5 UX Questions to Ask During your Interview

Introduction

You’re about to embark on a new job, and as excited as you are, this is also an important time for you to ask questions. When interviewing for a product or design position, it’s helpful to ask questions that will help you better understand your potential colleagues and company culture. In addition, asking these types of questions during the interview can help ensure that you are a good fit for both the role and team at hand.

Here are some questions I suggest asking:

Ask about the company culture.

You may be thinking, “I don’t need to ask about the culture. I can tell if it’s a good fit based on the interview.” But you’d be surprised how much more information you can get out of a conversation than just what’s in your head.

Asking about company culture will help you determine whether or not you’d want to work there. It also gives you insight into their values and how they expect employees to behave so that when they offer you the job, there aren’t any surprises down the line.

Get a feel for the team dynamics.

One of the most important questions to ask is about team dynamics. You want to get a sense for how many people are working on the project you’ll be working on, as well as how many people are in your department and company. A small company might have five or fewer people in each department, while a larger company may have upwards of 15 or 20 employees per department.

Also find out what the size of your own team is — and whether they work remotely or in an office together. This can help determine whether you’ll be able to get face-to-face time with your coworkers regularly (which is important for building rapport), and it also lets you know if there’s enough room for upward mobility within your organization.

What can you expect on a day-to-day basis?

If you’re applying for a job, the first thing you want to know is what your day-to-day responsibilities will be. This can help you determine whether or not it’s a good fit for where you are in your career at that moment. For example, if the position requires heavy travel and longer hours, but this isn’t something that works for your current lifestyle and priorities, then it may not be worth pursuing.

A second important question to ask during an interview is about the work environment itself: how does it compare with other companies? Is there a culture of collaboration or competition? Do people feel valued and appreciated here? Are there opportunities for professional development? Etcetera!

The third question we recommend asking is about work-life balance — how much time does one need to dedicate their efforts towards achieving success within this organization (and what kind of flexibility do they offer)? This could also include questions like “How much stress am I likely to experience on a daily basis?” or “Is this company supportive enough that I won’t need outside assistance because my own self-care needs haven’t been met?”

Ask about their design process.

When you ask, “What is your design process?” it gives you a chance to learn more about how they think. What are their steps? (Do they start with research or sketching?) Ask them to explain the importance of each step and why they do it. This will help you understand how your role fits into their team and what responsibilities you’ll have on an ongoing basis.

You can also ask what their design process is like for new hires. The answer may be different than that of experienced employees because new hires need different training at this stage in their career path. Plus, if a company does not have a formalized design process for bringing people onto the team, it could indicate that there aren’t clear guidelines for evaluating candidates’ skillsets during interviews — which could mean trouble down the line!

What do they need from you?

This is an excellent question to ask your interviewers. It will help you understand what they expect from you, as well as what they need in terms of results and performance.

● What are their goals?

● What is the company’s vision?

● What is the company’s mission?

● How do these goals align with their vision, mission, and strategy?

The answers to these questions will help you understand what it takes to be successful at this position. This can also give you insight into how much time and effort it may take for them to achieve those goals, which will help you determine if a position at this company would be a good fit for yourself

Be curious! You are interviewing them as much as they are interviewing you.

Always be curious! It’s important to remember that you’re both interviewing each other. You want to make sure it’s a good fit for both parties, so it’s important to ask questions about the company and how else they are looking at things from their end. After all, you will be working with this person day-to-day if you take the job!

Conclusion

We know this is a lot to take in, but it’s important that you ask these questions and really get a feel for the company culture. Remember, this job could be one of the biggest transitions of your life. You want to make sure that you’re going into it with eyes wide open and mind clear so that when the time comes to settle down or move on from it, you’re as prepared as possible!

Carl is a Product Design recruiter at Facebook/Meta. Before recruiting, he was a UI/UX designer working with many tech startups to design mobile apps. Carl is also the co-founder of a Meetup called Global UXD where he helps connect designers with each other and create new opportunities. Having completed Bloc and DesignLab bootcamps before becoming a recruiter, he’s an expert at helping designers land their first design roles. Find Carl on carlwheatly.com and LinkedIn. Need your Design Portfolio Reviewed?? Check out carlwheatley.com

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