1. Can you please tell me more about the day-to-day responsibilities of this job?
This is your chance to learn as much as possible about the role so you can decide whether this is a job you really want. By learning more about the day-to-day tasks, you will also gain more insight into what specific skills and strengths are needed and you can address any topics that haven't already been covered.
2. Show Me What Makes You Stand Out As A Graphic Designer?
With this question, the employer is basically asking you why they should hire you over any other candidate and they're also testing how well you know yourself as a professional graphic designer. Again, with this question it's important to be honest and to think about what qualities and experience you might possess as a graphic designer that other candidates might not - this could be your previous client base, the range and depth of your experience - or even some of the techniques you've picked up in your career. Whatever reasons you give, be sure to have some examples to hand so you can back them up.
3. Tell me what do you like best about working for this company?
Ask about your interviewer's personal experience for additional insight into the company's culture.
4. Tell me your personal creative process?
Explain what you do to be creative. Researching, sketching, reading, collaborating, critiquing, discussing with client, wait-time…
5. Tell us about an instance when you were disappointed with your performance?
I was assigned a project disappointed when I was given a project with a very short deadline and I wasn't able to spend as much time on the project as I wanted to. I completed the project on time and the customer was satisfied, but I would have liked to spend more time on the project.
6. Explain what is the typical career path for someone in this role?
This question can help you learn whether the company promotes from within, and how career advancement works within the organization. By asking the question, you show your interest in growing with the organization - just be careful not to phrase it in a way that sounds too self-serving (i.e. When can I expect a raise and a promotion?).
7. Tell us What Is Your Favourite Part Of The Design Process?
This question can seem a bit personal - but again, it's just another question to try and determine what makes you tick as a designer. Again, with this one it all comes to down to personal opinion and - as with any other interview question - it's important to be honest because if you lie here, it could come back to haunt you later down the line. In general, the design process can be split into three chunks - the initial consultation, the creative process and the final negotiations/finished results. If you can't pick one particular stage, you could pick out different aspects of each and explain why you enjoy them.
8. Tell us what products do you have experience with?
Logo design is a frequent job for graphic designers. It's not advisable to simply list a long history of all the products you've ever done. Instead, linger on one or two and demonstrate your expertise by talking about them. For example, say that logos may seem like a job for beginners, but actually they require a fine sense of the current trends and client's need to be efficient and simple, but memorable.
9. Tell me where do you think the company is headed in the next 5 years?
If you plan to be in this role for several years, make sure the company is growing so you can grow with the company.
10. Tell me What Attracted You To The Graphic Design Industry?
With this question, the interviewer is obviously keen to find out where your passion lies and what your motivations are for working in the industry. When trying to prepare your answer to this question, think about what it is that makes you want to continue to work in the graphic design industry. Is it the creativity aspect? The chance to create pieces which will be seen by thousands of people every day? Or the fact you get to create lots of different pieces of work every year? With this type of answer, it's easy to tell who's being false and who's being honest so whatever answer you give, try and stay true to yourself and avoid copying anyone else.
11. Tell us how are you currently keeping up-to-date in your field?
☛ Freelance work for area businesses
☛ I read several industry publications, MacWorld, STEP, Print, Communication Arts, Step-by-Step graphics, etc.
☛ I attended a Mac tradeshow specifically focused on prepress and printing
12. Explain how much bleed do you normally have on your layouts?
Usually it depends on the printer and his press and the project, around one sixteenth to one eight of an inch sometimes one quarter inch.
13. Tell us What Do You The Most Important Qualities Of A Graphic Designer Are?
An employer will ask this question because they're looking for your opinion on what makes a great graphic designer in terms of qualities and skills - something which should be easy to name if you're a great designer yourself. When trying to prepare an answer for this question, think about the skills and traits you have which help you in your day-to-day work - examples could include things like patience, strong communication skills and a great eye for detail, as well as more technical things such as familiarity with the whole Adobe Creative Suite. With this type of question, there are no real right or wrong answers - an employer is looking for your opinion and the reasons behind your opinion.
