How we hire Product Designers at Wrike. Part 3. Panel Interview
What should you expect during the panel interview?
The interview can take up to 90 minutes and is usually divided into three parts:
- (30 minutes) You walk the hiring team through your design portfolio and show past work that you’re the proudest of.
- (30 minutes) We walk through the take-home assignment, and ask you to elaborate on your answers and thought processes.
- (30 minutes) This is your time to ask us questions. Don’t hesitate to learn more about the role, working style, vision and strategy of the team, etc. (This discussion may be broken into two 15-minute parts that follow after each of the above sections, rather than at the end of the interview.)
Who are the interviewers?
The hiring manager: This is the person you’ll be reporting to. The recruiter will provide a name during the recruiter intro call, but you can also find the hiring manager’s name in the job ad.
Your peer(s): You’ll meet with a nominated senior product designer from the team.
Chief UX Architect or Head of Product Design: This will depend on who your hiring manager is, but usually, both of them are on the call.
What is the hiring team assessing?
Below you can see the criteria by which the hiring team assesses candidates during the panel interview. Ideally, your portfolio and the take-home assignment should already demonstrate these competencies. If not, the hiring team will ask questions to make sure you have the right competencies for the job.
1.Lead discovery and design strategy
You should be able to lead the product design strategy by evaluating and identifying the intersection of business needs, customer needs, and technical opportunities. You should also be able to construct compelling artifacts — such as conceptual diagrams, task flows, storyboards, and journey maps — that outline present conditions and proposed solutions to gain strategic alignment and encourage innovation within and across the organization.
2. Execute on delivery and design
You should actively design and build products by working closely with designers, product managers, and engineers. You’ll meet with customers and development partners to validate designs and make iterative improvements. You’ll also construct compelling artifacts to define interaction and interface detailed design, using Design Systems.
3. Develop partnerships
You need to develop relationships across the company and partner with development teams and business leaders to drive the successful implementation of great experiences in our software and services.
4. Run and contribute to design thinking workshops
You’ll participate in or lead design thinking workshops with cross-functional teams to break through organizational silos and collaboratively solve complex design challenges.
5. Communicate well and make “human” design translate to good product decisions
You should be able to share customer insights with the broader organization in creative ways to increase customer empathy, including posters, immersion rooms, blog posts, and workshops.
💡Any questions, feedback, or comment? Contact me at kristyna.cervena@team.wrike.com.
