This article was one I found useful for exploring ideas around specifically UX interviews. One of the first points I found useful to consider was being the one to make first contact when job searching. Due to UX becoming a much more popular industry, it’s become more important to stand out and to do this, being the one to reach out to companies about jobs can help. This is something I’ve considered already, as it was how I got an internship over the summer, but now knowing this is something that is recognised as a good this to do, will be something I continue to do in the future, and during my search for a placement.
The next point I thought was interesting was making sure you know the trends of the industry, and also how potential employers may feel about them. The first part of this was something I was aware of and have been considering. During this module, I’ve been analysing the UX Trends blog in great detail so I feel I have a decent understanding of the landscape already. What I think I need to consider more is how employers may feel about certain trends. There will obviously be a difference between how a big in-house company feels about certain trends and how an agency feels, but as someone who feels an agency is the right environment for them, I need to look more into the specific agencies I’m interested in and their philosophies around design to see how they may feel about certain trends, so I can use this to my advantage in interviews.
This was a useful article to read as it allowed me to explore some of the larger mentality ideas around job searching and interviews which I think will really benefit me. It’s given me a lot to think about and has helped me to properly understand why I am doing things like analysing UX Trends for this module.
Pro Tips for Nailing Your UX Interview Questions | Fuzzy Math
As an exercise in class to practice interview skills, we interviewed one another with common UX interview questions. I wanted to reflect on this to see what went well and what I could do better.
The first thing I did well was knowing what I needed to answer. I felt I was able to answer each of the questions well and didn’t feel panicked by any of the topics brought up. This was good as it gave me confidence that I have a good knowledge of the industry and am able to talk about aspects of it. What I thought I could improve on here was to not ramble about the topic and to know when I’ve answered the question. I felt I repeated some things in certain answers as I wanted to emphasise them, however upon reflection felt that saying it once with confidence would have been better, as trying to draw attention to one point I was saying might drag down the other things I said.
Another thing I felt I could improve on was starting to answer the question. For some of the questions, I knew the answer already, however started talking before I knew how to arrive at the answer, so it may have seemed like I was filling time. I think a better approach would be to remain calm and think about the question first, as then I could answer with confidence that the way I was saying things was how I wanted to come across.
Overall this exercise was really useful and has given me some things to work on when it comes to having proper interviews.
Interviews are always going to be something I’m nervous about as I feel I do understand where my flaws lay when it comes to things like this, but getting to explore them this week has helped me to identify them properly and focus on improving them. I also feel I have some new things to work on, such as exploring how certain employers would feel about certain UX Trends, which will be useful when I start interviews. Overall this has been a useful week and helped me to realise what I need to work on when it comes to interviews.