As a designer who just went through 20+ interviews, I summarised the interview questions that you need to prepare for your next interview.

Credit: Adobe XD

Stage 1: Phone screening Interviews

Normally at this stage, it is an interview by recruiters. They want to know several things:

1. Gauging your interest
2. Determining your energy level
3. Knowing your background and related experience

The questions they normally ask are:

1. Tell me about yourself
2. What’s your current role and what do you do in your current company
3. Why do you want to leave your current company
4. Why do you want to join us
5. When can you start
6. What’s your visa status

What you need to do at this stage are:

1. Frame your experience around the job description
2. Show your passion for design and for the new job

Stage 2: Hiring manager interviews

Round 2 interviews normally are run by hiring managers. Their role can be general manager, CEO, lead designer or product manager. At this stage, they want to know:

1. Are you a fit for the role?
2. Are you a fit for the team?
3. Can you handle the work?
4. Why they should hire you?

They will ask questions such as:

1. Tell me about a time you need to work with a difficult client
2. How do you work with cross-functional teams?
3. Tell me about a time you host a workshop
4. What’s your design process?
5. How do you work with other designers?
6. How do you work with developers?
7. How do you handle stress?
8. What’s your understanding of UX/UI?
9. Do you know agile design? How do you apply it?
10. What questions do you need to be answered before you start designing an experience?
11. Did you design your flows with different “start” points? In other words, not just onboarding, sign up, forgot password, etc
12. Can you describe a time when the requirements changed in the middle of a project and how you handled that?
13. What are the design tools in your tool belt and in what situations do you use one tool or method over another? Do you sketch with paper and pen, and will you be ready to prototype something in Sketch/Invision?
14. Tell me who are the designers you admire or websites that you visit for inspiration?
15. Why should we hire you?

Stage 3: Design challenge

After passing the first 2 runs, most likely you will receive a design challenge. It is normally a design task based on their real projects. However, they should also reassure you that they will not use your designs in the future.

The design challenge can be an on-site whiteboard challenge or homework. Remember to ask a lot of questions before you start the design. After all, understanding the needs of users and business is the fundamental of UX.

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Stage 4: Design Teammate Interview

Finger cross this is the last interview!! At this final stage, you will talk with your future teammates: designers, engineers and product managers.

What they want to know are:

1. How do you normally work with others
2. Do you know what you are talking about
3. Are you a nice person to work with

The key is to be honest and know what’s your limitation. If you truly don’t know the answer, just be honest. You can say you don’t know the exact answer, but you will take certain actions to learn more about it.

Also, ask a lot of questions

At each stage, apart from answering questions, you should always ask a lot of questions. The reason is simple, it is a two-way interview. You need to figure out whether this is the right culture or career direction for you. If yes, then go for it! If not, you can always choose to pause the process and inform the employers of your decision.

The questions I normally ask are:

1. Which team will I join?
2. What kind of projects will I work on?
3. Do you have mentorship programs?
4. Tell me what does your typical day look like (To other designers)
5. What’s your favourite/least favourite part of working for this company?
6. What do you see this company look like in 5 years? ( To CEO or general manager)
7. What role does UX play in your company?