Interviewing can be one of the hardest parts of life as a UX designer, it’s the last step before the finale!
Different places have different interview styles, stages and other small details; but there are some things that we can do to massively improve our success no matter where we interview.
Whilst not easy to achieve, understanding that your interviewers are who will be part of your future team helps massively to ease tension and encourage comfort — at the end of the day, your interviewer is just as human as you, and understands the stress that comes with interviewing; imagine how they feel after interviewing so many potential candidates!
Just like you, they’ve been in the same boat at some point, maybe even recently, so try to find some common ground and be yourself.
As a UX Designer you can’t underestimate the value of research, but we need to make sure that we apply this thought process to role application too!
When we do our research on who’s going to be interviewing us, and of course the company that we’re interviewing for, it gives us a superpower and a huge edge over the competition, allowing us to really engage and better interact with our interviewer during the process.
From talking to many hiring managers, the number one mistake that gets mentioned again and again, is the lack of questions being asked. If you take away anything from this, it’s to ask questions, preferably ones curated specifically for that industry/company — your interviewer will 100% look at you favourably when you do, it shows that you’ve come prepared and have genuine interest!
Like anything in life, practice makes perfect, and that’s exactly the same for interviews. Nobody gets a 10/10 on their first, fifth or even tenth interview.
Embracing that you might be anxious, and you’ll probably make some mistakes will put you in a state of mind where instead of looking at your immediate failures or successes, instead you’ll be looking towards the future having massively upskilled yourself through a very difficult process!
If I can give a final tip for interviewing, I’d say to prioritise being yourself. We’ve all been rejected, and it can be disheartening, but remember that eventually you will find yourself at a company that has seen something in you, and genuinely value you for being yourself, of course as well as your skills as a designer!
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