14. Explain what are the biggest challenges facing the company/department right now?
On the flip side, you may want to ask about challenges. This question can help you uncover trends and issues in the industry and perhaps identify areas where your skills could save the day.
15. Tell me in what three areas do you feel you need the most improvement?
☛ I have difficulty working with people who show they do not care about their job.
☛ I have difficulty working with people who don't pull their weight.
☛ I have high standards for my work and I expect others to have high standards too.
☛ I'm learning to speak up and request that others contribute more completely long before I start getting angry about a situation that is unequal.
16. What motivates you on the job as Senior Graphics Designer?
☛ I am motivated most by seeing a project completed and taking pride in having been a part of the
☛ team that made it happen.
☛ I am motivated by seeing my hard work help the company succeed, grow, and continue to attract
☛ new customers
☛ I am motivated when I receive continuous feedback from my boss
☛ I am motivated when I feel that my opinion matters
☛ I am motivated when I feel I am rewarded for my talents and contributions
17. Tell us What Has Been Your Most Successful Campaign & Why?
An employer might ask this question because, although you might have mentioned it on your CV or included it in your portfolio, they want to hear about your most successful campaign in your own words. With this question, the employer wants to hear about your passion for that particular campaign and why you personally think it was such a success. They're also looking to see how you judge the success of a campaign and how and what you did to make it successful. Obviously with this question, your answer will depend on your previous experience - but whichever campaign you choose, try and have some stats to hand and be careful not to take responsibility for other people's work.
18. Explain what are your expectations for this role during the first 30 days, 60 days, year?
Find out what your employer's expectations are for the person in this position.
19. Tell me how do I compare with the other candidates you've interviewed for this role?
This is a slightly risky choice. You don't want to put the interviewer in an awkward position. However, if things are going well and you've built a strong rapport, this question can help you see if there are any concerns or issues that you could address to show why you're the best person for the job.
20. Suppose If I were to offer you this job right now, what would your answer be?
IF YOU HAVE THOROUGHLY DISCUSSED THE JOB IN THE INTERVIEW, AND YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE THAT YOU HAVE ENOUGH INFORMATION…
I accept! When can I start?
IF YOU HAVE NOT DISCUSSED THE DETAILS OF THE JOB, TELL THEM THAT YOU ARE VERY INTERESTED IN THE POSITION AND WOULD LIKE TO LEARN A LITTLE MORE ABOUT IT BEFORE YOU MAKE A DECISION.
21. Tell me do you find CSS to being superior or inferior?
Superior - there are endless possibilities with it. You can even animate with it!
22. Tell me what tasks do you NOT want to do if we hire you?
I am open to learning all tasks that will help me excel as a graphic artist
23. Explain why communication and interpersonal skills are important in your job?
Graphic designers are not independent artists. They are highly skilled team workers. Their core creative activity is in translating their client's financial goals and market demands into visuals. This requires the ability to listen, ask key questions, and collaborate with whoever is necessary to get the feel of what is needed.
☛ I would like to keep up-to-date on all the equipment and software that I would use as a graphic designer at your company
☛ I would also like to consider additional training in marketing and possibly product development.
☛ I would like to learn more about our manufacturing plant and what happens to my artwork once it leaves the graphics department
25. Tell me What is The One Piece In Your Portfolio That You're Most Proud Of?
Now, at first, you might think that this question is the same as the "most successful" one - but it's actually a bit different. Why? Because with this question, the employer is asking for your opinion as an individual - they're asking for you to judge a piece of work based on your own feelings, rather than things like stats and success rates. Why? Because this gives them an insight into who you are as an individual and helps them to assess how well you'd fit in with their current workforce.
26. In-house designer Senior Graphics Designer Interview Questions:
☛ How has the brand you most recently worked with evolved over time? What part did you play in that?
☛ How do you sustain long-term interest in designing for one brand?
☛ How do you adapt a brand for different audiences?
☛ How much experience do you have with presenting work to key stakeholders?
☛ How would you learn about our brand during your first week at work?
27. Agency designer Senior Graphics Designer Interview Questions:
☛ How would you rate yourself on producing appropriate work for a broad range of clients?
☛ This is a fast-paced environment. How comfortable are you with short deadlines and new trends?
