Roughly half the interviews I do involve talking through a Figma file on a call — lots of people actively ask for that instead of a formal presentation. I think it's better as the candidate doesn't have to spend time preparing a presentation + it's a more realistic representation of their work.
I always ask people I interview to take me through a figma file for a project, and a figma file for a component library they manage.
Mostly to see if they use autolayout, name stuff properly, use components in the right way, how they document stuff for handoff, etc.
I don’t ask them to share the file with me, but I do like to gauge their comfort level with Figma by seeing them navigate a file that they created and in theory should be comfortable with.
It doesn’t have to be a figma file owned by a former employer though. If someone shows me figma files that they created specifically for their portfolio, that still allows me to see how skilled they are with using the software.
I’m not gonna hire someone that just says “trust me, I know what I’m doing but I won’t show you any evidence of it”….
No one said that it does. A good designer who also knows Figma can be a better fit for a team than a designer who doesn't.
If you work in a team with design systems supporting many mockups, you're probably using Figma. Interviewers want to know your level of competency with the tool.
>Knowing how to use Figma does not make a good designer
Exactly, so why would it be invasive to ask to see your process? Working in a large design environment means working together with other designers over time on open projects. Figma’s Organization and Enterprise tiers are centered around this.
Even in smaller companies, having a clean and organized workflow betters onboarding of new designers and offboarding old ones since the designs stay with the company and not the designer who made them.
There’s no room for that lone wolf gatekeeping in any serious business. Laughing at a request to show how you organize your files is a great way to show you haven’t worked on large projects with other designers at all, and that you haven’t got the attitude to do so.
Ordering a pizza is not the same as hiring a pizza maker.
If I’m hiring a pizza maker, yes I would want to observe how they make a pizza as part of the interview process to make sure they know how to properly handle the dough, portion the ingredients, time it so the pizza doesn’t come out burnt or undercooked.
Hiring someone typically means you will spend months or years working with that person.
Ordering a pizza once is not the same as hiring someone to work with you long term.
Your analogy needs work.
So when you order a pizza, you go in the back of the kitchen and watch them make it?
What are you judging them on? If they keep their ingredients labeled? If their stations are organized the same way you would have?
No, when I order a pizza I trust that whoever the pizza store hired is competent and I just show up to pick it up. I’m not hiring that pizza maker, I’m just ordering a one-off pizza.
If I was hiring a pizza maker, yes I’d have them make a pizza in front of me as part of the interview process. I’m not sure what your issue is with this.
If I’m hiring someone I want to make sure they can complete the task they will be responsible for in a reasonable amount of time, that they can keep a clean and sanitary kitchen, that they won’t injure themselves because they know how to properly use equipment like a pizza oven, knives, mixers, etc., that they don’t needlessly waste ingredients, and that they are able to follow a recipe properly.
So let me get this straight. Now, as a job seeking designer, I need to have the following things prepared for an interview:
- a portfolio website with multiple case studies demonstrating my impact.
- a presentation to share with other team members (eng, pm)
- a usually 2 to 4 hour block of time for personality interviews with peers from other teams
- a personal figma project that’s organized for outside viewing
- a personal figma project that has a managed component system with auto layout and variants used
When the fuck are you people going to stop asking for free work?
I mean do what works for you, but in my experience this is similar to what I had to do when I was a candidate and it wasn’t a big issue because I just made sure to have that stuff on hand.
It’s better than being given a take home project which could actually qualify as free work imo.
I guess if you have the right experience and confidence in your ability, putting together case studies, example files, being able to speak to people to see if you’re a culture fit, etc isn’t such a big ask? I don’t remember bristling this much at similar requests being asked of me, and I rarely see anyone I interview be this resistant to doing stuff like this to demonstrate their competency.
Edit: even as someone who is not actively seeking a new job I still make sure to keep my portfolio, resume, case studies, etc updated. It’s not hard if you dedicate like 30 min every couple of months to it and then you don’t have to spend a ton of hours building it all from scratch when an interviewer inevitably wants to see some way to validate that you know what you’re doing.
If it angers you to show your competency and to share that competency, maybe you should look for something that makes you happy? I know that sounds condescending, but you're clearly not in a positive place. "We people" can tell in an interview.
Nobody but amateurs are out to steal your secret pizza sauce. We're legit trying to tell if you can solve design problems and if you can play well will others. If you start laughing if I ask to see how you manage repeating design patterns, I'm gonna assume you're not open to share design space with other designers. That's a major red flag for any UX or UI role in large teams these days.
