1. Tell me are you comfortable being told what to design?
Graphic designing is not merely an art but also a science. Not just graphic designers but many creative minds out there refuse to work on ideas or suggestions that have been given by others. This is not to imply that they are closed or rude, it simply means that creative thinking is a series of thoughts for them and they believe that they will not be able to do justice to any idea that is the brain child of another human being. Some creative minds believe that their work should be products of their own minds and they should feel and personally experience whatever they are going to present on a blank surface. Working with individuals like this could be inspiring but at the same time it could also be very difficult.
2. Tell us what kind of design projects are you interested in?
Each of us has some interests. While someone loves webdesign, someone else is into designing clothes, or buildings. Some guys may love to be involved in product management, having a role of designers and taking care of all the project in its complexity.
However, you should forget on your own interests for a while, and think about the interests of an employer. You should say that you like what they design.
3. Suppose If you were asked to design a logo for our company what would it look like?
One of the best ways to gauge how much the person being interviewed knows about your company would be by asking that person to design a logo for the company keeping in mind its policies and its target audience. If you are able to get a quick and satisfactory response then you know that you are hiring someone who has prior knowledge about the company and someone who can think quickly as well as under pressure. In this present day and age where there is cut throat competition between companies you cannot afford to hire a person who takes up a lot of time to come up with new ideas.
4. What is your greatest weakness as Lead Graphics Designer?
My weakness used to be that I accepted too much work in an effort to please everybody. I soon discovered that I was loosing my focus and not performing, as I well as I should. I started schedule my projects on a timetable base and I did not accept more work than I could complete on time.
5. Tell me why did you decide for a career of graphic designer?
This job is good. We all know it. Clean working environment, different projects all the time, exceptional salary. You name it! However, different motives of career choice should resonate in your answer.
Focus on your love to designing, on perfect predispositions to have a job, on strong belief in added value you can bring to the team as a graphic designer, on a chance to change something in the world (or at least in a corporation).
Though all details are likely to be mentioned on the resume of the person applying for the job it would always be best to break the ice by beginning with questions like this one. However you should remember that qualifications are not directly proportionate to how well one can do the job. Very often people with even the best of qualifications find it very daunting to work under pressure so you should make sure that you hire someone who can rise to the challenge and offer you exactly what you are looking for. In addition to asking about his or her qualifications you should enquire about any previous work experience as well.
First of all, you should prepare a portfolio of best works, either in an electronic, or in a paper form. Every responsible designer serious about his job search has one. It can be simple, but it should be nice. Do not economize. Use quality printer and colors, so your works look good on the paper.
Such a portfolio should include also a goal of each project, your target audience, and programs/techniques you used to complete it. It is good to have few copies of your portfolio, so you can leave one to the interviewers (at least for temporary time).
If the candidate makes use of a very basic kind of software that can practically be used by any regular person then you know that this person obviously isn't very skilled or trained. However make sure that you do not make the mistake of dismissing a talented professional simply on the basis of the fact that he or she makes use of a simple and amateur software. You never know he or she might be able to create magic with the simple tools that are available at his disposal. A question like this will allow you to know whether or not the candidate can upgrade to more advanced software if necessary.
Quality is what matters, not quantity. After all, there's no need to work with ten alternatives of CAD, if AutoCAD is the best one. Of course, you can prefer another program… But anyway, it makes no sense to talk about working with three or four products with the same functionality.
On the top of that, if you mention too many programs, recruiters can easily get a feeling that you are not persistent and aren't very skilled with one software, but know a little of many. That would not be good. So, you should name some programs, but not too many. Focus on the advantages you saw while working with each program.
10. Explain what graphic design software do you most commonly make use of?
Everyone has their own likes and dislikes and it would be better to inquire about which software he or she makes use of most often. Some of the best graphic design softwares available include, Serif Draw Plus, Corel Draw, Corel PaintShop Pro, Corel Photoshop Pro, Xara, Serif PhotoPlus, ACDSee Photo Editor, Corel Photo Impact, Cyber Link, PhotoDirector, PhotoStudio among many others. Asking this question will not only give you a heads up about which software you will probably need to download or purchase if you decide to hire this particular candidate but it will also give you an insight into how skilled a designer he or she really is.
