Career Services in Coda! [Katie Rivard]

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Career Services in Coda! [Katie Rivard]

Career Services in Coda! [Katie Rivard]

Resume & Cover Letters

Lesson: How to Answer Questions on Applications

15 minute read

When filling out job applications, you’ll come to discover that one size doesn’t fit all. Some are brief and basic, while others require deeper insight into your process, thinking, and overall interests.

For every job application, you’ll be required to provide the following information—either as separate PDFs, or by filling out a form provided by the employer:

Cover letter

Contact information

Resume

Link to your portfolio

You might also be asked to include links to your professional social profiles, and some roles may require details of your references at the start of the application process. It’s also common for you to be asked for information about your gender, ethnic or national origin, citizenship status, as well as veteran status. Depending on the country in which the position is advertised, employers may be required to collect this information by law.

Some companies go one step further, and put together a list of questions for you to answer as part of the application. This is usually so that hiring managers can get a better sense of each candidate’s design process, and their ability to articulate it. It also provides them with more information for screening the first round of applications. It may also save hiring managers time spent in interviews.

Let’s explore some of the questions you’re likely to see on those applications.

What are you looking for in an employer?

Many companies ask a question like this to judge how well you might fit with their working culture. In answering it, refer to your previous jobs. Explain what you liked about previous positions, and what you would have liked to be different. This is a chance for you to communicate your ideal work environment, and determine how it matches up with what they offer. Although it’s important to be honest about your experiences, make sure also to be diplomatic if you refer to negative aspects of previous positions.

What are you looking for in a position?

This question refers more to the job requirements: what do you want your day-to-day to look like? Put together a list of what you’d like to see yourself doing, and clearly articulate why you want to do those things.

What type of projects excite you?

This kind of question often helps hiring managers understand where you feel the most comfortable, and what work allows you to thrive in a team. It can help them determine whether or not you fit the needs of the organization, or could potentially offer them something new and valuable. It can also help you communicate which areas of the design process you most enjoy, and begin to filter job opportunities for specific areas of focus.

What projects challenge you the most?

This may or may not be a mirror image of the previous question. After all, if you feel challenged by a part of the design process, that may or may not be your favorite part! When answering this question, talk about a time when you were tasked to do something you weren’t completely familiar or comfortable with. You should have plenty of examples from UX Academy. Talk about how you broke the problem down, and the steps you took to be able to solve it successfully.

Talk about your design process.

This is a big one. Your answer should be extensive, and it should cover how you define and break down problems, conduct and analyze your research, and go about creating viable solutions. You could frame this in terms of how you would tackle a new project, or you could speak more in the abstract about your approach to design and your beliefs about the process.

How have you grown as a designer in the past year?

This should be an easy question for you to answer. As a UX Academy graduate, you’ve come a long way in recent months. Talk about your path, what you've learned, and how your design education has prepared your future growth as a designer.

How do you work with developers and other designers?

This is a generic question about collaboration. It might also mention other stakeholders, like product owners, project managers, or other team members. If you don't have previous experience of collaborative work as a designer, talk about your past experience of working in a team, and present evidence of your effectiveness as a leader, communicator, and overall team player. If possible, give examples of successful collaborative projects that you were a part of.

How does a designer add value to a team?

Although this question doesn’t come up as often as the others, it can help hiring managers find out how you understand the importance of design within a company or organization. Answer this with the specific position you’re applying to in mind. Try to figure out how design can add value to this specific enterprise. How can design make an impact? How can it positively affect revenue or other success metrics? How can it help people do their jobs well? By addressing these points, aim to express your vision of what design can offer at its best.

What is your favorite website or app? Why?

Once you’ve decided which one to discuss, make sure to cover what works, what doesn’t, why you like its design, what can be improved—in other words, treat it as a design critique. Some companies may require a much more extensive version of this exercise later in the interview process. Use your answer as an opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge of visual design and usability principles.

Why are you a great fit for this position?

This is another culture fit question. Talk about your personality and communication style. You don’t need to brag about being an amazing designer, and you don’t need to worry about being perfect. Simply explain why you believe your educational background and work experience make you uniquely suited to excelling in the position you’re applying for.

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These are just a few of the questions that could come up in your job applications. Don’t sweat it—focus on answering each question to the best of your ability, and make your responses as relevant as possible to the company you’re applying to.

Providing more specific examples and insights can help you stand out from the crowd. But above all, don’t be generic and forgettable. Simply write authentically, and sound like yourself.

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