Quick note from me
A few years ago I went through 9 rounds of interviews for an agency in Norway, and turned the offer down at the end of it. The leadership didn't feel structured enough for me (like 9 rounds are insane!!!), plus I picked an opportunity that was more focused on my growth.
But I learned a ton from the process, and it's part of why I don't run interviews like that now. I've turned it into a checklist here, because interviewing is a skill we should always practice.
Story outline
Tip 01: Listen and adjust your case study as you go
Tip 02: Treat the home assignment like a real client brief
Tip 03: Understand the team dynamic before taking a personality test
Tip 04: Prepare to talk with different roles
Tip 05: Evaluate your direct manager
Tip 06: Show AI passion and hands-on experience
Tip 01
Listen and adjust your case study as you go
My portfolio got me through the first read. Then the case study round asked me to walk through real work during an interview. I kept reworking the deck after every round, based on what that team actually cared about. As shown below, I picked a genuinely messy project I’d led, one with a team new to working with a designer, in a process still taking shape, since that mirrored this agency’s context.
Pick a project that mirrors what this team actually works on, agency, corporate, or otherwise
Show the collaboration and process challenges in your case study
Adjust your deck after every round, based on what you learn
Lead every slide with the visual, since it makes your story easier to follow
Practice out loud before you present
Slide example showing project constraints inside my old deck
Tip 02
Treat the home assignment like a real client brief
Mine was a real client brief: a bank wanting more control over its own digital product, with open questions on phases, knowledge transfer, and staying honest against a long-term goal. I treated it like an early client conversation, the closest thing to a trial run of working together.
Treat home assignments like an early-stage client conversation: name the information you'd want before kicking off
Keep it scoped like an early, real client meeting: credible thinking without trying to solve the whole brief
Keep the proposal tight enough to read like something you'd actually hand a client
Use AI to help draft your proposal and direction
Questions for the task assignment I got during this process (agency scenario)
Tip 03
Understand the team dynamic before taking a personality test
Somewhere in the middle of this process, I got a personality test too, similar to DISC. Companies use it to gauge whether you’d fit in with the existing team, but since it’s self-reported, it’s easy to manipulate. I find it more useful for self-awareness than as a hiring filter, so go in prepared and answer mindfully.
Expect questions on communication style, conflict handling, and how you decide under pressure
Once you know what it’s measuring, shape your answers toward what the team wants to see
Treat the result as one signal about fit, weighed alongside everything else you bring
Tip 04
Prepare to talk with different roles
I had two separate chats with the CEO, no fixed agenda. What helped me land well was small things: real questions, showing I understood the pressures of their role, connecting it back to my own experience. Every person in the room judges a different part of your thinking, so prep for each one.
Talk business growth with the CEO
Talk feasibility and trade-offs with an engineer
Talk project planning with a project manager
Talk product-market fit and scaling with a product manager
Talk craft with a design colleague
Pro tips:
Check out Cracking the PM Interview, chapter 11 specifically, “Define yourself”, written for product roles but the framing carries straight over to design
Record your conversations with Granola for self-coaching afterward. Just ask the interviewer if that's okay first
Tip 05
Evaluate your direct manager
At the end of the day, you'll report to your direct manager. They can vote for your promotion or not, and be the reason a job is worth staying in or leaving. It's hard to evaluate people from 1-3 meetings, but how they behave in the room already tells you a lot.
Notice whether they stay present, or start checking their phone, laptop, or email
Notice whether they let you finish your answers, or talk over you and rush ahead
Ask what their team is struggling with right now, and how they're helping them through it
Push back gently on something they say, and see whether they engage with it or shut it down
Are you inspired by how they operate, or just relieved they seem nice
Your manager doesn't need to become your mentor, and most likely won't, but you need to go along with them. So, as they say, check the vibes.
Tip 06
Show AI passion and hands-on experience
I help startups hire designers now, and what's changed since my own nine rounds is what teams test for. Knowing what's shifted keeps you from prepping for an interview that's already out of date. Expect AI fluency in nearly every round now. It has become a baseline expectation.
Prepare a story about collaboration with an engineer at the code level
Prepare a story about your AI design workflow
Show AI projects, even if they're personal projects
Use AI to turn your static images into working prototypes
My Designer Toolkit 🛠️
Tools I actually use in my workflow. Some links support this newsletter.
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Keep designing ✨
Aneta
