Mastering Product Design Interviews
Five strategies for applying to UX and product design and jobs
Skip the job boards and make a strong personal connection with these approaches
Now that you’ve thought about your skills, your ideal workplace, your brand, and put together a quick portfolio — it’s time to get out there and apply!
What’s the one unfair secret way of getting your foot in the door when applying to jobs? Easy. Connect with people first. The best strategy is not to cast a wide net by applying everywhere but to be laser focused on the few opportunities that resonate with you based on your research.
And your future employer appreciates this effort too—they’d much rather take someone who has the skills, is passionate about the company’s mission, and has done their homework than over someone who’s just looking for whatever they can get. It’s a breath of fresh air to see candidates like that.
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Even In today’s hyperconnected world of Facebooks, LinkedIns, Twitters, and the Instagrammies—close relationships still matter. In this article, we’ll look at 5 active strategies you can use to connect with potential employers through referrals, direct outreach, informational coffee chats, alumni networks and recruiters.
1. Using referrals effectively
One effective way to apply to jobs is through an employee referral. With a contact inside the company you shortcut the tedious part of the process and your portfolio lands squarely right in front of the eyes of a recruiter or a hiring manager. How you ask for a referral makes all the difference.
Getting referred by people you worked with before
The best referrals come from people you’ve developed a strong relationship by working together. Think of these folks as people in your tight-knit inner circle. These are the folks that not only can get you in the door but write a glowing review so that the interview completely flips. Instead of selling yourself, they work hard to get you in and sell the opportunity to you.
However these are not the only referrals you should act on. In fact as a designer you’re uniquely positioned to interact with people cross-functionally. This means right out of the gate you have a broad and diverse network of folks that you’ve worked with before such as,
- Product managers
- Design managers
- Engineers
- Designers
- Customer support specialists
The list goes on. Eventually some of those folks join other companies or they might know someone who works at a company you’re interested in. You might not have a strong relationship here and these folks are usually weaker ties but that’s ok. The important thing is that you still had a shared experience, which makes it easier to reconnect regarding future opportunities.
Getting referred by people you just met
These are folks you might have just met. It could be from an event, it could be you reached out to them on LinkedIn directly. For the most part — you’re still strangers. Getting referred by them is harder but like the first type of referrals it’s important to build the relationship first and make a genuine ask.
Let’s imagine you were in their shoes. You’re probably busy, stressed about a deadline and somebody you just met reaches out about a job opportunity at your company — what do you do? Would you immediately submit the referral? Or would you not bother altogether given everything else that’s happening? To make sure your request doesn’t fall by the wayside, make it easy for the person referring you to submit your application.
Highlight the experience and projects relevant to the job you’re applying. Show them that you’ve done your homework about the company, the team, and the project. Follow-up by saying that you think you’d be a good fit and that you’re interested in learning more. Ask yourself — how can you make the person who’s going to refer you look good?
2. Reaching out directly to the hiring manager
If you know the hiring manager for the role — reach out to them directly with your application. If you don’t know the manager, see if you can look them up. This will be harder for larger companies but for startups or mid-size companies usually you can poke around their site, LinkedIn, or Angel list to at least find the recruiter who posted the listing.
Reaching out to the hiring manager or the recruiter directly increases your chances of getting seen, boosting yourself directly to the top of the queue. It’s kind of like that scene from the movie Pursuit of Happyness, where Will Smith’s character has no luck going through the gatekeepers, so he tries his luck and reaches out to the CEO directly. Miraculously the call goes well and the CEO asks “Can you be here in 20 minutes?”
So if you do get this chance, have your pitch ready. You can also increase your chances by tailoring your portfolio (by using this quick-start template) for the company you’re applying. In fact, it’s not a bad idea to send the portfolio with relevant work in first and follow-up with a phone call a few days later to point the hiring manager to the work that you’ve already sent in if you haven’t gotten a response.
Continue reading an updated and refreshed version of this article to learn more about how you can apply strategically to design roles and maximize your chances of getting to the next stage of the interview.
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Put your best foot forward, land your dream design job
Land Your Dream Design Job is a comprehensive book about landing a product design role in a startup, agency, or tech company. It covers the entire design interview process from beginning to end, and will arm you with techniques and strategies to navigate the (at times) turbulent waters of job searching with confidence. This book will help guide you to a role that plays to your strengths while providing enough support for professional growth.
You’ll learn:
- What skills are expected of designers
- How to demonstrate those skills throughout the job search process
- How to identify your next opportunity
- How to target your job search process to stand out
- How to build a stand-out portfolio and tailor it to your dream opportunity
- The ins and outs out of various design interview types from portfolio presentations, whiteboard challenges, app critiques, to take home design exercises and many others.
You’ll also find in-depth advice on how to apply beyond the job boards, and how to conduct due diligence, negotiate compensation, and accelerate onboarding to your new role.