The Ultimate Strategy for UX Job Interviews and How to Ace Them

UX designers are not just expected to be experts during the UX Job interview. They are also expected to be able to articulate the importance of their work and demonstrate that they can solve problems in the workplace.

Interviewers want to know if you’re a good fit for the company’s culture. They are interested if you have an eye for design and if you understand what UX design is about.

Preparing for a UX job interview can be a daunting task. You need to know the best way to showcase your skills and knowledge of UX design. Also, you need to demonstrate that you are the perfect fit for the company.

“Opportunities don’t happen, you create them.” — Chris Grosser

It is important to prepare before going into a UX job interview. This will give you more confidence and help you answer any questions that come up during the interview process.

Preparing for a UX job interview is not always easy, but it is worth it in the end. It will help you land your dream job and make sure that your skills are showcased in the best possible way.

This is why I want to share my strategy on how you can prepare for your job interview in the best way.

Find a Mutual Fit With the Company

Ok, so you found a job you want to apply for. Or maybe a recruiter reach out to you and consider you a great applicant. What steps do you need to take before going with the interview rounds?

Of course, you need to prepare your CV and portfolio, and check your case studies, so everything is aligned. But these are the basic steps.

This is something you can find online and there are tons of materials on how to improve your portfolio or CV.

But what if I tell you that this won’t work for you? Yes, you can prepare tech materials, but it’s not enough.

It seemed like a great strategy to look perfect for every company.

Unfortunately, you can’t be a perfect candidate for everyone. And there is a reason behind it. You need to have a mutual fit with the company.

Yes, this is what I’ve never heard of in my early career, and something I understood way later.

When I just started my career, I applied to as many positions as I could every day. I had a template with a cover letter that I used every time.

Yes, I found a job, but I got so many rejections, because of one thing I’ve heard from recruiters. They told me that I don’t have anything in common with the person they are looking for.

I was wondering what that means. I started to research what recruiters are interested in during UX job interviews. As a result, I found that I need to have similar projects, industries, or interests.

I need to be a perfect candidate for every job that I applied for too.

This is why I started to craft my cover letter for every position manually, again and again, I stopped using the template.

When you are preparing for your interview rounds or applying for a job, start with the research.

Find out what the company is looking for and what recruiters wrote in the job descriptions. You don’t need to be the best candidate, but you need to say proper keywords for a recruiter to be considered a perfect candidate.

For example, when a recruiter is looking for a designer with startup experience, you need to have some project or relevant experience.

If you want to get a job in a big company, check your relevant experience and knowledge in your portfolio and CV.

You can take additional projects or volunteer in order to be closer to the perfect fit that recruiters are looking for.

So even if you don’t have anything, you can always do some preparation to look perfect.

Learn How To Market Yourself for a UX Job Interview

Okay, so every interview starts with your introduction to a recruiter. They want to hear more about you.

Recruiters start asking about your previous experience, your roles, the type of projects, and your interests. It basically seems like a professional conversation between friends. But there is a small difference.

You need to showcase that you’re a cool professional.

You might think that telling about your relevant design experience and relevant projects is the best solution. Yes, there is, but there is something more you can do.

I know that you’re not a marketer, but you need to understand the basics of marketing.

Your major task is to learn how to “sell yourself”. Literally, when you’re looking for a job, it means you trade your time for money, your salary. This is why it’s a deal that you need to win.

Once you understand the goal of your interview, let’s enhance your chances of being hired.

Let’s start with your projects and work experience. Analyze what type of companies you have been working with and what type of projects you have created.

For example, you could create web or app projects only. Or maybe you worked with heavy products, like dashboards.

Understanding your previous type of projects will help you articulate to a recruiter with relevant projects in your previous experience.

Now let’s check your previous companies. What type are they? Are they startups, agencies, or corporate ones?

For example, when you apply for an agency and say that you’ve been working with agencies before, you’re a relevant candidate.

And the most important part is the digits.

When you speak to a recruiter during your UX job interview, try to use as many digits from your previous work as possible. Digits are a powerful way to increase your credibility.

For example, you can say, that you created 25+ products. You have increased onboarding users by 30%.

Just remember any type of achievements from your previous experience, projects, and anything related to your design career.

The easiest example of using a digit is when you talk about your years of experience. Start with this and then mention the relevant digits in your conversation with a recruiter.

Stand Out From the Crowd With Your Individuality

You found your mutual fit with the company and prepared an impressive self-introduction with powerful digits. What else can you do?

There will be so many “perfect” candidates within these criteria, so how can you stand out from them?

Fortunately, there is another way how you can be a better choice for a company.

Let’s talk about the individuality term. What do recruiters mean when they start asking about your interests during a UX job interview? Are they curious about your hobby? I don’t think so.

They give you a chance to say something more besides your 9–5 work. They are curious how else you stand out from other candidates.

Here is your chance to impress recruiters with your individuality. The best term for individuality in such a way is your personal brand.

A personal brand is your unique experience and achievements that only you have.

You might not even know it, but you start to build it from the very first day of your career.

The most popular ways to build your brand are video, audio, and text formats. What? Ok, it means, for example, YouTube, podcasts, and writing.

If you write articles, like me for example, you can say that you contribute to a design community by writing helpful articles. Bam, here is your first achievement.

If you have a YouTube channel, this is super cool! You can say that you’re a design influencer. And by the way, you can earn from your extra activities in the long run.

I am a big fan of doing too much because apart from the money your professional level will grow as well.

But apart from these kinda big achievements, you can have smaller ones.

I understand that starting a YouTube channel is time-consuming. You can start with way smaller milestones.

For example, you can participate as a volunteer in some projects. Or maybe you will be a speaker on the webinar, you can win a design competition, become a mentor…

Just try to think about what extraordinary things you can say about your design career. There is always a space for it.

These things will make you look more professional. You can add achievements to your portfolio or CV. In both cases, you make your name more established.

But if you don’t have any achievements yet, you know what to do to get them fast.

I really advise working on your personal brand name the earlier the possible. This is your chance to learn something new, connect with people and land the job of your dream.

Being able to build your personal brand helps you to stand out from other designers. It helps you to increase your chances to land a job and build your career in the way you want.

There will be more opportunities that come to you. Your personal brand will attract new jobs and all you’ll need to do is to find a time slot for your next interview.

Final Thoughts

Getting ready for your interview seems to be mentioned a lot of times already. There are standard ways that can help you to prepare your CV and portfolio.

But there are some things that are not popular too much, like a mutual fit for a company, your personal brand, and your achievements.

Unfortunately, not many designers and recruiters are willing to share this experience. You either need to understand this with experience, or you need to pay for this knowledge.

It took me many years to understand the working strategy to prepare for every design interview in a way that works.

Today, I am continuing to build my own name and job opportunities come to me without any effort from my side.

I know how to prepare for a UX job interview each time because I hear the same questions again and again from recruiters.

This became possible because of the strategy that I told you about here, so I am real proof that it works.

It’s time to prepare for your next interview in a new productive way that will help you to land the job of your dream.