Interviewing? rethink your portfolio

Build a better design portfolio

I think one of the most critical aspects of the interview (whether in-person, on the phone, or represented abstractly via their web site) is how well the interviewee is able to communicate their involvement, responsibility, and accountability in the design I’m looking at. It really doesn’t do much for me to look only at the surface of a design…I want to know the process that was followed to produce it.

I strongly encourage the candidate or student think about adding a “case study” type of component for each design. A narrative, or the like, that explains position statement/problem statement, design approach, methods employed, team structure, their role and responsibility, key challenges and how they addressed them, and why *this* design solution is the final version.

I think many hiring managers (and prospective clients) would benefit greatly from a well-structured portfolio that can present not only the surface design, but also the thinking that goes in to producing it. And if designers start thinking about this in school….all the better.

Hiring lens

Read an interesting article yesterday; interview of Doreen Lorenzo, CEO @ Frog Design. She was commenting on characteristics and attributes she looks for when making hiring decisions. The following resonates with me too:

“One of the questions I always ask them is, why don’t you want this job? What are the things that scare you about this job? You learn a lot about a person that way. And if they say, “Well, what scares me about this job is it’s too chaotic,” they’re not going to thrive here. Or if they say to me, “You know, I like to be in charge,” then you’re thinking, this person’s not going to thrive in his group.

You’re really looking for that person who understands the mission. Not that they agree with everything that you say, but they understand the mission. I want to hear someone who says: “I can contribute. I want to be part of this team. I feel like I can add some value and these are the reasons why.” That’s important. You want people who can put in and not take out. ”

I appreciate her approach to digging beneath the tool kit, behind the candidate curtain, to really understand where this person is coming from, what makes them tick.

She mentions that understanding the mission is critical, and in the same article she says “micromanagement is the death of creativity”, this reminds me of a theme in Made To Stick where they describe the Commander’s Intent. This is exactly the message of understanding the mission. In the book they reference Kennedy’s message of putting a man on the moon. The teams understood clearly their mission, but the President didn’t stand over their shoulders and give orders, the teams were empowered to devise the strategy and tactics on their own.

It’s the last line of this snippet, “You want people who can put in and not take out” – great summation and the depth of this goes well beyond the obvious benefit. It talks to your mind set, your personal philosophy of how you engage and manage relationships, your contributions – both creative and critical, to the betterment of the holistic solution.

Finding myself more and more interested in the underpinnings and infrastructure in place at these creative and successful design studios.