What interviewing looks like for designers in 2022.

I drastically underestimated what it would take.

I underestimated how much work my job search would be this year. After dipping my toes into the world of fintech I was interested in sticking with it. It’s amazing how we think we’re the shit when you're working on the inside at a startup. You tell yourself “We’re the best (insert industry here) on the market.” & “I can work anywhere.” But you're not. And you can’t.

It took me 10 weeks and 1,483 emails to find a new job. That doesn’t include the time it looks to update my resume and portfolio, go out and find those positions and apply. It quickly becomes a full-time job.

I had 4 separate recruiters connecting me with startups and agencies. With such a wide diverse background I was interested to see what they could do. I’ve had good luck in the past using recruiters to connect me with some great companies in the past.

The more experience you get, the longer it takes to find a role. I’ve been working in my industry for 12 years and I can tell you it’s difficult. How many new CEOs or VPs has your company had since you’ve been there? How many marketers or engineers have they had? The higher you go, the longer it takes.

In total, I applied to over 75 positions. Some were referrals from friends, others were cold calls. I was pleasantly surprised with how many responses I received from companies (cold and referral) that were actively hiring. Juxtapose this to logging onto Linkedin each day and seeing a new tech giant laying off more employees. The pandemic has certainly normalized the feeling of the world burning down around us while we pretend everything’s fine.

Out of all 75 applications I had second-round interviews with around 8 of them. In total, I did 71 Zoom calls totally over 61 hours of time. About half of those I made it to the final round of interviews. Most of these final rounds consist of 2-4 hour long Zoom marathons where you speak with multiple employees both inside and outside your discipline and present your work.

There are some designers out there who can find jobs without showing their work but I am not one of them. Think of the designers who created emojis or the Facebook newsfeed. For the rest of us mere mortals, we need to sell ourselves and do it better than our peers.

What were some of the reasons companies didn’t extend an offer?

Lots of companies out there hire to backfill a role, this typically means someone quit or was promoted and they want you to fill their shoes. The problem with this is that you are not that person, and you will never be that person. You have to be yourself and good companies understand this.

Another reason I’d hear is you don’t have experience building X product in Y Industry. One wellness company I interviewed with wanted to see work that was exactly what they were doing. Just because I didn’t have an exact replica of their business does not mean I would not have been qualified for the position. I’ve been doing this for 12 years, I’ve done it all.

Another company I made it to the final round with removed the role and stopped hiring for the position.

What should you do if you want to get hired?

Currently, it’s Q4 and many companies will be looking to burn through budgets so now is a good time to look. I suggest you polish your resume and try to quantify your achievements with data (revenue created, users added, etc.)

If you’re a designer then be prepared to share your work and get comfortable presenting it. If you’re in UX or product, you should also read up on how to do whiteboarding tests. Lots of companies will require a take-home test. I personally, I don’t do take-home tests. If my years of experience and portfolio aren’t good enough then we’re done talking. One company even asked me to do a take-home test that involved coming up with a solution their business was currently facing. I don’t work for free, and neither should you.

If you need someone to look at your resume or portfolio for you and give you advice before you go on your job search, please email me a link at: jimifilipovski@gmail.com and I’ll be happy to look at it and share my thoughts with you.

There is so much not covered here about negotiations and salary but in the interest of time, I will save that for another day.

Thank you for reading. Until next time!

-Jimi