Product design interview — 5 most common failures in 2020
Here are my best tips as a Product Design Recruiter.
What can you totally avoid before a job interview?
Let’s start with what sounds most obvious, but believe it or not, happens to the best.
1.Your email
The email should be your best friend. You remember to brush your teeth every morning and evening, so your attendance on your email should be the same, if not more. Equal goes for Messenger on Facebook and the rest of the chats on your other social platforms and channels.
Especially in these hard days with the Coronavirus, when face-to-face opportunities are diminishing, and all networks are noisy, check up your email and chats more often, don’t let opportunities sink in your Facebook requests messages for example.
Recruiters and professionals may try to reach you — keep your email clean, put a daily reminder, a note on the closet, find the system that will prevent you from missing chances.
2. Technical disqualification.
Always be prepared to present one of your projects. Sounds obvious, right? You will be surprised.
If you were asked during an interview to present one of the phases of your project or even the entire project, don’t bring yourself to technical disqualification. It may not be what will determine your fate, but it will undoubtedly light a red light for the interviewer sitting in front of you. Backups have long become an integral part of our lives. We are all automatically connected to the cloud from every possible device to avoid any loss of material, but what is it worth if you forgot to charge your laptop or wasted your cell phone battery on your way to the interview? Or if you forgot the cloud password? Or, what if your best case study is in the “Final Final Project” folder on your desktop? Prepare the night before. You don’t want to find yourself remembering you forgot to do something important when you are about to leave your home and your brain is releasing cortisol( aka the stress hormone) that can disrupt your thoughts naturally without being aware of it.
Especially in our current situation during COVID-19, when interviews moved behind the screens, the last thing interviewers want to deal with is the time a candidate invests in searching for a project that has been lost among the folders or accidentally presents the less recent file.
Arrange and open your projects before the call, give the interviewer the feeling that you have thought of it in advance and you’re ready to do your best. Make sure you know every aspect of your projects, if you were not asked to present a project during the interview and you feel the need to link one of your projects to one of your answers, this is the right moment to propose it to the interviewer.
In one of the interviews I conducted, I asked the candidate to describe one of his challenges throughout the work. Without hesitation, he replied that he would be happy to present a challenge in a specific project and to explain how he overcame it. This is where a green light comes on and even two.
3. Body language
The last thing we want is that our body language transmits the exact opposite of the message we want to convey. This is certainly a serious failure but the kind that can be prevented in advance. Body language is our way of communicating with each other without words and has the most powerful impact on the way people think and feel about us.
Furthermore, it can influence our way of thinking about ourselves.
So, let’s focus on that.
Much has been said about the change that our body undergoes only through thoughts, and in the same breath, it works in reverse.
Our body language can bring change in our thoughts and feelings.
We practice on our body language on a daily basis, so how is it that when it matters the most, it tends to fail? It’s because we haven’t stopped for a second to look at ourselves and understand what each posture/gesture makes us feel. How about an app like “Duolingo” for body language? If I’ll ask you to say “Hero” / “Power” / “Confidence” only with your body, what would it look like?
What position would you use with your body alone to convey the best message? What does it make you feel? Look at yourself in the mirror and practice the same position every time before you go into an interview or any stressful situation where you're in front of people.
Make sure you look like the message you want to convey.
Sounds strange? Surprisingly, research has shown that taking two minutes in a particular position is enough to change the balance of hormones to express your best self. Just two minutes for a significant change, won’t you try?
Now, what actions can we take to minimize failures that may happen during an interview? What can go wrong but can be avoided if we only prepare ourselves in advance? Time for pre-mortem.
4. You will not know how to answer one of the questions
Getting ready for plenty of possible questions is great, but it is equally important to learn how to deal with questions you hear for the first time. Never assume you know everything, there is always room for improvement. No matter how much effort you put into practicing questions that are relevant to the interview and the specific role you are being tested for, take into consideration that you are most likely going to be confronted with a question you haven’t thought of.
So, what’s left to do? The first instinct we have when trying to hide the fact that we “God forbid” don’t know the answer, is to improvise. Wrong.
Improvisations out, Honesty in.
Two main reasons why not to improvise: The first, the interviewer who sits in front of you interviewed dozens of candidates before you and will continue after you. Count on his ability to realize when you are confident in your answer and when you really are not. The last thing you want is that the interviewer will get the impression that you are not honest or have “bullshit talking ability”. The second reason is that improvisation can sometimes be worse than saying: “The truth, I don’t know, I’d love to think about it for a moment …” You will start to go around and around with your answer, and without notice, you think you managed to get out of it but in practice didn’t answer the question you were asked (Try to avoid it!).
Be honest with yourself and with the interviewers in front of you, assume that the interviewers don’t expect you to pull out answers from the sleeve before they finish asking, they undoubtedly will accept that you need to think about it for a while.
Furthermore, if your inability to answer is because you did not understand the question, you are more than required to ask the interviewer to repeat it. Sometimes, rephrasing the question makes all the difference. Plus, if you feel that you are dissatisfied with the answers you have provided during the interview, this is exactly the time to emphasize your interest in the job and company, which leads me to the next failure.
5. Not expressing interest in the job
You have had quite a few interviews, if not yet, then you have probably heard from people’s experiences. You have a mountain of information on your side in the interview, (Feelings, Thoughts, Concerns, etc.) Ever tried to think what it looks like on our interviewer's side? I’ll Give you a glimpse — even recruiters and HR managers are always under pressure. Think about it for a moment, recruiters are the ones who run the company, they need to “gamble” on the appropriate candidates who will be an integral part of the company’s success. One wrong bet can cost the company a lot, but a lot of money. Stressful, ah?
In the end, it all comes down to you as a person. During an interview (very limited time), interviewers are trying to pull as much information as possible about your character, beyond your design skills. Remember, they won’t feed you with a spoon for that. Recruiters are skilled enough to read your character with the answers you provide. They test your way of thinking, human relations, your entrepreneurial mindset, and especially your interest in the company and the job. The winning formula for a worthy candidate exists when an interviewee expresses an interest alongside his or her talent. Chances are reduced when you have no interest at all, and it doesn’t matter how talented you are. We are looking to see a sincere interest in the job and the desire to lift the company to the next level. Ultimately, this is the primary mission of recruiters and has tremendous significance for every company.
Interviewing is a conversation between two people (sometimes more), and you are responsible for checking if the job and company vision is a good match for you just as interviewers check to see if you are the right fit for them.
How many times have you heard it? But did you apply it once?
So, before the interview ends, when the interviewer asks: “Do you have any questions?” Don’t rush off, look at it as a bonus question after all the questions you’ve already been asked. It’s your moment to save the interview if you felt it didn’t go the way you wanted or, on the other hand, if it went well and you want to make a closure like a champion, drop your best questions on the table.
What can you ask?
Carl Wheatley (Facebook Product Design Recruiter) with Renee Fleck (Director Dribble Design Blog- A highly recommended blog!)
Presents 10 questions that product designers should ask in a job interview.
From now on, practice on what to ask in addition to what to answer.
This is how you can motivate the conversation towards your favor.
I hope these tips are helpful in your preparation for your next interview.
Make sure to visit my profile for more tips. For any question, consultation, sharing, or if you are looking for your next career opportunity, feel free to contact me (on Facebook / LinkedIn) I’d love to get to know you!
As a Product Designer myself, I’ve got your back!
