How to Start Marketing Yourself: Interview Tips
Whether you interview for a contract Information Architect position, for an entry-level job, or a CEO opportunity, you need to effectively market yourself on an interview. Regardless of the position, be it freelance contract or full time employee, here are some interview tips that will help you when interviewing.
- Make a good first impression. Remember, you have 15 seconds or less to make a lasting impression, be it good or not so good. If you dress appropriately, smile, offer a firm (not bone-crushing) hand shake, and exhibit self-confidence (even if you don’t really feel it), you should make the right first impression.
- Know (or learn) your interviewer’s name AND the correct pronunciation. If you can find out his/her name in advance, do so. Practice pronunciation if your interviewer has a difficult name. This simple tip can effectively improve your image quickly and enhance your “brand”.
- Ask insightful questions. Prepare some thoughtful questions before the interview and you will market yourself as a knowledgeable, effective professional. Questions that you structure to display your expertise are very valuable marketing tools.
If you are one of the many people who are initially uncomfortable marketing yourself, practice your delivery. Much like a good athlete, the more repetitions you have the more comfortable and accomplished you sound and appear. You may even surprise yourself at how self-confident and professional you become, even if you’re shy.
Information Architect Portfolios Can Help You on Job Interviews
Along with a superior first impression, using Information Architect portfolios to stand out on an interview is critical. Just as you would highlight your management skills, philosophy, and proven achievements if you were interviewing for a senior management position, as an Information Architect, you should feature the following points:
- Explain your “process”. Often overlooked by newer professionals, tips for Information Architects should always include describing your process when seeking web developer jobs. How you reach your finished product is important to clients and employers.
- Display in-depth knowledge of information architecture. “How to interview” tips don’t change whether you’re interviewing with an IT professional or a Human Resource employee. They may not fully understand the information architecture subtleties, but they do know the information they want managed and structured.
- Concentrate on your Information Architect portfolios. Hopefully, you’ve already designed and published an effective website that displays the best of your previous work. Once you have impressed your prospective client or employer with your effective process and thorough knowledge of information architecture, your portfolio of work should ensure a very positive interview.
For better or worse, clients and employers often adopt a “you are what you do” philosophy. Therefore, your Information Architect portfolios will be the most defining factor of all interview tips. Emphasizing your process, knowledge, and portfolio will help you stand out from the crowd.
Tips for Information Architects to Prepare for an Interview
Unlike those for many other members of the workforce, tips for Information Architects on preparing for an interview include some specific considerations. For example, Information Architect portfolios are critical to a successful interview. Consequently, you should prepare your information, presentation, and examples carefully. You also need to remember that many of the classic preparations for job interviews also apply. Here are a few tips you should always follow.
- Research the client and the company. It is imperative that you know as much about the client or employer as possible. Your vast Internet expertise should allow you to locate volumes of information about your prospective client or employer to help you prepare properly
for interviewing. - Prepare printed examples of your prior successful projects. Do not assume that you and your interviewer will have the opportunity to view your website or interactive examples of your portfolio online. You may meet in a restaurant, café, or in a conference room lacking Internet access, even if you have your laptop with you. Printed “snapshots” of your finished products may be very important.
- Know the critical components of the project or anticipate the job focus in advance. Whether you’re being considered for a specific project or full-time employment, learning about the client’s needs and desires for the finished product or long term goals prepares you for their questions and allows you to create excellent and relevant questions for interviewers.
Interview Tips for Interface Designers
For resume services, interviewing, and how to market yourself issues, tips for Interface Designers focus on
- Usability, and
- Knowing your audience.
- User Interface Designer Interview tips begin and end with these two critical principles. All the usual classic interview tips also apply, including
- Be on time. Arrive five to fifteen minutes early to allow you to “spruce up”, if necessary, and find your interview office or conference room.
- Dress appropriately. Unless you are advised otherwise, dress in classic business attire.
- Smile and project self-confidence to make a positive first impression.
- Prepare and ask thoughtful, informed questions.
Specifically, however, display your knowledge of website design and offer examples of your user Interface Designer portfolios. Stress your expertise in marrying the two primary factors needed to create a superior user interface design:
- Aesthetics. The appearance and attractiveness of your design should rival the best graphic designers’ efforts. Users want to access aesthetically pleasing websites.
- Information. Your interface design should mimic the title of usability expert Steve Krug’s wonderful book, “Don’t Make Me Think Too Much.” Your user Interface Designer portfolios should display consistent navigation, common icons and references, and the ability for users to get their information in three clicks or less.
These tips for Interface Designers will help you secure the job position you want at the compensation you desire. Your knowledge of your audience combined with your technical expertise will help you have an outstanding interview.
Job Interview Tips When Presenting User Interface Designer Portfolios
Along with presenting your user Interface Designer portfolios at an interview, be sure to elaborate on your process as well. Explain your philosophy and technique regarding integrating the two primary Interface Design factors, aesthetics and information retrieval. Job interview tips for Interface Designers often stress the finished product, but overlook the critical com- ponents of the process and the techniques used.
If you are in a competitive situation, by stressing your process and technique, you should rise above the crowded list of other candidates. Whether you interview with an IT professional or a Human Resource representative, your display of expertise with your thought process and techniques to achieve your impressive product improves your interview on, not one, but two levels.
Describing your process, design philosophy, usability maximizations, and commitment to excellence displays –
- Your personality and humanity, and
- Your valuable expertise directly related to the project or job under discussion.
Should you be interviewing for a full-time job, your personality is just as important as your technical expertise. If you are a freelancer trying to garner a lucrative contract, your prospective client may be more interested in your technical expertise. However, never forget that “people do business with people”. By displaying your wonderful finished products combined with your personal insights regarding process, philosophy, and dedication may deliver that “something extra” to separate you from your competition.
