Your design portfolio is ready, your personal resume is done, and you are all dressed up. You are now just minutes away from that important interview that will land you your future job. Do you know what to expect from the interviewers? Are your prepared enough for what is to come?

The interview is a discovery process, for the employer as well as the candidate. It is not only a time for the employer to understand more about the design applicant, but it’s also a good personal time for the designer to understand more about the employer and the position he is applying for. So here are some tips for you that I hope will prepare you for your design job interview:

A. Introducing yourself

At most interviews, you are usually first asked to provide a self-introduction. You can start off by elaborating about your education, design interests, personal hobbies, and most importantly, mention the reason of your job application with the company. Make the effort to provide some unique information about yourself (eg. Design competition entries or overseas design internships), that other applicants will not be able to provide, to leave a deeper impression on your interviewers. Below are some of the typical questions that would be asked:

a. Do tell us more about yourself and your design experience.

b. What are you interested to join our company?

c. What makes you different from the rest?

d. Name me some of your weaknesses.

B. Showing your design portfolio

Your design portfolio is an important element needed in your design interview. How you present it to the interviewers matters very much. Basically, it is best to always keep your portfolio short, clear, and to your own persona. Do keep in mind who you are presenting to. Read up about the people or company you have applied for beforehand to familiarize yourself with the company structure and working style there. So you will know how to present your ideas clearly to the interviewers.

Be prepared to modify or change your portfolio slightly to suit the taste of your target readers. I have heard of companies who prefer looking at portfolios in A3 sizes rather than A4 sizes, and prefer looking at sketches and models rather than computer renderings. So be prepared with a good range of items (computer renderings, models, prototypes, pictures, sketches and sometimes even result slips) to present to the interviewer.

C. General Knowledge

The last round of the interview usually involves questions that probe you about your future plans and personal interests. So do foresee what you want to do in the job or study specialisation you want to pursue. Think 5 or 10 years ahead, about what you can contribute to the company or the society. You can also show evidence of some of your other contributions, like blogging, personal websites, leadership certificates, which will enable them to understand your personality better. Below are some of the common questiones being asked:

a. What do you see yourself doing in 5 years’ time?

b. What do you do during your free time to keep yourself updated with design?

c. Who is your favourite designer and why?

d. Given this design problem (eg.high cost, technical fault), how would you have solved the tasks?

More often than not, I have seen designers come into our design office to be interviewed, proving that they are not fully prepared. So my advice for people is to always learn from the mistakes you make from your previous interviews, and upgrade your design skills. Take time in between interviews to improve upon your design and presentation skills. Listen to what the interviewers say about you. These will be good helping hints to make you a better designer than you already are.

So all the best for your design interview!

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 10th, 2007 at 12:00 and is filed under Column, Designer Tools. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.