I’ve been conducting lots of interviews recently; for service design and product design. It’s been enlightening. Here are my top tips for anyone preparing for a design portfolio interview.
1. Stick to the timing - so basic but it really matters. Help yourself by saying what you are going to do e.g “I will spend 15 mins on one project then 20 mins on the next as it’s slightly more complex”.
2. Remember the interview is about you, not the projects - pick out things that interested you, that you found hard, that shifted your thinking. It’s not a project pitch. It’s a YOU pitch.
3. Less is more - leave the interviewer wanting more. Dont go into too much detail. It’s ok to zoom in on a specific thing, but zoom back out again to put it in context.
4. Show your working and thinking - SHOW SOME SKETCHES. AI will eat up all your shiny outputs in due course anyway so make your thinking your best asset. Polish that.
5. Problem, action, outcome - frame all your chat through that loop. Make it really easy for the interviewer to walk away knowing what you did, why you did it and what happened as a result.
6. Disambiguate your role from others - design is a multifunctional team effort but your team is not applying for the job. Clarity on your specific role and activity is vital. This doesn’t always have to be a strict ‘design’ skill. Perhaps in a collaborative project you were the person that brought the energy, or the critical thinking. Say that.
7. Enjoy yourself - passion for the work you’ve done will make you stand out. Be proud of it. Say it. “I’m really excited to show you this work, I’m really proud of it”. Enthusiasm is infectious. Be infectious.