User Interface Designer Interview Tips for Clients Seeking to Hire the Best
Hiring Interface Designers will be much less risky if you ask the right questions and properly evaluate the answers during an interview. As a client or employer, you should have a clear “picture” of the user Interface Designer portfolios that work for you. Yet, it’s never as simple as merely approving a final product. The “person” is just as important as the expertise offered, as you should want to have a successful relationship.
A successful Interface Designer and client or employer relationship typically depends on good two-way communication. Effective interview tips for clients hiring the best Interface Designers include questions that require candidates to explain their design process. Learning how to interview these specialists involves how responsive they are to your needs and how quickly they understand the way to interface the data you provide into a blend of website aesthetics (to make your website pleasing to the eye and impressive to visitors) and information retrieval (the goal is ease of user effort to get the info they want).
During the job interviews, listening closely to the substance and manner of responses from candidates will display their knowledge, expertise, and attitude. You can then determine if their behavior patterns are as accomplished as their finished products.
Usability Experts Interview Tips for Those Offering Web Developer Jobs
The value of Usability Experts is a source of debate that remains unresolved. Some hard core critics often call these specialists “user Storm Troopers” or other similar derisive terms. Supporters believe usability experts to be critical to excel in web developer jobs. For many clients residing somewhere in the “middle” of the debate, the question becomes similar to the following: Do I need to consult one of the best thoracic surgeons when I have the common cold?
However, if you are in business to make money, you’ll want to retain the best of these specialists. Usability Experts interview tips for success should involve getting answers to some or all of the following questions and issues.
- Which candidate will help improve my company’s brand by designing a masterful user friendly website?
- With many consumers’ web watcher groups reporting that the majority of people state that website design is the key to credibility, how do the usability experts interviewing with you respond to design questions?
- Even if you love the portfolio, how do your usability expert candidates test the customers’ satisfaction of the “usability factor”?
- How do the candidates employ usability engineering to keep customers coming back to my website to make multiple purchases?
As you can see, the best usability experts for your company are those that combine technical expertise with a) an understanding of your branding and marketing goals, and b) intelligent ways of achieving these goals. Web developer jobs involve designs that are aesthetically pleasing and usability experts that make it easy for visitors to buy your products.
Client “How to Interview” Tips for Interface Designers
How does a client or employer know if they are interviewing the best candidates or those that just “look good and smell good”? Even IT professionals might be fooled by impressive user Interface Designer portfolios. As a client, you need to ensure that you are getting the best “fit” for the job position you need filled. Here are some interview tips to help you go beyond evaluating user Interface Designer portfolios to hire the best professionals you can afford.
- A top Interface Designer knows his/her audience. Ask candidates questions that display their a) respect for the importance of knowing their audience, and b) how they compile their knowledge base regarding the components of their audience.
- One of the best indicators of a top Interface Designer is the use of consistent navigation tools for users. Ask questions about their technique and philosophy for designing the navigation tools for the website.
- Usability expert, Steve Krug, effectively reduces interface design to its lowest common denominator in his book, “Don’t Make Me Think Too Much.” Interview questions that emphasize your desire to retain an Interface Designer, who makes it “obvious what the user should do” to get the answers they want, will get you the best professional for your company.
Top freelancer and job candidate companies, like Artisan, can refer the best Interface Designer candidates available. Typically, you can bypass most “investigative” questions and concentrate on specifics for the job position you need filled or the project you want completed.
Clients Should Use These Resume Tips to Select Information Architects to Interview
Information Architects using good resume services will provide you with data to select the pool of candidates you might want to interview. Effective resume tips for information architects typically include recommendations that they list –
- Accomplishments in planning, design, and implementation of superior information architecture.
- The major projects and web developer jobs the candidate has completed. Were they finished on time and on budget?
- The new, breakthrough processes, techniques, procedures, and implementation strategies the Information Architect has developed.
- Ways the candidate increased income, controlled or lowered costs, or improved operations through their efforts.
- Achievements in staff management, including the number and level of employees the candidate supervised.
- Some of the primary companies for whom the candidate completed information architecture projects. If the nature of one or more companies is unclear, explain what these businesses do.
Use these resume and job interview tips to your advantage just as the Information Architect uses them for him/her candidacy. Which resumes spark your interest to learn more? Which information motivates you to see their Information Architect portfolios at job interviews? Those Information Architect candidates that appear to have a) the background, and b) expertise you want will form your interviewing pool.
Employers Should Explicitly Define the Job Position for Interface Designers
Interface Designers are a widely varied group of professionals. While a top Interface Designer could probably function well regardless of the industry or project, you should save yourself as much time as possible evaluating, interviewing, and hiring professionals. Of all the tips for Interface Designers evaluation, explicitly defining the job position or project details is the most important.
Whether you are attempting to find the best professional yourself or using one of the top sources for Interface Designers, like ArtisanTalent.com, explaining the job specifics as precisely as possible should help reduce the talent pool to a manageable number. Successful Interface Design demands an effective combination of website aesthetics with intelligent information design and organization.
Most agree that the best user Interface Designer portfolios are those wherein the designer –
- Knew the audience,
- Used consistent, simple navigation methods,
- Employed conventional icons and terms that all users understand, and
- Implemented simplified, obvious (to the user) steps to retrieve the information desired.
By explicitly defining the job position and results you, the client, wants eliminates wasteful time discussing project generalities during an interview. You and the candidate can concentrate on the process and end results that match your wishes. Saving valuable time for specific issues are among the most valuable interview tips for both you and the candidates you evaluate.
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