I had my resume and portfolio at place, and that helped me to get some job interviews, eventually.
Today I had a strange job interview that helped me understand one thing: having my own website is much better than having no website.
Let me elaborate.
Context#
Before this year, I have never been actually seeking a job. I had no experience of a series of job interviews, because usually I was invited to join a company. And I always had a lot of work, so this skill wasn’t developed. I didn’t need to persuade anyone I’m a skilled professional, that was out of scope.
Yet, the war met me unprepared.
In a way, I’m lucky to be still alive!
You can read more about the context by reading previous stories in this resume series.
Interviews#
I went through a series of interviews with some companies, and they weren’t matches.
E.g. there was that crypto startup, it was cool, and they seemed to like me— yet, I’m not someone who’s overly excited about crypto.
I don’t treat it as a scam, I believe the technology is promising. Yet, if I’d be excited about it, I’d be there already.
This company, Global Logic, matched with me. I like it. They seemed to like me to.
I went through their interviews, and there was that ‘final boss,’ their person, who’d I report to as a senior UI/UX designer.
That’s the person who creates graphical user interfaces, typically for websites or mobile apps, but not necessarily just that.
Normally, I don’t apply to such positions, because I’ve been there over a decade ago. These days, I’m not just a designer. I’m also an art director, creative director, team lead, project manager, product designer and/or owner.
What’s the difference between a designer and art director? Designer’s instruments are software suites, art director instruments are designers.
I am a person who works with designers, clients, developers. I don’t care too much about the instruments, the software with which people do their job. I care about the global picture of the product and the people.
I’ve started applying to these UI/UX positions because I’ve been lost and my mind was occupied about other things, namely war. I was ready to take any role that was still relevant for me.
Not in any company, however.
Poor Answers#
On the interviews, there are questions that could trigger this 180-degrees turn for an interviewer. Once they see you as a great candidate, you say something, and they are like ‘fuck, no.’ I can see that very clearly.
No Office#
There was one job interview with a local company — won’t recall the name — it went all good, and I felt like I’m a bit overqualified for them, so I was very relaxed.
Then, at some point, I mentioned that I don’t visit offices for most of my career (meaning I work mostly remotely). And they treated that as a negative sign! Not that I’m very skilled in how to work remotely.
I left that job interview knowing we’re not going to work. They gosted me since then and never replied.
Weird.
English#
Another job interview, an HR person kept asking me what’s my English skill. Can I speak English?
Oh, for fuck’s sake!
The thing is, English language is the primary language of professional communication in the western world. Not many people in Ukraine speak English well. I do.
Every single interviewer asked me about my English skills, that was making me mad! I used to reply to that question with ‘my English skill is far superior to my Ukrainian skill’ (I can speak, but not write).
To one interviewer in some other company, I replied that I can forget English when I’m exhausted late at night.
You know. Everyone has that point of tiredness, when you just can’t speak properly.
This situation worsens when one speaks many languages. I can speak 4 languages within the same day and in the late night, for me it could be a mix of all of them, and I can forget a word from one language and substitute it from another.
Usually that’s some complicated word.
My wife used to tease me about that. ‘Who says those things on interviews!’ I tried to save myself with the addition that I should have had this ‘only’ word, indicating that normally I speak English. And I can forget it only if I’m tired late at night.
That was another point I missed, that was my mistake. I was annoyed by the question, yet it’s perfectly understandable. The person on that side couldn’t have knowledge of me. I used to some popularity, but not here. Nobody knows me here, and my name doesn’t speak for itself.
Sometimes, I have that impression that English skills matter more than any other skill. Well, in that department I’m your champion, sir.
Simplification Logic Not#
I was having this other interview in Ukrainian language today. I wasn’t my best. I’ve been nervous, because it’s only recently I started commincating back in Ukrainian.
I had no proper training. No Ukrainian school to visit, no teachers, not even books! I’ve learned the language over the internet and from my wife, a native speaker.
It went mostly well, and I saw no issues with our comminication. Until this fatal mistake of mine.
I am talking too much!
I’ve said that thing that ruined my interview and that I want to elaborate about.
I’d love to refer to it to the original person who brushed me off for this, but honestly, I just see no point in doing so.
What I said?
That in my work, I try to make things as simple as possible. That I try to simplify till there’s nothing left to remove. That’s how I do any design job, for almost two decades.
‘Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.’
— This phrase is quite famous, it comes from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s book ‘Terre des Hommes’ (translated as ‘Wind, Sand and Stars’).
From my industry experience of almost two decades, I can confidently say that it’s true. Good design is simple, but it’s not easy.
I failed to communicate this thing.
That was a video conference, and I saw the negative reaction to my words. A bit later, feeling I failed the interview, I asked directly ‘what was wrong?’ and received the reply ‘we make pretty complicated user interfaces, and we’re looking for the person who is able to deliver them.’
I wasn’t in a position to explain myself and in my head I had only one phrase:
That’s the fucking problem of all of you. That’s why we all have mostly mediocre software.
Was I willing to report to a person who doesn’t understand the power of simplicity? All of the strongest players on the market —
all of them, no exceptionswell, sorry, not Microsoft, obviously
— most of them aim into simplicity. These are mavericks, Apple, Google, Amazon, Facebook, AirBNB, I can go on and on and on and on.
The thing is, simplicity is difficult to achieve.
I bet some higher up the career ladder person of Global Logic actually understands that. I believe it is so.
Why don’t those companies actually do simple interfaces? It’s not because they don’t want to, it’s because the talent is limited, and they’re unable to compete with, say, Apple.
Am I able to deliver complex user interfaces?
Oh boy, oh boy.
I am, since 2009 at least. Oh, I started my career with such complex interfaces, I’m ashamed of them. They could be much simpler.
I mean it. I’m not proud of that work, it’s borders the incompetence, how bad it was. I was a novice, and I was unable to make things simpler.
I am able to deliver complex interfaces. Am I willing to do that? Well, yes and no. It’s a complicated topic, because most times it’s not possible to create very simple interface from the start. It’s the process, the process of simplification. It takes years, and sometimes decades.
You may want to read a story about my first experience as a design intern. Which I would say I failed, as I switched to work on different things for a long while.
If that person sees the development process as ‘we create simple things and then we make them more complex,’ I have some news. I believe it’s the exact opposite. It’s the beginners’ stage, when you create something complex. Complexity is the stage of not understanding many things, and it’s normal.
Am I willing to work with the people who aim at complexity? Hell no, absolutely not. Unless I have the power to explain them my point of view, and they’re able to either understand my point or communicate their position back, clearly and with their own experience.
Conclusion#
I regret these failed interviews, mostly because I just miscommunicated some obvious things. It’s not even me failing some test task, it’s some stranger didn’t get me correctly.
The Global Logic company looked good to me, and I could have been a great asset to them. Yet, I failed to represent myself as more professional person than they thought I was.
I came to the conclusion that:
- either I avoid talking too much during that interviewing stage,
- I can easily scare away a potentially great team with some wrong phrasing, even when we mean the same things.
- or — better — I need a space where I can communicate those ideas, my website.
It’s a shame I have no website at this point, and my excuse ‘I’ve been too busy for too long’ doesn’t stand well.
Also, I need to set some expectations from the companies and teams I’m interviewing with.
That’s a long-term project, but it’d definitely help me find the like-minded people, not the ones who have too little experience to understand my position. If I have to explain myself with too many words, it’s not something I’m looking for from the people I’d like to spend my professional self with.
Clearly understanding what you’re looking for is complicated and takes much longer time than making a website, so that’s my next priority. I’m not going to make new attempts before I deploy my website.
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