Dec 30, 2023
Screening portfolios
Build a team of designers with taste and curiosity, skill will follow.
I started design hiring around 3 years back. Collating a few things that worked in our favor while building a team of diverse people who collaborate and cross-pollinate effectively to create magic🪄
First, let's put a few fundamental principles in place
A product designer is a generalist. They should understand product, business, flows, layouts, interactions, illustrations, copywriting, motion, etc. They can choose not to get into details of some of those, but they should understand them.
While taste is subjective, a designer should have a good and evolving taste. The subjectivity is around how good.
A designer should design, "show more than tell"; regardless of their seniority levels.
Where to find these individuals?
In your network: Your immediate network is always precious. You know the people and their work. Surprisingly a lot of CRED's team are people who have worked with each other earlier.
In your inbox: Inbound is a great source, this set of people are already interested in working with you and the team.
In neighbouring organization: For the talent density you are looking for, know which organizations you might want to pouch from.
Social reach-outs: This would work best when you show the audience a glimpse of the great work they can be doing while working with your team, and not only share JDs.
How to pick these individuals?
Extremely tight and exhaustive screening rounds: Portfolios are a must. Keep your screening very tight, there will be times you will shortlist 2/100, and sometimes there will be no luck; it's fine. Initiating conversations only with those 2 candidates will be far more worthwhile.
Talk to them on the phone personally: Make your reachouts personalized. The impact of you calling them v/s the HR calling them makes a difference.
Get into the interviews (Ideally 3 rounds, 2 panels & an HM discussion): You can define relevant processes with your own organisation context. Few things those help,
- Focus on the person, and not only on their work.
- Evaluate competency; grade using team principles and values.
- Post the conversation, always ask yourself "Would you like working with this person?"Hire the one who is a cultural fit: It's a deal breaker. Teams are built of people, gangs are built of people who are friends with each other.
✨Tip: Think about where you need a generalist v/s specialist.