UX Job Interview Helpers

When talking about job interviews for a UX position, we often discuss how to leave an incredible impression and how to negotiate the right salary. But it’s only one part of the story. The other part is to be prepared, to ask questions, and to listen carefully.

Below, I’ve put together a few useful resources on UX job interviews — from job boards to Notion templates and practical guides. I hope you or your colleagues will find it helpful.

The Design Interview Kit

As you are preparing for that interview, get ready with the Design Interview Kit (Figma), a helpful practical guide that covers how to craft case studies, solve design challenges, write cover letters, present your portfolio, and negotiate your offer. Kindly shared by Oliver Engel.

The Product Designer’s (Job) Interview Playbook (PDF)

The Product Designer’s (Job) Interview Playbook (PDF) is a practical little guide for designers through each interview phase, with helpful tips and strategies on things to keep in mind, talking points, questions to ask, red flags to watch out for and how to tell a compelling story about yourself and your work. Kindly put together by Meghan Logan.

From my side, I can only wholeheartedly recommend to not only speak about your design process. Tell stories about the impact that your design work has produced. Frame your design work as an enabler of business goals and user needs. And include insights about the impact you’ve produced — on business goals, processes, team culture, planning, estimates, and testing.

Also, be very clear about the position that you are applying for. In many companies, titles do matter. There are vast differences in responsibilities and salaries between various levels for designers, so if you see yourself as a senior, review whether it actually reflects in the position.

A Guide To Successful UX Job Interviews (+ Notion template)

Catt Small’s Guide To Successful UX Job Interviews, a wonderful practical series on how to build a referral pipeline, apply for an opening, prepare for screening and interviews, present your work, and manage salary expectations. You can also download a Notion template.

30 Useful Questions To Ask In UX Job Interviews

In her wonderful article, Nati Asher has suggested many useful questions to ask in a job interview when you are applying as a UX candidate. I’ve taken the liberty of revising some of them and added a few more questions that might be worth considering for your next job interview.

1. What are the biggest challenges the team faces at the moment?
2. What are the team’s main strengths and weaknesses?
3. What are the traits and skills that will make me successful in this position?
4. Where is the company going in the next 5 years?
5. What are the achievements I should aim for over the first 90 days?
6. What would make you think “I’m so happy we hired X!”?
7. Do you have any doubts or concerns regarding my fit for this position?
8. Does the team have any budget for education, research, etc.?
9. What is the process of onboarding in the team?
10. Who is in the team, and how long have they been in that team?
11. Who are the main stakeholders I will work with on a day-to-day basis?
12. Which options do you have for user research and accessing users or data?
13. Are there analytics, recordings, or other data sources to review?
14. How do you measure the impact of design work in your company?
15. To what extent does management understand the ROI of good UX?
16. How does UX contribute strategically to the company’s success?
17. Who has the final say on design, and who decides what gets shipped?
18. What part of the design process does the team spend most time on?
19. How many projects do designers work on simultaneously?
20. How has the organization overcome challenges with remote work?
21. Do we have a design system, and in what state is it currently?
22. Why does a company want to hire a UX designer?
23. How would you describe the ideal candidate for this position?
24. What does a career path look like for this role?
25. How will my performance be evaluated in this role?
26. How long do projects take to launch? Can you give me some examples?
27. What are the most immediate projects that need to be addressed?
28. How do you see the design team growing in the future?
29. What traits make someone successful in this team?
30. What’s the most challenging part of leading the design team?
31. How does the company ensure it’s upholding its values?

Before a job interview, have your questions ready. Not only will they convey a message that you care about the process and the culture, but also that you understand what is required to be successful. And this fine detail might go a long way.

Don’t Forget About The STAR Method

Interviewers closer to business will expect you to present examples of your work using the STAR method (Situation — Task — Action — Result), and might be utterly confused if you delve into all the fine details of your ideation process or the choice of UX methods you’ve used.

• Situation: Set the scene and give necessary details.
• Task: Explain your responsibilities in that situation.
• Action: Explain what steps you took to address it.
• Result: Share the outcomes your actions achieved.

As Meghan suggests, the interview is all about how your skills add value to the problem the company is currently solving. So ask about the current problems and tasks. Interview the person who interviews you, too — but also explain who you are, your focus areas, your passion points, and how you and your expertise would fit in a product and in the organization.

Wrapping Up

A final note on my end: never take a rejection personally. Very often, the reasons you are given for rejection are only a small part of a much larger picture — and have almost nothing to do with you. It might be that a job description wasn’t quite accurate, or the company is undergoing restructuring, or the finances are too tight after all.

Don’t despair and keep going. Write down your expectations. Job titles matter: be deliberate about them and your level of seniority. Prepare good references. Have your questions ready for that job interview. As Catt Small says, “once you have a foot in the door, you’ve got to kick it wide open”.

You are a bright shining star — don’t you ever forget that.

Job Boards

• Remote + In-person
• IXDA
• Who Is Still Hiring?
• UXPA Job Bank
• Otta
• Boooom
• Black Creatives Job Board
• UX Research Jobs
• UX Content Jobs
• UX Content Collective Jobs
• UX Writing Jobs

Useful Resources

• “How To Be Prepared For UX Job Interviews,” by yours truly
• “UX Job Search Strategies and Templates,” by yours truly
• “How To Ace Your Next Job Interview,” by Startup.jobs
• “Cracking The UX Job Interview,” by Artiom Dashinsky
• “The Product Design Interview Process,” by Tanner Christensen
• “10 Questions To Ask in a UX Interview,” by Ryan Scott
• “Six questions to ask after a UX designer job interview,” by Nick Babich

Meet “Smart Interface Design Patterns”

You can find more details on design patterns and UX in Smart Interface Design Patterns, our 15h-video course with 100s of practical examples from real-life projects — with a live UX training later this year. Everything from mega-dropdowns to complex enterprise tables — with 5 new segments added every year. Jump to a free preview. Use code BIRDIE to save 15% off.

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