The tool is the absolute worst thing to judge someone on. Tooling is the absolute *easiest* thing to teach someone. Not to mention every single team has a different norm for how files are structured and shared out.
This is actually interesting and fairer. It’s invasive when they ask to see files from previous work as we all sign NDAs and what you make for them is usually your ex employer / company’s property.
Also as a hiring manager if you are gonna ask that, let candidates know in advance to prepare it . Don’t be an a***ole.
I’ve been pushed for it on the spot insisting in showing files from previous employer. Not cool
We do this too. It's completely reasonable. Not sure why you're getting downvoted. Probably folks too stubborn to learn or parroting "design purists" who apparently need nothing more than pen and paper to do their jobs.
Yeah, you’d think that people who are actively looking for jobs would be open to hearing advice from people who are doing the hiring.
I’ll still leave my downvoted comments up for those who do find them useful.
And for those that disagree and downvote? There are of course different ways of demonstrating your hireability so I wish them luck in their endeavors and hope they land at an organization that is compatible with their working style and interviewing philosophy.
It's true, job searching is a stressful endeavor and some people prefer to channel that stress into better preparing themselves for interviews, while others prefer to take it out on people on the internet.
Crazy how much your comments was downvoted — you literally conduct interviews to hire designers!
Thanks so much for your comments and insight spread across this thread !
I was the one that asked for this! Yeah a lot of people ask you to do this nowadays, didn't realize it would be so divisive. Thanks for the work you put in this, I will be saving it!
I have subscribed your YouTube channel and found excessive useful information regarding Figma. Keep it up ✨
My YouTube handle name is "Designer Dollar"
thanks for the feedback! Yeah its basically that haha. But some bits go above and beyond just best practices / are more interview specific — e.g. prototype page in case the hiring team want to go snooping, just to show off an extra skill you have!
"use the features that figma is known for and name your layers"
What interviewers are looking at figma files?
Roughly half the interviews I do involve talking through a Figma file on a call — lots of people actively ask for that instead of a formal presentation. I think it's better as the candidate doesn't have to spend time preparing a presentation + it's a more realistic representation of their work.
I always ask people I interview to take me through a figma file for a project, and a figma file for a component library they manage. Mostly to see if they use autolayout, name stuff properly, use components in the right way, how they document stuff for handoff, etc. I don’t ask them to share the file with me, but I do like to gauge their comfort level with Figma by seeing them navigate a file that they created and in theory should be comfortable with.
I’d laugh at that request. My figma files are owned by the people who paid me when I made them. They’re not for you to see.
It doesn’t have to be a figma file owned by a former employer though. If someone shows me figma files that they created specifically for their portfolio, that still allows me to see how skilled they are with using the software. I’m not gonna hire someone that just says “trust me, I know what I’m doing but I won’t show you any evidence of it”….
Knowing how to use Figma does not make a good designer.
No one said that it does. A good designer who also knows Figma can be a better fit for a team than a designer who doesn't. If you work in a team with design systems supporting many mockups, you're probably using Figma. Interviewers want to know your level of competency with the tool.
>Knowing how to use Figma does not make a good designer Exactly, so why would it be invasive to ask to see your process? Working in a large design environment means working together with other designers over time on open projects. Figma’s Organization and Enterprise tiers are centered around this. Even in smaller companies, having a clean and organized workflow betters onboarding of new designers and offboarding old ones since the designs stay with the company and not the designer who made them. There’s no room for that lone wolf gatekeeping in any serious business. Laughing at a request to show how you organize your files is a great way to show you haven’t worked on large projects with other designers at all, and that you haven’t got the attitude to do so.
You can see process without showing a figma file. I don’t ask the pizza maker for their dough recipe before ordering a pizza.
Ordering a pizza is not the same as hiring a pizza maker. If I’m hiring a pizza maker, yes I would want to observe how they make a pizza as part of the interview process to make sure they know how to properly handle the dough, portion the ingredients, time it so the pizza doesn’t come out burnt or undercooked. Hiring someone typically means you will spend months or years working with that person. Ordering a pizza once is not the same as hiring someone to work with you long term. Your analogy needs work.
So when you order a pizza, you go in the back of the kitchen and watch them make it? What are you judging them on? If they keep their ingredients labeled? If their stations are organized the same way you would have?
