1. Ditch the Box: technology advances mean that we can leave the large portfolio case at home. Especially since a printed book that outlines your best works just as well. Some designers have ditched print altogether and showcase digital media samples; bringing a tablet/laptop on which to show their work. This can still allow for interactivity, if you design the digital portfolio with this built in
2. Simplicity. Simplify. Simple: use an uncluttered simple layout.
3. Brand Consistency is key. Keep the look of all consistent: the book, the leave behind, the resume, cover letter and business card.
4. Get Feedback: once you’ve settled on your designs find out from peers, industry professions and art directors what they think.
5. Leave a Leave Behind: after a stellar interview and portfolio review, you must put something in the interviewer's hand that will remind them of your fabulous self once you've gone. You want them to reach for their phone (or whatever) and have their hand linger over your leave behind...instead of making tha call they pick up your designed piece and handle it. At they review they can't help but ponder how awesome it would be to have someone with your skill, talent and creativity working on heir team... they could finally get "X" done right, etc.

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I helped out a new job seeker with a mock interview last month, over salads and wine. This young woman is in search of a junior designer position within an educational institution--a regional behemoth. But I digress…

She did a bit of practicing before we met up and I asked her a few basic questions over bread and olive oil. In addition to the  usual suspects I decided to throw in one of those curveball questions, just to break her out of the practiced answers that she was giving. I asked:

"If you were an Animal, What Would you be?"

That actually stopped my young friend in her tracks, she looked up to the right, thinking. After a long while, she said "I don't know." The curveball completely knocked all reasonable thought out of her head. This is a tactic employed by some interviewers. It's not actually meant to leave you stuttering, but rather it's meant to see how you think critically and might see yourself in the hierarchy of the organization.

I had to tell my friend not to freak out. Instead of pursuing the question OR giving her time to pick one of the millions of species of animals that she has to choose, I asked her the following questions…speaking not as a mock interviewer, but her friend who just bought her dinner:

• Seriously, what do you know about the company and this job that you've applied for?
• From what you know, can you seriously see yourself working there and making a difference to their mission? 
• What are your traits that make it possible?

From her answers to those above, I used her words to formulate this follow up...

• Okay, so in a setting like Organization X, that calls for hard work, and dedication to strong communities, positive growth, and increased academic achievement for youth, are your traits an appropriate fit?

How do you Answer that Question

Yesterday a colleague engaged me by lamenting her current job search—she’s now on to the third interview. (sarcasm)That’s great. People in human services have three—maybe four interviews. You know what graphic designers have? Homework.

When I mentioned homework to her she paused, nodded and said “oh, yeah. You probably had to do things with PowerPoint, right? I decided not to take the bait. Besides she wanted to talk about her current precarious position in the deep, uncharted waters of the job search of a new grad school grad.

Let me tell you, graphic design interview homework can be intense. Although it was a few years back I remember this one vividly. I designed a marketing strategy to engage a young, civically engaged audience, who wanted to live greener. In addition to the communications plan, I also built social media sites (FB, Twit) a blog, a fully functioning website and a print events calendar that could fold down into a recycled billfold wallet.

And you want to talk to me about a grueling three interviews. Puh’lease.




-Simone

Appearance matters in an interview. Having an unexpected accident seconds before the first meeting can prove disastrous. The thing to remember is that you can regain control of the situation by reacting appropriately and resisting the urge to over-apologize. This happened to a blogger at HERCJobs:

"Experts say that employers judge candidates within the first minute. Appearance represents the attention to detail and pride that you will take in your work.

For me, this made getting splashed by a taxi on the way to an interview one summer day all the more unfortunate. I was one step from the curb, when a cab rounded a corner behind me. I went from stylishly ready to big drippy mess in no time flat and had no time to dry off. Mascara running, feet swishing, I walked in.

I would have preferred to be memorable for my sharp answers and knowledge of the field, but I think it will be for the stain I left on the chair. I prepared answers for questions about strengths and weaknesses but not for this. Should I have ignored the wetness? Maybe they wouldn’t notice. Judging by the puddles, squishing sounds and drippy hair, that was unlikely. It was a lost cause and I knew it.

They asked if I wanted a drink of water and I replied that I didn’t need one. I wasn’t smiling. Truth be told, the rest is a blur, but I was mortified and apologized profusely. I wanted to tell them how nice I looked just a few minutes before, but I didn’t…I didn’t get the job—no surprise there.If given another chance, I would have gone in with a huge wet smile on my face and exclaimed I am so happy to be here, but would you believe what just happened to me? I would have been effusive, probably would have apologized (once) for the damp trail I was leaving and then briefly explained that this was particularly unfortunate because I very much wanted the job and the opportunity to contribute to the organization.