11. Tell me what do you want to accomplish on this position?
Most people do not have any goals in their job. They simply go to work, do what is expected of them (and nothing more) and wait for the paycheck at the end of the month… However, you will have to present different attitudes and expectations in an interview, if you want to succeed.
Recruiters want to hear that you want to help them to prosper, that you strive to deliver an added value every day and want to make a difference in your daily job.
12. Graphic Design Job Interview Questions:
☛ Why did you decide for a career of a graphic designer?
☛ What caught your eye on the job description?
☛ Why do you want to work for us and not for other company? There are many offers for graphic designers…
☛ What characterize a good designer from your point of view?
☛ What are your strengths and weaknesses?
☛ What do you want to accomplish on this position?
☛ Where do you see yourself in five years time?
☛ Describe a situation when you needed to meet a tight deadline with a project.
☛ Describe a situation when you worked under pressure. How did you handle that?
☛ Describe a conflict you had with your boss, or with your colleague. What was the situation and how did you solve it?
☛ What kind of design projects are you most interested in?
☛ Name all software products you can work with. How long have you been working with it. What do you like about this and that program? Why do you prefer it to other, competing programs?
☛ What do you consider to be the current trends in the area of graphic design?
☛ How important do you think communication in graphic design is?
☛ What is a primary goal of a graphic designer? Is it important that the design is good looking, or what else should a designer consider his first priority?
☛ Tell me something about your latest design projects. What challenges did you face and how did you handle it?
☛ What do you consider your most successful design project and why?
☛ What are the differences between associative hatching and non-associative hatching in CAD?
☛ If you wanted to select a line and there were other lines on top of it how would you select it in CAD?
☛ What is the difference between a crossing polygon and a window polygon?
☛ What is Linking Layer in Photoshop?
☛ How to modify one image from one layer to another layer?
☛ Explain about Lasso tools in Photoshop.
☛ What is the shortcut to zoom back to 100%?
☛ When are you able to start?
☛ Do you have any questions?
13. Interview Questions for Lead Graphics Designer:
☛ When you arrive in the interview give us your business card. It should be well designed, memorable, simple and hopefully have a great idea. It should be unique and you should be branded.
☛ Have 8-12 pieces of work in your folio. Put the best pieces at the front and back.
☛ Have at least six questions ready to ask (if you have less, you'll find they will be answered in the course of the interview).
☛ Take a pad and pen, take it out at the beginning of the interview. You don't have to take notes, but it looks as if you are organised.
☛ Talk about your work before you show it, but don't talk too much. This should be one short sentence to engage the interviewer with you. We will be looking at you as you speak. Then show us your work.
☛ Have samples and mock ups.
☛ Bring sketches. We are as interested in how you got to the final solution as the solution itself. You can show other concepts.
☛ Have a copy of your CV (resumé) at the back of the portfolio. Offer it even if we already have it.
☛ On your CV don't tell people about exam results or part-time jobs that have nothing to do with your chosen career. It pisses us off.
☛ Don't talk about holiday or money in a first interview.
☛ Give a firm handshake.
☛ Tell us you really want the job (believe it or not, hardly anyone does this).
☛ Ask for our business card(s).
☛ When you get back home, send an email thanking us for the interview.
☛ Make sure your branding is consistent on your business card, CV and email signature.
☛ One for luck: Remember, 80% of design students are crap. We see lots of CVs (95% of which are crap). If you can get into the top 20% you will get a job.
14. Can you please prefer to sketch your designs first before converting them into digital format?
When you ask a question like this during an interview you are basically familiarizing yourself with the way in which the candidate goes about working on a task that has been assigned. If he or she answers in a definite and confident manner then you know that he or she has a definitive plan of action and has worked on projects before. However you must appreciate the honesty of a candidate who gives a straightforward answer like, it varies from project to project. As is often the case sometimes he or she might prefer to start off by using a pencil and paper and sketching the design while ideas keep flowing into the mind whereas other times if he gets an instant idea of design in mind then he can skip the primary step and instantly start working on the computer.
