Interviews can be tricky, if not tough. If you are a UX designer, it is a given that you are good at critical and creative design thinking. You probably even have a knack for giving great design solutions.
Unfortunately, only your former employer and you know about these strengths. You have to prove your worth again to a new company. However, many of the candidates are sending out an incomplete one, or they don’t know the right way to build one. This is where the resume builder sites come in! They help candidates to create an effective resume in order to attract everyone’s attention.
These tips will help you master your UX job interview effortlessly.
1. Research the Company
A good interview begins with a through homework done by you. You should know about the company thoroughly prior to the interview. It can be an embarrassing situation for you to not know anything at all about the company.
It needs to be understood why it is imperative that you know about the company. It is not only for your good impression but also for you to know if the company qualifies as per your requirements. Their approach towards UX design can also be understood through the information.
Do not forget you will be spending your valuable time and energy every day with the company. You have the right to know their UX culture and procedure.
2. Be Confident During Your Profile Validation
If you are aware of the standard interview protocol, you very well know how the interview begins. You will be asked a series of questions by someone from the HR department. They will test your personality, skills and drive as a UX designer.
This usually includes the first round of your interview, which is pretty standard. You will not only be evaluated on the basis of your knowledge but also your soft skills.
3. Prepare Your Introduction.
Always be ready for this question. Interviewers always begin with “tell us something about yourself”. As basic as it sounds, you can change the way the recruiting managers see you. You should be able to frame your entire journey in 100 – 120 seconds.
You should be able to confidently and truthfully tell them where you started from, what you are looking for and where do you yourself going in this particular field. Don’t forget to casually but positively mention your achievements and experiences. Having said that, do not brag and stick to the chronological order.
4. Have a Project or a Case-Study Ready.
After you have talked about your experience and skills, the interviewers will most probably ask about a project that you have successfully delivered. This is the follow-up question, eight out of ten times. No matter how skilled you are, you are bound to get confused about which project to speak on.
First of all, it takes time to choose a project. The interviewers might doubt your decisiveness. Second, you might not be able to recollect all the details at that time. This may question your confidence level as well.
It is recommended that you always be prepared to share your experience of a project that you might have handled in the past. The more it relates to the business metrics of the company, the better.
5. Have Command Over Your Skills and Knowledge
You should note, that the recruiters look for desirable qualities rather than the essentials. Make sure you know about your field from A to Z. If, however, there is something that you are not aware of or can’t remember, be honest and tell them.
Make sure you have required knowledge about basic industry tools such as OmniGraffle, Sketch, Illustrator, and app prototyping tool.
Although UX designers are not expected to be a professional in programming languages such as JavaScript, HTML, CSS3 but having a slight familiarity will act as an added benefit.
6. Be prepared for random questions.
An interview, rather a good interview never follows a basic, boring protocol. Depending on the company, the panel can use different and innovative ways to assess you. This should not be mind-boggling. Take your time and answer. You should be ready for questions like-
- What are the key skills of a UX designer?
- Why do you want to join this company?
- Which are your favorite apps and why?
- What is that you can offer differently?
- What are your strengths and weaknesses?
These questions should not bother you really. As a UX designer, you should have an innate skill to answer and counter questions. It will be a part of your job someday.
Whatever the question or the task might be, do not lie. Do not lie about your achievements and your skills. Have faith in your ideas, experience, and knowledge. The more you lie, the higher would be the expectations that would eventually pressurize you.
These tips here might help you to ace your interview. Once you’re selected, you need to take care of how you start. As a UX designer, you should be confident of yourself and your work.
Author Bio:
Helen Wilson is a marketing manager at Savah, a product that helps teams with an all-in-one platform for prototyping, design collaboration tools, and workflow.