Introducing: Debug your design interview journey
In the year since I started mentoring folks on Merit, I’ve gotten a lot of questions that go something like this:
I have been actively interviewing for long enough time that I feel like I should have an offer, but nothing has materialized yet. What am I missing?
When someone asks me this, it’s a sign we need to debug their interviewing journey. Debugging is an important part of building products, and it’s just as important to use that iterative lens on your own job-seeking efforts. Many of the people I talk to are not tracking their job applications, have not considered the point where they commonly fall off the rails, and are struggling to figure out how to improve.
If you’re going to get a job, especially in a tough economy, you’ve got to apply design thinking to your employment search. How might we turn the distressing process of finding a job into something we can learn from? Let’s start with one of my favorite design artifacts: a journey map!
Design interviewing is usually broken up into four types of activities:
If you start to track your process according to these stages, you’ll recognize patterns. This is similar to how teams begin to notice patterns when they track and analyze usage data for their products. You can build a job search dataset with a Kanban board in a product like Notion, Figma, Trello, or Asana. There are many templates out there already, but here’s mine if you’d like to use the exact one I did to complete my two most recent job searches.
I have a lot to say on this topic, so I’m going to split this into several blog posts. I hope that makes it all much easier to navigate. I’ll publish each post as soon as I finish editing, and they’ll get linked to this one.
Jump to a stage
Other resources
Looking for more job seeking tools? Below are some resources I and others have used in the past to improve the chances of getting a new job. I hope they help you, too.
- Resume Worded - AI-powered tool that gives you feedback about your résumé.
- Merit - Mentorship platform where you can connect with folks and have them review your work.
- Pearl - Connects hiring teams with diverse and vetted jobseekers.
- Ask a Manager job search posts - Get advice directly from a hiring manager.
- Per My Last Email podcast - A podcast by two leadership coaches that occasionally covers job search topics.
- Happen to Your Career podcast - A career change podcast for people who don’t want to settle.
- Design Life podcast - A podcast about design and side projects for motivated creators that sometimes covers career transitions.
Best of luck to you on your journey! I wish you all the success in the world.
Upcoming talks
-
Advancing Beyond Senior Roles: Navigating Non-Management Career Paths
This unique gathering is designed for professionals seeking pathways to growth that don't necessarily lead to traditional management roles. Led by Catt Small, this session invites attendees to share their experiences, challenges, and strategies in carving out impactful, non-managerial career trajectories. Engage in candid discussions about alternative leadership roles, lateral moves that enrich skills skill , and roles that expand influence without the traditional management responsibilities. This is a unique opportunity to connect with peers facing similar career crossroads, learn from the collective wisdom, and envision new trajectories for your career journey. Join us to redefine career success and discover new paths that align with your expertise and passions. Redefine career success with Catt and unlock new paths that resonate with your expertise and passions.
-
Moving from execution to strategy as a designer
Designers often find themselves under pressure to create beautiful outputs rather than impact and outcomes. In this talk, Catt Small will share techniques to move herself from execution to a more strategic role over 14 years of in-house work at companies spanning various industries. You’ll learn to add perspective to subjects including product strategy, growth, and monetization — showing the value of design at every part of the product development process. Before you know it, you’ll be your PM’s best work friend!
Want to talk?
Got feedback, looking to suggest a future writing topic, or want to invite me to speak at your organization? Send me a message and I'll get back to you as soon as possible!