10 tips for ultimate design interview success

When striving for your ultimate dream design job, the design interview process can become a little... unnerving. Don't fret, as Senior Consultant at Become, Martin King is here to share his wisdom for design interview success.
stand out These 10 design interview tips will help you stand out from the crowd

01. Polish your CV
Start with a mission statement that captures who you are, and really sell yourself. Name-check clients and brands you've worked with in your design interview, and always list your employment in reverse order, current job first. Don't say: "I work well individually, or in a team" - everyone does, it's not a unique skill; and don't include a picture of yourself.

02. Show your best work
The iPad is the best thing to happen to creative portfolios for a long time, but if you haven't got one, these rules still apply: make sure you have a dozen good projects, but always have the strongest three or four in your mind so that you can confidently talk through them if time is short.

03. Get involved
Creative studios are usually very social and like to share their successes. Follow their blogs and tweets, and make insightful comments by way of an introduction. Before your design interview don't randomly try to link with people you don't know on LinkedIn; join one of their groups and interact first.

04. Tailor your application
Creative and digital job titles are invariably ambiguous - as are creatives abilities. If you can comfortably do three different jobs, then create three different CVs, making sure that each one plays to your relevant strengths. Tailoring your CV for specific roles is critical if you want your application to be successful, particularly in the competitive current market.

05. Don't wait for vacancies
If your experience and skillset will help a studio or agency win business, improve its offering or bring an innovative approach to the table, then it will try to make a space for you. Added value cannot be underestimated. Creative agencies are very busy places, so if your details hit the right screen at the right time, you could make someone's life easier and bag yourself a job.

06. Get the right experience
There is so much opportunity to learn new skills today. If you have the initiative, are determined and learn by experimentation, then throw yourself in at the deep end. Design a site in Photoshop, create an iPhone app or recreate your favourite campaign. In terms of software, there's a lot of quality training available.

07. Never stop learning
One of the advantages of working within the creative industry is that we are at the bleeding edge of innovation. There are lots of really good sites that can keep you up to date with what's new and what's yet to be new, all providing as much or as little info as you require.

08. Do your homework
This is the most obvious thing to do when preparing for a design interview, but is all too often forgotten. If your excuse is you 'didn't have time' then you don't want the job enough and your prospective employer will know straight away. Look at the company's site and search the creative press.

09. Dress the part
How you present yourself is very important. A good rule of thumb is to dress smart-casual. Wear clothes you are comfortable in: this will also help portray your confidence in a design interview scenario. If you're meeting a creative, don't wear a suit because they won't be. But turning up in shorts and flip-flops for client-side interviews will speed your exit out the door.

10. Have the right skills
Studios are always looking for people who can add something new to their business, but not at the expense of what they actually want you to do. So don't blurt out your skills with, say, augmented reality apps, before you have given them confidence in your ability to do the job. Instead, see these skills as a good way to add value to the business in future.