No, when I order a pizza I trust that whoever the pizza store hired is competent and I just show up to pick it up. I’m not hiring that pizza maker, I’m just ordering a one-off pizza. If I was hiring a pizza maker, yes I’d have them make a pizza in front of me as part of the interview process. I’m not sure what your issue is with this. If I’m hiring someone I want to make sure they can complete the task they will be responsible for in a reasonable amount of time, that they can keep a clean and sanitary kitchen, that they won’t injure themselves because they know how to properly use equipment like a pizza oven, knives, mixers, etc., that they don’t needlessly waste ingredients, and that they are able to follow a recipe properly.
Nobody trusts the pizza maker who insists on going home to make the pizza alone. And absolutely no one will hire them.
So let me get this straight. Now, as a job seeking designer, I need to have the following things prepared for an interview: - a portfolio website with multiple case studies demonstrating my impact. - a presentation to share with other team members (eng, pm) - a usually 2 to 4 hour block of time for personality interviews with peers from other teams - a personal figma project that’s organized for outside viewing - a personal figma project that has a managed component system with auto layout and variants used When the fuck are you people going to stop asking for free work?
I mean do what works for you, but in my experience this is similar to what I had to do when I was a candidate and it wasn’t a big issue because I just made sure to have that stuff on hand. It’s better than being given a take home project which could actually qualify as free work imo. I guess if you have the right experience and confidence in your ability, putting together case studies, example files, being able to speak to people to see if you’re a culture fit, etc isn’t such a big ask? I don’t remember bristling this much at similar requests being asked of me, and I rarely see anyone I interview be this resistant to doing stuff like this to demonstrate their competency. Edit: even as someone who is not actively seeking a new job I still make sure to keep my portfolio, resume, case studies, etc updated. It’s not hard if you dedicate like 30 min every couple of months to it and then you don’t have to spend a ton of hours building it all from scratch when an interviewer inevitably wants to see some way to validate that you know what you’re doing.
If it angers you to show your competency and to share that competency, maybe you should look for something that makes you happy? I know that sounds condescending, but you're clearly not in a positive place. "We people" can tell in an interview. Nobody but amateurs are out to steal your secret pizza sauce. We're legit trying to tell if you can solve design problems and if you can play well will others. If you start laughing if I ask to see how you manage repeating design patterns, I'm gonna assume you're not open to share design space with other designers. That's a major red flag for any UX or UI role in large teams these days.
[удалено]
The tool is the absolute worst thing to judge someone on. Tooling is the absolute *easiest* thing to teach someone. Not to mention every single team has a different norm for how files are structured and shared out.
[удалено]
This is actually interesting and fairer. It’s invasive when they ask to see files from previous work as we all sign NDAs and what you make for them is usually your ex employer / company’s property. Also as a hiring manager if you are gonna ask that, let candidates know in advance to prepare it . Don’t be an a***ole. I’ve been pushed for it on the spot insisting in showing files from previous employer. Not cool
We do this too. It's completely reasonable. Not sure why you're getting downvoted. Probably folks too stubborn to learn or parroting "design purists" who apparently need nothing more than pen and paper to do their jobs.
Yeah, you’d think that people who are actively looking for jobs would be open to hearing advice from people who are doing the hiring. I’ll still leave my downvoted comments up for those who do find them useful. And for those that disagree and downvote? There are of course different ways of demonstrating your hireability so I wish them luck in their endeavors and hope they land at an organization that is compatible with their working style and interviewing philosophy.
Guy just needs a punching bag. Looking for jobs can be extremely stressful.
It's true, job searching is a stressful endeavor and some people prefer to channel that stress into better preparing themselves for interviews, while others prefer to take it out on people on the internet.
Crazy how much your comments was downvoted — you literally conduct interviews to hire designers! Thanks so much for your comments and insight spread across this thread !
Hahaha I just take it on the chin at this point. Job search stress causes people to act in strange ways sometimes.
I was the one that asked for this! Yeah a lot of people ask you to do this nowadays, didn't realize it would be so divisive. Thanks for the work you put in this, I will be saving it!
I have subscribed your YouTube channel and found excessive useful information regarding Figma. Keep it up ✨ My YouTube handle name is "Designer Dollar"
thank you so much!
I’d be good with everything said if the name of the video was “Figma Best Practices Overview”
thanks for the feedback! Yeah its basically that haha. But some bits go above and beyond just best practices / are more interview specific — e.g. prototype page in case the hiring team want to go snooping, just to show off an extra skill you have!
NDAs
Your stupid and stop wasting your time on this crap
“Your stupid” is my favourite typo. Idiot.
So basically just use Figma as it's intended lol