How To Nail A UX Interview - Tips From A Hiring Manager

5-step strategy to nail your next UX interview

As a UX Designer having attended over 100 UX interviews, I know the process SUCKS.

They’re mentally exhausting and time-consuming, but you always need to put your best foot forward as your UX career technically depends on them.

And throughout my career, from both perspectives of an interviewee and interviewer, I've realized the true SECRET to every successful UX interview:

⚡ Memorability

Why You Gotta Be Memorable?

Before we delve into the 5 steps, let's first understand why memorability is essential to land your next UX job.

Design interviews usually have a similar set of questions, as a Hiring manager, I've heard countless copy-paste answers.

I can’t remember most of them.

Generic answers often leave little impression on interviewers and we forget about the candidate as soon as the interview ends.

To stand out in UX interviews, your answers need to reflect your unique personality and perspective.

Hiring managers are extremely busy, as you move to later rounds, you may have a maximum of a few minutes to impress them.

By taking steps to ensure your answers are memorable:

• You make a lasting impression setting you apart from other interviewees
• Increase your possibility of landing your dream job

Let’s get into the 5-step strategy 👇

Step 1: Know who YOU are

The first tip to becoming a memorable candidate is to have self-awareness.

You’ll be surprised to know that most Designers I’ve interviewed struggle to answer the question “Tell us about you” more than “Tell us about your design process”.

Don’t make your work your personality.

Start by contemplating the questions that can unveil your deepest core:

• Who am I truly?
• What are my unique selling points (strengths)?
• How am I going to position myself in this career?
• What are my obvious weaknesses?
• What are my sneaky weaknesses?
• How am I planning on improving myself in the span of 3-5-10 years?

These are uncomfortable questions that we like avoiding.

But listen: This process will pay off, you’re building a core muscle - your uniqueness.

⚡ A confident and unique candidate is an unforgettable one.

Step 2: Cultivate confidence

No one is born with self-confidence. It is a trait learned and earned with time and effort. — Denis Waitley

After you spend serious time on self-reflection and contemplation, you'll gain a clearer sense of your unique capabilities, personal strengths and weaknesses.

This internal work ultimately leads to → self-trust - the foundation of true confidence - which is essential for success in anything that you take part in life.

In UX interviews, Hiring Managers are always on the lookout for Designers with abilities to present their ideas, and collaborate with other stakeholders confidently: It makes all the difference in getting buy-in and moving projects forward.

⚡ True confidence doesn’t accompany arrogance.

In fact, arrogant people are deeply insecure.

It’s important to strike a balance between being confident and being humble, as this will help you build strong relationships and gain the respect of your future boss and team.

Step 3: Ask good questions

What sets apart a passionate vs. a meh candidate? The questions they ask.

Asking good questions is not just about showing your interest in the company’s values and its design approach

It's also about getting information.

⚡ Remember: Job Interviews are mutual evaluations

You need to know if the company is worth working for as much as the company needs to know you're worth hiring.

I’d suggest you prepare at least 5 key questions to ask in any UX interview you attend.

Here are examples of good questions that can unveil crucial information about the company you’re interviewing for:

About the Company’s Culture and its Design Maturity:

• How does [the company] approach UX design, and how is it integrated into the product development process?
• How does your company prioritise user needs and balance them with business goals?
• Can you describe a recent project where the company prioritised user research and testing? How was this process carried out, and what were the results?
• How does your company encourage innovation and experimentation in UX design, and what opportunities are available for UX designers to grow and develop their skills?

About the Design Lead (or your Line Manager) working style:

• How do you prefer to communicate with your team members? Do you prefer in-person meetings, emails, or other communication channels?
• How do you prioritise tasks and projects for your team? What factors do you consider when making these decisions?
• Can you describe your management style? How do you approach feedback and coaching?
• How do you collaborate with other departments or teams within the company? Can you provide an example of a recent project where you worked closely with another team?

About the Team and Organisational collaboration:

• How are UX design decisions made within the company? Is there a clear process for gathering input from different stakeholders, such as product management and engineering?
• How does your company approach cross-functional team communication? What tools or processes are used to facilitate communication and collaboration?
• How does your company handle conflicts or disagreements between teams or stakeholders? Is there a clear process for resolving these issues?
• Can you describe the company's approach to continuous improvement and how feedback is used to drive iterative design changes? How are metrics and KPIs used to measure the success of these changes?

👉 Check out UX Interviews Masterclass for 17 micro-video lessons to ace that upcoming interview. These lessons are directly from years of experience interviewing UX designers as UX Managers.

Step 4: Tell your Story

Storytelling is the technique that will make you inevitably memorable to Hiring Managers.

Why? A study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (2018) found that:

Storytelling activates regions in the brain associated with experiences, emotions, and senses.

These brain areas are not typically activated when we hear facts or information presented in a straightforward manner.

⚡ Human brains LOVE to memorise stories.

By forming your answers into a well-crafted story, the interviewers are more likely to remember your experiences, skills, and values.

However, you don’t want to go overboard with this and give lengthy, unrelated (or worse: too personal) answers.

Here’s a simple framework to create a compelling (but work-related) story:

• What? (Context) The foundation of your experience and design process.
• How? (Demonstration) Examples that best show your skills and qualities.
• Why? (Conclusion) Values behind your work and projects' impact.

Step 5: Communicate Genuinely but Clearly

Clear communication is crucial for any UX interview success, as our jobs require us to communicate effectively with the teams, stakeholders, and most importantly, users.

Here are some actionable tips for UX Designers to improve communication skills for a successful job interview:

• Know your audience Before the interview, take some time to research the company and the people who will be interviewing you. Understand their perspective and tailor your communication style accordingly.
• Speak from the heart When answering questions, try your best to be authentic and genuine. This is why Step 1 and Step 2 are so crucial as they directly impact your ability to communicate here.
• Focus on delivering your main points In a job interview, time is limited → get to the point quickly. Deliver your main points concisely, and avoid lengthy speeches or going off on tangents (nobody cares about your past office’s dramas).
• Avoid jargon While it's essential to demonstrate your knowledge and expertise, using jargon can be off-putting. Instead, try to use plain language that everyone can understand.
• Practice self-recording Record yourself answering common interview questions and then watch the recording back. It’s cringy but extremely helpful. You can identify areas where you need to improve, such as speaking too quickly or using filler words.

Key Takeaways

The crucial key to landing your next UX job:

🔸 Become memorable in interviews

Here’s how you can become an unforgettable candidate for Hiring Managers in 5 steps:

Step 1: Know who YOU are Spend serious time self-reflecting and contemplating to build up self-awareness.

Step 2: Cultivate true confidence True confidence and competence (vastly different from arrogance) come from you knowing who you are and what you’re capable of.

Step 3: Ask thought-provoking questions in interviews Interview the company as much as they interview you.

Step 4: Storytelling your way to the Hiring Managers’ brains Craft your answers into compelling but work-related answers to leave an unforgettable impression.

Step 5: Communicate like a leader with a heart Practice your speech in a way that’s concise, succinct, but genuine and authentic.

Thank you for reading, hope to see you in next week's blog post 🤗

*This article was originally published on UX Playbook.

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