When interviewing people I'm looking for two things, namely can you do the job and can I be happy working with you. [ background - I'm a UX designer interviewing other designers. Anyone we hire will be working directly with me. ]

Here's some main points that get really good comments from us (us being the handful of people who interview a candidate):

- Good energy. No one wants to work with a sleepy/bored/crazy person.

- Be confident. If you don't think you can do the job, neither do we.

- Be prepared. Few things are more of a turn off than someone who doesn't have their stuff ready to go and I worry about their ability to handle real work (like if they show up with a dead computer or other avoidable issues)

- Know yourself and what you want. If a candidate can't tell me why they want the job, or what they're good at I lose interest in hiring them.

- Show effort. I personally don't care how someone is dressed, but I want to see some effort put into getting this job. If you show up and go straight to your website, you lose a couple of cool points. (most people do this, but I greatly prefer when people have a real presentation.) I also give bonus points to any other extras, like having a nice business card to share or a physical copy of print design work, or a functioning release/prototype of an app or website you've worked on. Little signs that you care mean a lot.


I like when candidates have good questions at the end, and always try to leave time for them to ask me things. I love when a good question can lead to some more free flowing conversation about design, work flow, and their goals.


Pretty much no one but fresh-out-of-school people seem to bring resumes in my industry. It's kind of nice if people have some with them (shows effort!) but I don't actually want to take one with me - I'll already have a copy of it at my desk.

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