Set Your Designer Onsite Interview Up for Success with Mindfulness
Techniques to Enhance Your Interview Performance (UX interview series part 2 of 6)
😱 Your stressful big day is coming…
Onsite interviews are intense: It can take up to 6 hours; You’re expected to give a 45-minute portfolio presentation at the beginning; There are difficult behavior questions during 1-on-1s to question your soul…
Stressed out? Do you know there are things you can do to set yourself up for success before onsite? I am writing this article to share helpful techniques I learned from my personal experience, my life coaches, psychology books and TED talks. 💡
Breath in and breath out. Now free yourself from worries of the result. Let us get prepared for the upcoming stressful situations.
⏱ 1. Three days before onsite: Think ahead and manage anxiety.
Neuroscientist Daniel Levitin thinks there’s a way to avoid making critical mistakes in stressful situations…The idea is to think ahead to what those failures might be.
If the origin of your anxiety is related to portfolio presentation or 1-on-1 conversations, there are things we can do set ourselves up for success.
1.1 Do research on your interviewers, the role and company mission.
- Know your audience can help you structure your presentation wisely and manage the anxiety of public speaking. Tailer your content relevant to your audience. You can keep ask yourself: “What does my audience need to hear from me to understand the story?”
- Write the speaker notes for each slide — It can remind you the points when you are nervous in the spotlight.
- Prepare good questions for each interviewers — it will save you valuable mental effort for you during 1-on-1s.
1.2 Visualize the successful interview experience repeatedly.
Visualization is the process of creating a mental image or intention of what you want to experience in reality. It is a technique widely used to improve the physical and physiologic performance of athletics. We can apply this technique to stay optimistic.
1.3 Practice your presentation in the right way
Practice your speech in a similar environment where you are going to give the presentation. For example, you can give your speech at a conference room with a projector and large whiteboard. Have your friends play the audience role and ask you questions along the way. This practice helps you desensitize, get comfortable with the surroundings and boost confidence.
😴 2. The night before onsite: Sleep well!
Lack of sleep can lead to poor concentration and cloudy thoughts.
“Sleep is also critical. Good-quality, deep sleep prepares your brain for learning and consolidates newly learned memories so that you can recall them more easily. When you are preparing a speech, pulling an all-nighter is the worst thing you can do.” — Matt Abrahams, Lecturer in Organizational Behavior, Stanford University Graduate School of Business
😌 3. Onsite Day: Set peace of mind
3.1 Set your intention for today:
Setting an intention can manifest your goals and visions. It reminds you of the big picture.
“My goal today is to show the authentic me and share my work.” “It is a great opportunity to speak with awesome designers and ask questions.” “I am so curious that how do the designers work there.” “I will learn and become stronger from today’s experience, no matter what happens.”
3.2 Accept mistakes:
Tell yourself that it is ok to be imperfect: like rumbling a little during the presentation, dropping papers on the ground or failed to come up with a perfect solution for whiteboarding…Mistakes can happen. It’s part of life!
Here are some things you can tell yourself: “I have given great presentations in the past.” “Everything is going to be alright.” “I have made lots of progress compared to where I was few months ago and I am proud of my grit.”
3.3 Be punctual
Arrive the conference room 10 minutes ahead and set up the device: test wifi, projector, slides…
🔥 4. Five minutes before your first presentation: Power posing.
Pose as a “super man/woman” in the bathroom, which will fire up your confidence during the final moments. Research on body language reveals that we can change other people’s perceptions simply by changing body positions.
“Our bodies change our minds, our minds can change our behavior, and our behavior changes our outcomes…” — Amy Cuddy, Social Psychologist.
…Now, you walk back into the conference room. You shake hands with everyone, you smile, you set your intention for today…Your battle begins…
🙋 5. During Onsite: Be present
Live for the moment. Focus on what you are saying and hearing. Make connections with interviewers. Doing some quick exercise like push-ups right before the interview can help you be present. （I will further elaborate this part in the next article.）
🙏 6. After onsite: Retrospective.
6.1 Conduct self-evaluation with gratitude.
After each interview, I wrote down 3 things I did good and 3 things I will do to make my next interview better, which helped me stay positive and constructively criticize myself. This is what I would recommend doing post your onsite.
There always are questions you could answer better. Be grateful for the improvement you made and thanks to everything you have: family, health, sunshine… What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger!
6.2 Ask for feedback and act on it.
1/4 of my former interviewers actually provided me constructional feedback when I request it. Interviews are process to help you know your knowledge gaps. I believe there is no shortcut to become a good designer, hardworking and practice are the ways.
6.3 Preserve your energy and stay focused
Stay away from distractions like smartphones; get up early to do the most important tasks; Exercise regularly; Plan your day…
6.4 Take a step back and remind yourself the dream.
Separate yourself from rejections. Rejection don’t necessarily reflect your values and worth as a person. “Patience, experience; and experience, hope” -Romans 5:4 KJV.
Just like drawing, you can always take a step back to observe what you have made, how can you be better. It helps us to see the full picture and reminds us the initial passion: “I want to become a great designer who crafts thoughtful experience for people. Today’s interview is a building block of my career.”
📚 Inspirations:
TED Talks to watch before a job interview.
Speaking Up without Freaking Out.
Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment.
This article is part 2 of 6 upcoming ux interview article series. The next topics includes: white boarding challenge, product critique and behavior questions. Continue on to read part 1: Tackle design Challenge.
If you enjoyed this article, please 👏 to help other people find it! Feedbacks and comments are highly welcome. Thank you and good luck with your interviews.
