Questions You Can Ask in a Job Interview: Product Design Edition
This is a growing list of questions that I would ask employers during a job interview to consider for the design role. I thought of sharing this here anyway cuz who knows, it might be helpful for someone else looking for a job in product design.
While I won’t ask everything in this list, I’ll definitely ask some of the questions as needed or when I can’t get the answers I want from somewhere publicly available.
Since this is somewhat of a live reference document for myself, I’ll be constantly adding more items in the list in case I think of anything relevant.
General Questions
- Can you run me through what’s the current design process?
- What projects will I be potentially assigned to?
- What’s the work arrangement like? Is it mandatory to work in the office? Can we work from home? Is it a hybrid work set up?
About the Design Team
- How many people are in the design team? How many design teams are there?
- What’s the general composition the team? How many IxD? UX? Research?
- What’s the current priority/goal of the design team?
- Do you have any existing design documentation?
- Is there anyone dedicated to handle said design system?
- Is there someone assigned to handle design operations?
- What’s the ratio of the designers vis-a-vis number of projects?
About Responsibilities
- How many unique projects will I be potentially assigned to?
- Who am I gonna be under/assigned to when I get into the company?
- How does the team track resources when assigning designers to projects?
- Will I be expected to assume other roles and responsibilities apart from the ones that’s listed?
About Tools
- What tools are you using in the team?
- Do you have an existing design system?
- What software do you use to track tasks across projects?
- Who handles the procurement of design tools?
- If there’s any plugin or tool that I immediately need, what’s the process for procurement? Who do I need to talk to?
About Leadership, Stakeholders, and Collaborators
- Can you run me down what’s the current handoff process look like?
- How open is the team or stakeholders with changes in the design process?
- How many layers of approval does it take get a design developed for production?
About Career Growth
- What’s the general metric that designers need to target to be considered for promotion?
- What does the company do for a designer’s path to improvement? Workshops?
- Will I be sponsored by the company in case I want to attend workshops or events?
Feel free to chime in on what you think should be asked during an interview by responding below. I’ll update the list and credit you if it’s helpful or if it’s not redundant from the questions I’ve listed so far. 🙌
Any feedback would be appreciated as well!
Last edited July 19, 2022
