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Updated October 11, 2023You’re reading an excerpt of Land Your Dream Design Job, a book by Dan Shilov. Filled with hard-won, personal insights, it is a comprehensive guide to landing a product design role in a startup, agency, or tech company, and covers the entire design interview process from beginning to end, for experienced and aspriring designers. Purchase the book to support the author and the ad-free Holloway reading experience. You get instant digital access, commentary and future updates, and a high-quality PDF download.
A variety of folks will see your presentation, each with a different focus:
Design manager. Craft skills, quality, process, and style.
Product manager. Prioritization, business outcomes, impact.
Engineering. Productive collaboration with engineering.
UX research. Methods you’ve used, how you’ve partnered with research.
Data science. Formulating initial questions and area of inquiry.
Keep this audience in mind when you’re practicing. It’s very likely you’ll see this cast of folks again during your one-on-one behavioral and cross-functional interviews.
The number one person you’re building this deck for is yourself. You’ll want to create a modular portfolio that you can remix at a moment’s notice if you’re called in for an interview with another company. To help you get there, I recommend you start an assessment of your recent work.
What were your recent projects that you consider to be your best work that show a variety of skills? Highlight projects that played to your unique identity as a designer—your combination of skills, point of view, and process that led to a result no other designer could have achieved.