in different projects. Designers who have broad design skills for web systems, mobile applications, data visualization and more will be a natural addition to the company. There really is an opportunity to do projects here. different types and it makes you flexible and teaches you a lot. I'm impressed with the company culture at Salesforce and I really feel like I'm part of it. Ohany(every Salesforce employee is a member of a family that is related to others). This summer I met with many design teams, and I was pleasantly surprised by the responsiveness and ability to competently mentor that I found here.

Questions for preparation:

• What is your background and why did you choose the design?
• What did you work on during your design internships? What have you learned?
• What areas of design have you studied? How exactly did you research them? Tell us about projects in these areas?
• Tell us about one project from your portfolio and what conclusions and knowledge did you come to as a result?

Optional: Application process for a design internship.

CX Tools Senior Designer UX Team Interview - The interview focuses on general design knowledge and the details of your portfolio. CX Tools Team Manager Interview - Here the focus is on finding out your skills in order to place you in a specific team and clarify your role in it.

Conclusion

I talked about the criteria for evaluating candidates at interviews at Google, Apple, and Salesforce. I think they can be extended to many other companies. But then again, UX is an ever-changing field, and the needs of the discipline itself and companies can change over time. So best advice- to have a confident base, to follow what is happening and to adapt.

Thank you for your attention and good luck!

If you are looking for a job as a designer, at some point during the interview, or even before it begins, the magic words “test task” may be spoken. Personally, this seems very strange to me. I can understand when it comes to a person with an absolutely empty resume, but if you have some experience, a portfolio, the employer looked at it, invited you, you came and spend your time answering all your questions, then a person with on the other side of the table there is comprehensive information in order to decide whether you are suitable for the job or not. Whether you have enough experience or not. Why do you need to take some more "exams" for professional suitability in addition to everything - it's not clear.

Someone will say that the employer takes risks and wants to make sure. But for this he has, among other things, probation. What is the risk if within 3 months (or even more) you can be thrown out of work without explanation?

The nonsense is that the task is usually the final, after a thorough study of the resume and interview with the candidate. At the same time, I have never met a situation where, after completing the task, for example, the probationary period is removed or reduced. Or a higher salary is offered for its excellent performance.

It seems to me that this question most often arises in 2 cases:

• The person from the other end of the table is not very smart. Not only is he not able to ask the right questions and make a decision based on all the information received, he does not respect your time, he considers you a priori to be some kind of freeloader student who apparently tries to deceive him and suck all the juices out of the wonderful “dream company”.
• They are just trying to use you. Under the guise of a test task, they give you quite a real one, but they don’t plan to hire you at all. Moreover, this can be either a certain “style” of the company as a whole, or simply the ingenuity of an individual employee. It's especially easy to push in tasks when you're a representative of a well-known company.

• If you have almost no experience and an empty portfolio, you are new to this field, and the employer’s doubts are quite understandable, but the test task itself is quite abstract, will not require more than 8 hours of your time with lunches and smoke breaks, and is definitely not related to the desire to use you for free.
• The test task is paid. It's essentially the same job. So you might as well say, ok, I'll estimate the labor costs, divide the salary I'm asking for by 160 (working hours in a month with a 40 hour week), multiply one by the other, and issue an invoice. If you're willing to pay for it, I'll take the job. After all, any work must be paid, and you value your time. Let employers also appreciate it, because this is exactly what you are trying to agree on - you have experience and personal time, the employer has tasks, and money.
• The task is just incredibly interesting and unique, and you have a lot of free unpaid time.

Now clinical cases from personal practice. If you come across something like this, it will definitely not lead to anything good.

• The test task is not paid. It will be a revelation for many now, but in general this is a job that takes time and distracts me from the main things, therefore it must be paid.
• An assignment is sent on several sheets (my record is 7 sheets of A4) in small print from paragraphs with extremely vague wording.
• It is proposed to perform a test task online, on Skype, sitting in front of the bright eyes of the employer.
• The test task has nothing to do with future work- for example, they sent me a mountain of tasks for usability specialists for the position of a designer.
• “You are EXACTLY the right fit for us, BUT we will only hire you after the test task.” (Well, take it, since I’m coming up, and give any tasks, not necessarily test ones.)
• The test task is aimed at solving a specific problem of the company. Once I did this, after sitting on the solution and thinking it over well, as a result, the result was quickly implemented on the company's website one-on-one.
• There was also a case when a good test task was sent with a bunch of corrections almost with a red pen with a request to work more and send the final result.
• There is a strict ban on using the results in your portfolio.