* See the original article on HercJobs Blog 

This basically translates to, have you done your research?
The interview is never solely about you. What do you know about the company? Is it positive or potentially harmful to their brand? Have they won any recent design awards? ..updated their website or branding? …hosted successful events? …

Here's a great example of how one interviewee approached this question…

A good friend and colleague told me this scenario. It’s definitely relevant here.
"I once had in interview for a Webmaster post at an organization that’s walking-distance from my house. In reviewing their website before the interview I was surprised to notice that their website update footer said 2011 instead of this year. I made note of that and a few other web-related items that made me curious; non-responsive design, inaccessible image and media content, social media feeds with months old updates, etc...

After introductions were made, they jumped right in with their first question, “what do you think of our website?” I told them my findings and then offered them viable solutions—even though they didn’t ask for them...

The result was a lively conversation with panel about the latest in responsive web design practices, integrating social media, and my love of outdoor concerts (I swear). After we shook hands goodbye—and before I got back my apartment—they had called my references and left me a voicemail message regarding a job offer.

Graphic design interview questions can be surprisingly similar to interview questions asked in other industries. This is because--as professions--in business there are few variables. We must all deal with deadlines, colleagues, clients, and stressful situations.

Here are a few that you should be prepared for:

In no particular order...

The last time I wrote about phone interviews I had just flubbed one by being unprepared. Today, I write as someone who just conducted a series of phone interviews and now have a better perspective from which to report.

Background: 
I was recently in the market for an assistant Instructional Media Developer with great design sensibilities, the ability to craft messages for a target audience, some video or  motion graphics background, and a good grasp of Adobe Creative Suite.  I selected 3 applicants for phone interviews and told them that I would contact them to get a better idea of their "experience and professional goals," which I spelled that out in the email. Sadly, only one of  the applicants was sufficiently prepared to answer my questions.

Q&A
I asked the following questions, these are pretty common ones in our field:

1. Tell me a bit about yourself. This question is meant to illicit a response that incorporates education, and professional goals. It is rarely a chance for you to talk about your hobbies or siblings. Yes, one of the interviewees started telling me about how she's  the middle child. I had to reign her in and restate the question.
   
2. Tell me about your ability with "X" software or skill (describe the experience or give a rating of 1-10). Since my job description included some mention of script writing and story-boarding, I added these to the list--which included software, platforms, other skills, and conceptual design . The interviewees all had some limited experience in scripting and story-boarding, but only one elaborated on the experience by telling me more about a specific project.
   The lesson here is to always be prepared to elaborate or give concrete examples during an interview.
   
3. Regarding your resume, please tell me about why you made this design decision. There should be a concrete reason for every decision on your personal marketing materials. One applicant had a 2-page resume that included only 2 sentences on the second page--this person didn't realize that the text flowed to the second page after her most recent content update. I advised this person to apply for jobs using a PDF resume in future, to avoid formatting mishaps.
   
4. Tell me about your professional goals: During the interviews, I kept a checklist of 7 different career paths that I think would benefit from experience in instructional media development. When the interviewee mentioned one or the other of the fields I simply added a check mark on my questionnaire and left it at that. This was my tie-breaker question (not that I needed it).
   
   
   
5. Do you have any questions for me? The correct answer is "Yes...!" Are there any opportunities for professional development? Can you tell me about the culture of your company? Tell me about your style of management. Etc. Just remember to avoid the questions about salary, bennies, and time off.

Well, this isn't actually a question. However, you should have a process outlined for this one. The interviewer wants to know that you can approach a project methodically and follow the logical steps to a successful design project. Be aware that these are not optional steps. Here they are:

1. Get the design challenge and do your research: Learn all you can about the target audience and message. Find out the format and budgetary constraints. 
2. Create thumbnails: Brainstorm design solutions and sketch out several quick ideas.
3.   Develop the roughs: Flesh out 3 or 4 of the thumbs to develop further. Get feedback from the team or client on which is most successful for their needs.
4. Make up the comprehensive designs (comps): Use the successful rough to create a design that’s full sized, using the final color palette, and sans-Greeked text. This project is practically finished. Get some feedback from your team or client.
5.  Final design: Use that last round of feedback to polish up your comp into the finished product.

My buddy, Barbara*, works in marketing and does a lot of media writing. This year she gave a riveting AIGA talk about interviewing with a portfolio when not in the creative arts field. Today, a great article on Idealist.org loudly seconded her sentiment. It's good enough to share.

According to Barb and Idealist every professional should arrive at an interview with a portfolio in-hand; "we do more than just our job description" and a portfolio book is an excellent way to show it. A professional portfolio--or leave behind--gives the potential employer a great idea of our skills, abilities and range. It's also pretty impressive!

