The Product Designer's Interview Playbook

Sep 25, 2024

3 min read

Ace your product design interview: Insider tips, proven strategies, and expert insights from top design leaders on what really makes you stand out.

Phase 1

Recruiters

Recruiter calls are informal 30-minute chats that serve as the initial screener between candidates and hiring managers. Recruiters are focused on passing along the most relevant candidates, so they’ll be listening closely to understand how well your experience aligns with the role, as well as your interest and enthusiasm for the company.

Do your homework and familiarize yourself with the company and their customer base, as recruiters will almost always ask how you heard about [x] organization and what you know about them.

Before speaking with you, a good recruiter will have already reviewed your portfolio and resume, so aim to expand on what they’ve seen rather than just repeating it. They’ll be looking for clues on how well you fit the role based on the job description and input from the hiring manager.

Make it easy for the recruiter to see why you’d be a valuable addition to the team by highlighting your relevant experience and linking it back to the job listing. If you feel comfortable, share a bit more about yourself, such as how you got into design, your passions, and what drives you.

Do Your Homework

Research the companies mission and values. Find a way to relate them back to your personal values and motivations
Anchor your conversation around that
Explain why/how these resonate with you on a personal level.

Keep it Simple

Keep your initial intro to 60-90 seconds if you can
Don’t be the person repeating their resume word-for- word! Recruiters do a LOT of these calls and read a lot of resumes
Speaking to who you are as a person — go deeper if you’re comfortable.

Stay Relevant

Identify which of your projects are the most relevant to the job description

Highlight those commonalities as you walk through your experience
The recruiter will be listening for keywords and responsibilities from the job description. Use those words

Tip: Focus on how the company & opportunity align with you as a person combined with your professional background. It’s more than loving someones product, it’s how your skillset adds value to the problems they are solving.

Phase 2

Hiring Manager

When you move into this phase, be prepared to dive deeper into your initial talking points, as the hiring manager will likely have follow-up questions about some of the project details you shared. Focus on your impact, outcomes, partnerships, and any key learnings from your projects.

If you’re not the first or only design addition to the team, the hiring manager will also be assessing how your background fits with the rest of the team. If it hasn’t been shared with you, avoid guessing which skills they’re looking to add to balance the team. When you delve into your work, make sure to highlight your collaboration style and how you partnered across teams and projects. This approach will showcase your ability to complement various team strengths and ways of working without getting hyper-specific.

Talking Points

Understand, and own, your strengths and weaknesses! Confidence goes a long way when interviewing
Give insight into previous ways of working (i.e collaboration)
Map skills and qualifications within the job description 1:1 with your experience. Be as specific (with examples) as you can.

Storytelling

Avoid getting stuck on smaller details when reviewing your experience. You’ll lose people if you zoom too far in when there isn’t time to go wide with background details.
Focus on your impacts and outcomes. If you missed smaller details they want to know, they’ll ask.
Format your case studies into short stories. Your step-by-step process is not what’s most important; It’s the outcomes of your decisions, approach, and understanding of the problem.

Adaptability

When projects didn’t go as planned, share those takeaways! Flexibility and adaptability often matter more than strictly following a framework like the double diamond—especially in advanced roles.
Don’t hesitate to showcase projects where you adapted your skills and approach to understand and meet unique challenges.