In the current economy, with so many people unemployed, it is more important than ever to show yourself as the best possible candidate in an interview. The User Experience profession is thriving, but the employee pool is fairly deep right now and most companies are being conservative with hiring, so if you don't stand out, you might remain unemployed. So, here are some tips and things that I personally look for when interviewing potential employees. Some of these may seem obvious, but these suggestions are coming from things I've encountered in actual interviews, so maybe they're not as "common sense" as one would think.
1. Be prepared
All of the subsequent tips in this article really fall into this category. As an interviewer, I spend time preparing for every interview by reading through the resume, reviewing any portfolio pieces that have been supplied ahead of time and even Googling or using LinkedIn to research the interviewee's background. I try to prepare specific questions based on what I find in my preparation. I expect the same or an even greater level of preparation from the candidate. There is absolutely no excuse for being unprepared.
2. Be alert
If you're not a morning person (and you have a choice), try to schedule your interview during the time of day when you're usually at your sharpest and most productive. If you sound or look like you are half asleep, I'm going to assume that you're not terribly interested. I have performed at least one phone interview during which I was wondering if I the interviewee had just been napping before the call. Not good.
3. Dress appropriately
You don't have to wear a suit and tie. In fact, I appreciate seeing a bit of individuality in interview attire - I relate it to creativity. However, you should be dressed as you would dress for visiting a client. In the consulting world, we spend a lot of time in front of our customers and it is important that we look the part.
4. School your nerves
Several years ago, I had a very memorable interview with a young man who was sweating profusely and shaking so uncontrollably that I couldn't understand much of what he said. I felt so sorry for him and was wondering to myself the entire time, "Am I really that scary?" Granted, this is an extreme example, but I still think that it's a good idea to try to calm yourself before an interview. Remember that it is as much about you interviewing the company as it is about them interviewing you. This might make you feel more confident so that you can be relaxed and assertive.
5. Be conversational
Maybe this is a personal preference, but I really don't appreciate the "sales pitch" or any approach that feels forced or fake. I prefer honest, candid, well-thought-out answers given in a conversational tone. I'm usually most impressed with interviews that feel more like a peer discussion with questions coming from both sides. Even though this may seem like a more casual conversation, however, make sure to watch your language. I will expect you to talk to me as you would talk to a client. So, if you're dropping F-bombs in the interview, I expect you will do the same with a client... which is not good.
6. Prepare answers to common questions
You might not know what the interviewer will ask specifically, but you should be prepared to answer some common questions. A couple of examples:
Please tell me about yourself.7. Do some research
I often start an interview by asking the prospective employee to tell me about him or herself. I'm really looking for a brief outline of your past employment history and your current interests and career direction. The specific questions I ask later can be leading, so I want to see what you say without those "clues". I would recommend spending a bit of time thinking out what you might say to this question. How can you highlight your background, skills and career goals within 2-3 sentences?
Show me some of your work.
You might have a huge portfolio, but pick out 2-3 pieces that you would consider your best work and be prepared to describe them in detail. Include information such as how you worked with a team to create the end product. This is often more important than the work itself. If you're more of an Information Architect, you don't need to supply visual designs. Bring copies of some wireframes you've done. If you're more technically skilled, you might bring code snippets or example functionality that you've coded. In the latter case, bring your own laptop and have the examples loaded locally just in case you can't get an Internet connection. Be creative in coming up with ways to portray your work through examples.
Research the company, the interviewers (if you have names), and anything you can pick out of the job description. For a UX professional, you should have some depth of knowledge about visual design, information architecture, usability, at least a couple of web technologies (HTML/CSS, RIA, JavaScript, Flash, etc.), standard documentation, and standard software development processes and methodologies. It's ok to be weak in one or more of these areas, but it's not ok to be completely unaware of them. Here are some examples of questions that I often ask in a UX interview:
What are you an expert in?8. Be honest
Visual design, usability, information architecture, HTML/CSS, Flex, Flash, illustration, content management, requirements gathering, software development process, art direction, leading a UX team - all good answers, but be prepared to elaborate.
How have you earned these skills?
Formal education, self-education (mention specific books, courses, certifications, etc.), or experience (again - use examples).
What do you think is the #1 principle or attribute of a usable interface?