How Does it Look? This simplest presentation of your leave-behind is a spiral-bound book separated by tabs. These can be printed and bound, in quantity, at retail copy shops or by yourself if you have a spiral binder at hand). Be sure to select  a heavy weight paper and substantial cover stock. Spiral-bound books are not the only option. This publication can also be a highly polished design piece that profiles your creative skill as well. If you choose to go in this direction consider hiring a graphic design student, freelancer, or recent grad to help layout / design a polished look.

Here are a few examples of print portfolio books:

What Does it Contain? Your portfolio is a great supplement to the interview conversation. As you speak about your projects, accomplishments, or accolades, refer to the samples that you have in-hand. Here are Barbara's suggestions for basic content for this book:

• Your resume or Curriculum Vitae
• Listed technical skills, software, and hardware
• Printed samples of your work or projects on which you've worked--with descriptions of the project, your role on the project, and other pertinent information
• Writing Samples - if you have relevant, well-written pieces; include 2-3 samples of technical writing, public relations, media or editorial writing
• Kudos and accolades on your work or performance from colleagues or employers

Why Not Go Digital? If making a print portfolio is outside of your means and expertise, create an online portfolio. There are several free sites that offer open formats for you to showcase a variety of projects. An online portfolio gives potential employers a look at your scope of skill, and also makes you look very web-savvy; this is more important across all industries. In addition to portfolio sites like: Behance, CarbonMade, Jobrary.com there are several blog format sites that allow for maximum flexibility; like Blogger, Wordpress, or Tumblr.



*her name isn't really Barbara.

Postcard serise by: http://iwonak.com/tag/postcards/

Simply put, a leave behind a physical object that you leave behind after an interview. This media helps the interviewer or potential client to remember you. The object can range from the mundane (business card)—to the functional (printed portfolio)—to the elaborate (folding portfolio poster with DVD insert).

To Create a Good Leave Behind:

1. Keep your brand consistent. Any logos, typography, graphic elements in use on your resume or website should be represented here.
2. Stay true to you. It should reflect they type and style of work that you produce.
3. Make it easy to handle. Origami Folding cranes are relaxing to make and beautiful to behold, but impractical for job-seekers. So , keep it simple

I just participated in a heated discussion on the dreaded final interview question. This one is asked when you're sure that you and the interviewer have beaten the molecules back and forth for the last time. The art director takes a shallow breath, exhales, and then asks, "Do you have any questions for me?"

There are a few different ways you can respond to this one.

My answer:
I always ask the interviewer "So, how'd you end up working here?".... followed up with what are your most /least favorite aspects of your job. It's rare that this person is asked about her/his own personal experience, and this disarming question might elicit some useful insights about what you're in for when offered the job.

Here's how other design professionals answered this:

A. Scott
It's been a while since I interviewed and I always dreaded that question as well; I also ask questions throughout the interview. I tend to ask about the position. "Are you replacing someone or is it new?" "Are you looking to continue the pace of the position or go in another direction?" I always ask how long before a decision and what are the next steps.

B. Gillespie
The question doesn't have to come up. Think of the interview as a discussion where you ask question, they ask questions, and you just talk. But if you need some try these: Ask about culture and for specifics. I've found that the culture makes the job and that many companies can be delusional or misrepresent the culture. Avoid anything that is negotiable at that time, like vaca, benies and salary (once you get an offer, negotiate). Ask about typical work flow, the typical day, room for growth, ask about clients and how they handle them. Ask if you will work directly with clients or who you would work with on a daily basis. Ask to see work space. Ask about equipment and software. And always ask what plan they have for the person that filles the role you are interviewing for. Where do they see growth for that person and future opportunities. This is a great one to start a discussion.

M. Lewis
I tend to ask questions about the company culture, the team dynamics, etc. ("What is the atmosphere here like?" "Is there a lot of collaboration between the designers and the other departments?" "What is the best part about working here?"). That way, you don't just end with "I can't think of anything," you can't be construed as trying to get out of work (asking about leave and hours), and it shows that you are interested in being a part of their team and organization. Whatever they respond, you can say, "That sounds really great. I've been looking for a place that's like that."

D. Peterson
You can ask about work/life balance; ask about the company's culture; or if and how they support professional development.

A. Russell
I usually say something like "I'm very excited about the opportunity and it sounds like a great fit for me, however, I am looking for a company in which I can grow for the long run. When the time comes, do you generally promote from within? And are there opportunities for advancement among employees who have been here for a long time?"

Maybe you’ve heard that a tailored resume is one of the best ways to grab a hiring manager’s attention.

• Your uploaded resume is run through a parser, which removes the styling from the resume and breaks the text down into recognized words or phrases.
• The parser then sorts that content into different categories: 
• education, 
• contact info, 
• skills, and 
• work experience, etc.
• The employer's desired skills or keywords are matched against the results from above.
• Your resume is then scored on relevancy—using semantic matching against the employer's search terms and your years of experience.