☛ Describe your experience with presenting your work to clients.
☛ Have you ever represented your agency at a client meeting? How did you handle it?
28. Portfolio Based Graphics Designer Interview Questions:
☛ What was your role on this project?
☛ How much time did you have to create this piece?
☛ How did you work with other members of your team?
☛ Tell us about a favorite piece of work in your portfolio.
☛ Where did you start on this project? What images, copy, or guidelines were you given to begin?
☛ Talk about one of your more successful design projects. What kind of results did it achieve, and how do you define a success?
29. Sample Senior Graphics Designer Job Interview Questions:
☛ Describe your creative process.
☛ What industry sites and blogs do you read regularly?
☛ How comfortable are you with writing HTML entirely by hand?
☛ What applications do you use daily?
☛ What are a few of your favorite development tools and why?
☛ What are a few sites you admire and why?
☛ Tell me about your favorite project.
☛ What are a few personal web projects you've got going on?
☛ Who are some of your design heroes?
☛ Give me an example of a project where you disagreed with the client's direction and tell me how you handled it.
☛ Give an example of a situation where someone challenged your design. How did you handle it?
☛ Tell me about a time when you have disagreed with a design decision, what did you do?
☛ What are some questions you ask when starting a new project?
☛ How would you handle a project that looks like it will go over budget?
☛ Tell me about some experiences you've had working with developers in the past.
☛ How do you stay on top of current design trends?
☛ How do you ensure that the development team understands the design (and delivers your vision)?
☛ Note to the interviewer: Watch out for 'throw-it-over-the-wall' attitude
☛ Did you ever have a situation when something you designed was not delivered as intended? Do you know why it happened? How did you react? What did you learn? What do you do to avoid such situations?
☛ Have you had a chance to look through the site? How would you describe our brand?
☛ We're interested in helping people grow in their careers. Where do you see yourself in 5-10 years?
☛ What things do you NOT like to do?
☛ If you had a magic wand and could create the perfect job, what would it be?
☛ What makes a great work environment for you?
☛ Why are you looking to move on from your current role?
☛ What do you expect from a supervisor?
☛ What problems have you encountered at work?
☛ Why do you want to work at our company?
☛ Do you have any questions about the position or about our company that I can answer?
30. Role Specific Graphics Designer Interview Questions:
☛ As a graphic designer, whose work do you admire? Who are your design heroes?
☛ How do you stay updated on the latest tools and trends?
☛ Who would be your ideal brand or client to work on, and why?
☛ Describe the structure of your current/previous team. Who did you work with on a regular basis? What did they do?
☛ How do you prepare to present your work to clients or stakeholders?
☛ What do you do when clients or stakeholders give you negative feedback?
☛ How do you start a project? How do you know when it is finished?
☛ What do you do when you hit a creative block? Talk about a design challenge you encountered and how you overcame. it.
☛ What type of design work do you enjoy the most; print or digital? How do you find transitioning between the two?
☛ How do you prepare your work for production? (e.g. Prep work for print or for front end development)
☛ What do you do when you're running out of time on a project?
☛ Explain what you are doing…
☛ Cold-calling, informational interviews, researching area companies, making sure your skills are up-to-date, reading more about the industry, networking with other artists, etc.
☛ Speak about an actual project, either in a class, or at your work
☛ Use action words to market yourself. We meet a eight hour deadline at my last job by working as a team to…
☛ Rehearse your examples and describe the steps you too
☛ As stated before, I am frustrated with people who do not care about the quality of their work
☛ Other than dishonest people, I have found that I get along well with all types of people.
☛ I feel that a variety of people and a variety of opinions always helps to solve problems and to come up with ideas.
34. Tell me did you ever work with the media in the capacity of a graphic designer?
Some designers create animated designs or still designs for television. News channels often seek the services of a graphic designer, as they need animated logos. With the modern internet, animated illustrations are also frequently required by the media for their websites or online promotional video material.
► Keep this example to work related issues if possible.
► Talk about when your boss was on vacation and you were asked to make a decision for him/her. What happened? Did you make the right decision? How did your boss react when they returned?
