Comments on: 5 Tips to Nail Your Design Job Interview

By: Rob Loukotka

Rob Loukotka — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 16:59:02 +0000

That’s so awesome! Congratulations!

I’m sure my advice only helped 1%, and that your talent was the other 99%. But I’m glad to see what I said was helpful.

Rock on.

By: Joe Leese

Joe Leese — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 16:53:56 +0000

Went for an interview the day after reading this! Took your advice, got the job! Thanks!

By: Arco Nettisivut

Arco Nettisivut — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 10:24:45 +0000

Nice tips. The 5th point is so true.. Its very important to feel comfortable. If not, its quite hard to speak relaxedly.

By: Tushar

Tushar — Wed, 05 May 2010 04:02:32 +0000

i like the 5th point very much.

By: Sharlene

Sharlene — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 15:44:45 +0000

6. Always have questions.

My biggest pet peeve is after spending 10-20 minutes explaining the company, the candidate has zero questions.

If by magic, I addressed any concern you might have about the job, state that you would’ve asked about that specific topic and explain why – maybe I can add to it.

Nothing says you’ll take any job, and not specifically this job, then having no questions.

This is especially with design, because design firms and agencies vary so much in process, method, and mission.

Examples:
- How does the account team get along with the creative team?
- How are the creative managed? Whose on the team per project?
- How does the company support training and exposure to new technologies and practices?
- How is the company handling technological transitions (this answer says volumes about corporate culture)?

7. Practice. Get a part-time job at the Gap (they have insane sales training). Go to lots of tweet-ups. Try speed dating. Go to meet-up groups. Learning to talk well with strangers helps alleviate the nerves behind talking at an interview.

By: Nicole Foster

Nicole Foster — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 23:59:53 +0000

Excuse my tendency to leave out words, but I meant to say business suit, instead of just business

By: Nicole Foster

Nicole Foster — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 23:58:42 +0000

Great tips Rob! I actually have never been interviewed for a design job because of freelancing, but your points make sense. The last one is very true. While coming in with a business may be impressive, it also may be out of places. I would suggest dressing like you normally do, but a bit more cleaned up to look extra nice.

By: Ronnie

Ronnie — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 23:03:52 +0000

Good advice, thanks. I was always wondering whether or not to dress up nice or casual when interviewing at an agency. Maybe the tie is what screwed me out of my last one lol.

By: links for 2010-03-24 « random thoughts and casual ruminations

links for 2010-03-24 « random thoughts and casual ruminations — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 12:09:21 +0000

[...] 5 Tips to Nail Your Design Job Interview | Fringe Focus [...]

By: Chad Behnke

Chad Behnke — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 05:16:52 +0000

I like #1 and #3 (since they’re sort of connected). It’s easy to get caught up in how monumental a shift the interview tends to represent in your own life and ascribe that onto the entire process. My problem I’m guilty of in this is not so much nervousness, although that may be the root cause of this, but that I tend to play diplomat and create false equivalencies rather than having opinions, which is, as you mentioned, what you get remembered for, since good opinions are derived from strong base knowledge. I think part of what helped get me my current position was explaining to my current boss that I thought HAML was a bit useless and circumvented the metaphorical idea of the box model….to which she agreed. (although she also told me she liked my code and was going to bring me on as long ‘as I didn’t turn out to be a douchebag’).

#5 is an interesting because I’ve heard both. A suit ‘shows your professionalism and commitment to the interview and job’ is what I’ve heard on that. But then again it also does feel really strange walking, dressed to the nines, into a loft space with a ping pong/foosball set combo and people drawing while listening to cranked-up music in ironic t-shirts and jeans. I guess we get away with a lot in the creative or even development industries in terms of attire, so it’s a matter of generally going a step-up on the current climate and not getting hung up on it.

Great advice all around, and definitely something good to bookmark from the night before when you’re reading over the ‘frequently asked questions’ and trying to rehearse the answers so you won’t look ignorant. This post really takes the edge off of that sort of atmosphere.