15. Tell me where do you see yourself in five years time?
If we talk about career growth, graphic designers should not be too ambitious. One can potentially become a consultant, or a graphic director of a company. But as you can imagine, this is not an easy path and in most of the cases, one simply has the same job for many years, job of a designer.
Therefor, if they inquire about your future plans, you should do the following:
☛ Focus on achievements, not promotion. Say that you would love to be recognized for your work on successful campaigns in five years time. Say that you would love to have the same job and an impressive track record as a designer.
☛ Connect your future with the company. If a company hires a good designer, they want to keep him for a long time. Therefor you should always say you would love to be with them and progress. We live in an era without real loyalty. Show them that you are different and succeed in your interview.
16. Suppose If you do work with us, will you be using your own hardware?
Different companies have different provisions available for the graphic designers which they hire where some companies prefer it when their employees make use of their hardware, other companies would rather have designers working on their own machinery, which they are probably more comfortably using. This is a very important question to ask during the interview as if you are not willing to provide the necessary equipment and hardware and the graphic designer does not really have all that is required to do the job in a proper manner then there is no point going ahead from the interview to the next level. By asking a question like this you know exactly where you stand with the candidate.
17. What are your strengths and weaknesses as Lead Graphics Designer?
This is one of the most typical interview questions. In fact, it doesn't matter if you apply for a position of a graphic designer, a teacher or a product manager. It will most likely come in any job interview.
In order to answer it well, you need to understand the basic principle: What is a strength for one job is useless in another position. And what is a weakness for one employee, cab be a strength for another one.
18. Tell us are you comfortable working in a team?
In any company, the graphic designer cannot be working independently and not in consonance with the rest of the marketing and advertising bodies. It is vital to ask this question so as to ensure that you are hiring someone who can easily communicate and get along with other people. Thinks might get extreme when your creative team or ad agency attempts to communicate its advertisement ideas to a person who is unwilling to be receptive. Such difficulties often might lead to a dysfunctional and non cooperative team and will eventually lead to the loss of both time and money.
19. Where do you see yourself five years from now as Lead Graphics Designer?
I envisage myself in an art director position working in a progressive company like this one. I hope I would have earned promotion by demonstrating myself to be asset to the company and proving I am worthy of such as position.
20. Tell me are our policies and standards in keeping with your own?
The complex process of designing graphics is a necessary part of all company campaigns and these graphics cannot be properly created without the expertise of a trained graphic designer.
It is important to ask right at this stage if this candidate's views and thought processes are in keeping with that of the company. He or she will not be able to commit himself entirely to the company if the company's views are in direct opposition to his own.
21. Explain what has caught your eye on our job description?
One can find plenty of graphic design job openings on every single job board. We typically apply for most of them, or at least for few, to increase our chances of getting some invitations for an interview… But you should not leave this kind of an impression in an interview.
Recruiters are proud on their companies. They believe to be the market leaders, even if it is far from truth. Therefor, you need to convince them that this job interview is special for you, that it stands out from the group of other, similar positions. They should not get an impression that it is just another meeting with another employer on your long list
22. What do you know about this company and our tasks?
When going to the interview it is a good idea to have as much backdrop knowledge of the company as you can. Knowing precisely what they do and other details will make an impression to the employer and show them that you take initiative and you have an interest in the company.
23. Tell me what are your professional strengths?
As a fine-art professional I see myself as having strong communication skills and the ability to communicate difficult design concepts in simple artistic terms. My training techniques in my previous job reduced the studying time for new graphic design software by 60%.
24. Please explain about yourself?
I gained an honor Bachelor Degree from Academy of Arts in Fine and Digital Arts Studies. I have 5 years experience working in graphic arts, with the last 2 years as lead multimedia designer residing over a team of 4 colleagues. My achievements have gained me several promotions from my first position as junior graphic designer.
25. Tell us how would you deal with criticism?
I find constructive criticism a way of objectively analyzing at my work. I try to look for the positive inside any criticism.
