Mistakes designers make in interviews
And how to fix them.
I’ve seen a few portfolios over the years and over the last year I’ve had a front row seat as to what some companies are looking for and how they interview as the search for the best design talent possible in this AI era.
In this article I want to breakdown a LinkedIn post I made last week about mistakes I see designers make in the hiring process and how to fix it.
I’m going to break this down into 3 parts of the process:
Portfolio review
Case study
1:1’s/presentations
Portfolio review:
You rarely have a lot of time to make an impression at first glance. I am looking for signals you’re a modern designer that will elevate the team I am hiring for.
Too many sticky notes. Not enough outcomes.
Everything is more frantic than ever. People care about results. The bias is to action. People don’t want to feel you’ll need to workshop everything when you can vibe code something in hours and test.
Companies are unpredictable, people are learning on the fly, products are evolving, you have to move fast. SO people want to see outcomes. People are who scrappy win.
Instead show:
Work on AI-first products
Scrappy work
Business impact. We did this we got this.
What you would have done better.
Show what demonstrates the clearest value
The industry is trending toward “show me the work” mentality.
Showing 5+ year old work.
Work which is 5+ years old is rarely inspiring for companies to see now unless it was groundbreaking work.
Lead with your most compelling work that will capture attention. Lead with the most compelling visuals, your portfolio is about getting an interview, you don’t need to show everything straight away.
No signals of being a modern designer.
In a portfolio I am looking for signals this person is all in on AI, uses AI tools in their work, thrives in ever changing environments and is a true builder of products through the use of design.
You could show how you coded your portfolio, AI-native products you’re working on (side projects also) or links to articles/talks you’re giving on the topic.
Not having any work to show
Some candidates say they can’t show work due to NDAs. That may be true, but it leaves interviewers with nothing to evaluate. The reality is, it will be harder to secure interviews.
I would look at leveraging referrals from old colleagues or work with a recruiter who can sell your profile into a company where they can explain through your experience and explain you can show more in-person.
If you can show:
Any work with names/key data removed. To give an understanding of what you can do.
Any data on “we achieved XYZ revenue” to show ROI, impact. The usual stuff people want to hear!
Unappealing templates like Notion
A lot of hiring managers these days are not designers. They don’t think in service blueprints or IA (all very important, of course); they think in visuals, business outcomes, and whether person can help us solve a business problem. Make it look nice. Focus on visuals.
The majority of us think visually. We process images thousands of times faster than text, so wordy case studies on a Notion website are not going to show you in the best light if you’re a product designer.
Your portfolio is your product. It’s a representation of what you can bring.
Case study rounds
This is where you can go deeper into the work with someone. This is where I believe companies are looking for Product Designers who not only deeply fluent in complex systems and product architecture, but also brings a high level of visual and interaction craft.
I think where most people fall down here is demonstrating craft on very complex products.
Lack of energy
If you’re not excited by your work, who else will be? Lack of energy is an instant no. I’ve got nothing to add here, but I see this a lot. This is simple to fix.
Surface-level answers
Case study presentation is a real skill to pace and know how much depth to go on. This shows someone’s level because they should be able to adapt to who they are speaking to.
You’ve got an interview now it’s time to go into showcasing how your range of experience across design craft, product architecture, systems thinking, business impact, handling ambiguity, high agency, industry changes and general design taste.
Think about:
Always lead with the most relevant work and where you had the most impact as you’ll naturally be able to talk for longer and in most detail. Double down on areas where you were excited about.
Talking about what you would have done better. This is usually a really important thing to cover as it shows deeper thinking.
Stop talking about “we” and focus on “I”. Make it clear what YOU did, and not just the team.
Give real life examples.
Not having a tailored presentation ready.
Your portfolio is there to get you an interview.
Once you have an interview secured my best advice would be to understand what the company cares about, what they are looking for and put some work together which is most relevant. Nothing fancy.
2-5 minute introduction
20 minutes to walk through the most relevant work to that company.
Q&A.
Companies at this stage want to see more in-depth work which shows alignment with projects similar to what they work, including product work, visual craft, interaction design with clear demonstration of your thinking behind design choices.
Struggling to tell a compelling story.
We talk a lot in design industry about not getting buy-in, but often it’s down to designers not being able to effectively sell the value of what they do at the right time to the right person.