My own answer to this question would be "consistency". I believe that even a poorly designed interface can be usable if it's at least consistent so that it can be learned. Whatever your answer is, it should be something that impacts the entire user experience.
Do you think that visual design impacts usability? How?
This seems to be one of the more difficult questions for most candidates, but it really tells me a lot about how much thought they put into usability and design in general. Mostly, the answers that I get involve aesthetics, which, alone, have little to do with usability. However, visual design can make content legible or divide up information or functionality. More importantly, it's great for hinting at behaviors to set user expectations (something is clickable, draggable, resizable, etc.) and providing navigational clues (selected, deselected, or disabled states). And this is only scratching the surface.
What software development processes/methodologies have you worked under?
Waterfall, Agile, other - I basically want to see if you know anything at all about process. We always follow some level of process; be it our own or our client's. We are also often required to recommend processes that will result in a high quality end product.
What design process do you typically follow? What are your deliverables?
I expect to hear some combination of these words in answer to this question: design comps, wireframes, sitemaps, design guidelines/patterns, usability studies, prototypes, user interface specifications, use cases.
What document or deliverable do you think is most valuable? Why?
This is a follow-on to the previous question in which I usually get more detail about what the candidate is communicating in his/her deliverables and what he/she thinks is important.
What deliverables do you expect from other team members as input to your design process?
This is another question designed at finding out how familiar the candidate is with standard software development processes. I expect to hear words such as: high-level or functional requirements, user personas, use cases, and technical specifications. Note: some of these may be generated by the UX designer and that's a great answer too.
What kinds of teams have you worked with? What was your role? Your team members' roles?
Yet another question to gauge software development process experience. I'm hoping for candidates who are familiar with working with Project Managers, Business Analysts, Technical Leads, Testing/QA Leads, etc. I also want to know if the designer acted as a "pixel pusher" on those projects or had more of a lead role in designing the software.
What gets you most fired up when working on a UX project?
I ask this question mostly to learn what the candidate most likes to do. What someone most likes to do is often also what they are best at.
Are there any new areas (technologies, processes, team situations, etc.) that you haven't had a chance to work in but would like to?
The answer to this question tells me where the interviewee most wants to go with their career and how much they think about it. Interestingly, a lot of the candidates seem to base this answer on the questions they think they failed to answer appropriately from earlier in the interview.
How do you handle criticism?
Please refer to my last article: Criticism is your friend
If you don't know the answer to a question or don't have experience with something in particular, say so. If you're being interviewed by a peer, as you would be with my company, they are going to know if you try to BS your way through an answer. Not that I'm suggesting offering up all of your weaknesses at the get go, but don't be afraid to admit weaknesses in certain areas while playing up (but not exaggerating) your strengths.
9. Ask some questions
You should be interviewing the company as much as they're interviewing you. What is important to you about an employer? What type of work do you want to do? I recommend giving this some thought and preparing some questions ahead of time to help you to determine if the opportunity is a good fit for you and your career goals. Also - I'm always a little underwhelmed by the candidate who asks no questions when I offer them the opportunity. Are they too inexperienced to know what to ask? Do they just not care very much what they do or where they work? Are they just planning on pulling a paycheck as they would if they took a job at Starbucks? Are they so desperate that they will take anything?
You should come up with your own questions based on what is most important to you, but here are a few examples that might help to get you started:
How many employees does this company have?10. Follow up
What are the work hours? Are they flexible?
Are employees expected to travel or work at the client site? How often?
Are there any education or training benefits?
Are there opportunities for career growth?
What is the working environment like? Could I have a brief tour?
If you had either a very positive or very negative response to the interview, you might consider mentioning it right at the interview conclusion. "I think my skills and career goals align well with this position" or "I'm sorry, but I don't think that I am a good fit for this opportunity." If you do think you are a good match, you can ask the interviewer when they plan to fill the position and who you should contact for follow up. In either case, a thank you note to the interviewer would be appreciated and end the relationship in a positive way (if it is, in fact, the end). Never burn bridges.
I know the old way was to send a formal letter on fine stationary for a thank you note, but for me, an informal email is just fine. If you're in doubt, I don't think it hurts to do both. Just make sure they don't sound exactly the same - you can go into more detail in the letter format.
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