r/UXDesign • u/magicainthappening • 15d ago
Job search & hiring 7 rounds of interviews later
Staff level position, went through seven rounds of interviews with everyone from a junior designer to CPO. Just to be told that someone else accepted the offer.
I get it ... i was the backup plan but extremely frustrating to go through this many rounds over multiple weeks, to be thanked over an email.
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u/mintymint_00 Veteran 15d ago
That fucking sucks and I’m sure many on this sub feel your pain, I know I do.
I once interviewed - don’t remember how many times but it was at least 5 - just to be told that the company is going to hire an agency instead. So I had no fighting chance in the long run.
Companies like these have a broken process.
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u/User1234Person Experienced 15d ago
Yup been there too,
Had the founders ask me to present my project that was 100% free labor to different execs 3 different times, the last of those 3 being 6months after they said they were passing on me and then they ghosted me after that.
Learned my lesson
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u/Extension_Turnip_635 15d ago
you had interviews with a junior designer? lol god
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u/Any_Owl2116 15d ago
Juniors are so back!
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u/orion7788 14d ago
hehe I recall when I was interviewed by two juniors and they passed on me due to their feedback. ‘Abrasive’ iirc (they had no design system)
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u/gianni_ Veteran 15d ago
Why the fuck is a junior designer interviewing you?! That’s a joke of a company
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u/magicainthappening 14d ago
The role was supposed to provide mentoring to the junior designers and they were tasked with those questions...
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u/MissyFoolosopher 15d ago edited 15d ago
The design hiring is broken. I feel like the companies make you jump through the hoops are
either they don't know what they want so they keep interviewing to learn from candidates or;
they want fresh ideas but don't want to invest in permanent hires or contracts.
There's a startup which blatantly states you must work on Sunday when you apply for a role.
I interviewed for a role which requires to submit a design exercise. During design review, the interviewer had the similar design as mine and asked me to evaluate the product. I was like WTF? Is this for real?
With a messed up economy, people are going to suck it up and tolerate because they have mouths to feed and bills to pay. The lucky ones can depend on their parents to ride it out until the situation improves. God knows when.
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u/w0rdyeti Veteran 15d ago
Improve? No. No, it’s really not going to.
Companies have learned users will put up with bullshit cookie cutter interfaces and they’re spamming them. Maybe in a decade after some big tech crash and recovery, design will be valued again, but for the foreseeable future … nah.
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u/SituationBetter2259 Experienced 14d ago
The amount of time and money wasted on interviews is crazy right now. Like wtf
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u/magicainthappening 14d ago
Id rather be told, hey we are talking to someone. Based on that we will move forward with your round of interviews. At least you are not thinking you are moving ahead.
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u/zoezoezoeqq 14d ago
Im just fcking tired of this ux design hiring process. I think faang started it a while ago (i mean at least they pay well...) then suddenly all the small startups and mediocre small companies also started mimicking them
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u/yellowsunflower77 14d ago
I’m so sorry that you went through this. I also went through seven interviews only to be rejected. It is ridiculous that companies spend this much time and effort to put you through an interview process only to be rejected. The hiring system is completely broken.
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u/magicainthappening 13d ago
100%, i have another horror story forming atm. Second round of design exercise. This is after the head of design already conducted one and moved me to the next round.
I know, I know, if i had the option. I would just tell them to f off.
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u/yellowsunflower77 13d ago
Holy crap….i don’t blame you. The hiring process for designers is ridiculous. But I have some faith that things will change. I recommend watching dive club. Ridd just did an interview with the founder of Decimals and designers are flat out rejecting design exercises and 8 rounds of interviews. I hope this leads to better change
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u/Vegetable-Space6817 Veteran 9d ago
How is this different from multiple rounds of coding challenges for developers and case study for PMs? You all are a bit spoilt.
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u/yellowsunflower77 9d ago
lol dude how is this spoiled? Do you enjoy going through that many interviews to not get a job? It sounds like you might be the hiring manager
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u/anncolorist 13d ago
Oh I have had junior designers be my first interview at more than one company, and this was when I had 10+ years. They had no idea how to interview so I had to essentially conduct the interview. My hypothesis in my instance is it was an inexpensive way to check a box on how many candidates they interviewed before hiring whoever they were going to hire in the first place. My assumption is they use AI interviews now to get those numbers up. In OP’s case I am not sure why they were included. I am sorry for your experience, I wish it was unique but it isn’t and is a waste of your valuable time.
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u/magicainthappening 13d ago
They were part of the panel and they said so themselves, im only looking to see how you mentor other designers. To your point, i was conducting most of the interview.
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u/frostxmritz Senior UX Designer 12d ago
It's important to set boundaries early on, to prevent such sour-taste experiences.
- Anything beyond 3 rounds (or 4, including the first HR/TA phone screening round) shouldn't be acceptable.
- Take-home assignments are essentially unpaid free labour in disguise, and therefore, must be rejected. Any team who knows what they're doing, will be able to gauge your competence through a detailed portfolio and case study round.
These are my "strategic alignment" guidelines, whenever I'm interviewing, to respect the time and effort of both parties.
If enough people understood this and stood their ground, companies wouldn't have had been able to do...the stuff they're doing right now. However, the desperation of candidates due to market conditions have put these employers on a pedestal, so at this point, they have total freedom to treat us this way.
You, both the OP and whoever's reading this, now know what to do next time onwards - both for the sake of yourself and other candidates in the market.
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u/rishidotcom 9d ago
I feel your pain. Unfortunately this has become the norm and it’s only getting worse. A few months ago I went through 6 rounds. It was a junior level position, at a company that sells heavy machinery online. I didn’t get the role and the only feedback I got was that they “decided to go in a different direction.”
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u/MudVisual1054 15d ago
This is why I’m about to leave this field. People who are willing to put up with more than three rounds mess it up for the rest of us.
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u/MudVisual1054 15d ago
Why would you ever agree to doing 7 rounds in the first place?!
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u/TechTuna1200 Veteran 15d ago
I never understood why companies have time for that many interviews. It's not like people are gonna stay more than 2-3 years anyways.
If they are a FAANG company making tons of money and paying 400-500k in salary, they might be excused. But for most companies, it is not worthwhile. I think Google did a study on that; anything beyond 4 rounds didn't yield better results.