I was talking to a client recently and the main reason designers fail to pass interview rounds there is storytelling and captivating the audience they are speaking to. If you can’t do this at senior level, you’ll struggle to get the buy-in needed in certain companies.
I’ve got a post coming out in a few weeks talking about storytelling with Ozzy, but here is a snippet:
Designing is only half the job. The other half involves clearly articulating and convincingly selling your ideas to diverse audiences. This makes honing your storytelling and observation skills critical. This makes honing your storytelling and observation skills critical.
Designers often feel frustrated when their ideas don’t get buy-in from peers, managers, or stakeholders. They frequently frame this frustration as others lacking vision or failing to grasp the high-level design thinking they’re proposing. However, the root issue often isn’t the audience. More often, it’s the designer’s inability to effectively communicate why their work matters.
Even the strongest designs won’t sell themselves. They need compelling storytelling and persuasive communication to earn broad support. Designing is only half the job. The other half involves clearly articulating and convincingly selling your ideas to diverse audiences. This makes honing your storytelling and observation skills critical.
How do you do this effectively? Begin by understanding what matters most to your stakeholders:
If you’re talking to a PM who is focused on timelines, frame your idea clearly around how it saves time or reduces future risk. Provide concrete examples that directly tie to their goals.
If you’re pitching to an executive, explain clearly and succinctly how your idea directly impacts the business, such as driving revenue, enhancing competitive advantage, or increasing user retention.
Knowing what each person cares about, then framing your story to directly address those interests, will enable you to ship better ideas, create more impact, and accelerate your career.
Interestingly, tech companies often undervalue designers who come from agency backgrounds. Yet agency designers have something extremely valuable: they have mastered the art of the pitch. Agencies train designers extensively to convince skeptical stakeholders, often complete strangers, to embrace bold, creative, and sometimes risky ideas. This skill translates powerfully into any company context.
So for your case study my advice would be:
Have 2 projects ready, even if you only use one.
What, why, how.
What you could have done better. This is a key one.
Business outcomes.
How you impacted product strategy. Speak the language of the business. Show how your design moved a metric, reduced churn, drove activation, or made something more efficient.
If you didn’t have access to metrics, say so — and describe what you wanted to measure.
Strong energy. If you’re not excited and clear about the work you did, why would anyone else be?
1:1’s/panel presentations
This is a critical part of the process. You can identify the level of person instantly from panel performance through room control, storytelling, scale of work and leadership presence.
This stage should be intentionally designed to distinguish candidates who demonstrate a genuine passion for design work. The panel focuses on identifying candidates who are "obsessed with the design work" rather than those who can simply check boxes on standard skills.
Mistakes I’ve seen here at this stage:
10. Doesn’t focus on leading through the work
(for leaders)
Side ways middle management is not in-demand right now. What is in-demand is. hands-on design leaders who can drive through the work.
The future of design leadership in my opinion (especially at Manager/Director level) is to demonstrate you’re a builder, a doer, you roll up your sleeves and team size is not important to you. It could be 1, could be 10, could be 30.
Show/talk about:
How you’re “hands-on”
How you level up craft and keep the bar very high
How you think of yourself as a product leader.
Can clearly demonstrate the value of what you bring to each different discipline inside an org.
Talk about how you’ve levelled up design/UX before etc.
Not asking the right questions.
This shows poor understanding of the business and desire to even be in the room.
Questions/themes you could ask:
What does success look like in this role?
How the companies thinks about design craft/taste? What is the bar?
Is design a strategic function? if so, why and how?
Who is the best designer on the team?
What does good execution and impact mean for you in this role?
Product strategy. Show you’re product focused.
Approach to design leadership
How they are navigating change in the AI era. Will show if they are coming at it from a first principles mindset etc.
Lack of executive presence.
You may have great work, but if you don’t come across as confident, clear, and thoughtful you won’t be trusted to lead.
What you need to show when speaking to leaders:
Very clear communication and structure. You distil complexity into simple terms.
You think of yourself as a product leader, because that is what you are. You’re a builder and a designer. You have a strong bias to action.
You can speak to a deep business understanding and not be lost in a room when technical discussions are made.
Demonstrate proven track record in building high-performing teams.
Talk from a first principles mindset.
Allergic to buzzwords.
Being able to do adapt answers to your audience. Some executives are brutal, you won’t get long before they get bored to hold their attention.
What would you add to this list?
Until next time!