Hiring a new (web) designer

There are important things to consider when designing and developing a website. Most of these things a person can learn through reading and personal experience. But I’m convinced that a large part of design stems from creativity and artistic talents. Unfortunately, these are things that cannot be taught. There’s more to designing than meets the eye, and often it takes another good designer to realize that. Just because Bob Ross makes painting look easy, doesn’t mean it is.

I’m in no position to hire anyone, but if I were, I’d go about it from a different angle. There’s a saying that pops up every now and then, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” I think that’s true. As an employer (which I’m not), what would I want in a new designer? Hmmm… here’s how I’d find out…

I would go through a normal interviewing process, scanning previous works (assuming he/she brought some sort of portfolio), discuss important web-related topics, maybe a few more random, seemingly meaningless questions, and off you go. But not before I gave out the assignment: “You have one week to build a site that will reflect you as a designer. On this site, I want you to write why I should hire you, and what you think about [my] company. The site can be one page or ten pages; it’s up to you.” There would be no answers to any questions asked, but the questions would be noted.

What an employer cares about is what the designer can do now… today. And within time constraints. From this, you could see how creative the designer is; his/her style; how much the designer cares about what he/she does; his/her passion; how fast he/she can work; how dedicated the designer is to the task; the designer’s ability to self-direct him/herself (by the limited number of emails/questions); how well the designer understands markup; how well he/she follows web standards; and finally, how well he/she can write. Good, clean writing can say a lot for a person. I’d then narrow down the choices to three, and call them for a second interview. I would now know first hand what these designers can do given a minimal amount of time.

Personally, I would love to have an interview like this. And I think those who have a passion for design would agree. Of course, this would take place in a world where it didn’t matter who you knew. A world where the best man wins, and not because you know the best man.