What Do You Look For in a Designer?: Chelsea Vandiver, Ziba
Enter a caption (optional)Chelsea is the head of the Communications Design Group at Ziba in Portland, Oregon. Over the past decade, she's grown her multi-disciplinary design team from 4 to 14 members, spanning the graphic, web, and interaction design disciplines, and produced award-winning work for clients like Procter & Gamble, FedEx, Nike, Pixelworks and Umpqua Bank. She holds an MFA in Graphic Design from the University of Washington, sat on the discussion panel at the Portland installment of the Coroflot Creative Confab, and is an incredibly pleasant person to chat with.
1. What do you look for when hiring a designer?
Craft: Does their work demonstrate an eye for design and the ability to produce great work within the realities of manufacturing and budget constraints?
Design Thinking: Can they think broadly? Do they have an awareness of design's role within the context of business and culture?
Cultural Fit: Can they work in a rigorous multidisciplinary collaborative environment?
2. Is there a particular "tell" that signals a good or bad fit?
Craft and design thinking are competencies that can be easily assessed by viewing a designer's portfolio and listening to them present their work.
Cultural Fit is more difficult to gauge. The most telling signal of a potential good fit is an engaging dialogue. If a candidate does not demonstrate a genuine curiosity in the work that we do here, it's typically a red flag.
3. What is your best interview "horror story"?
I've had candidates break out in hives, drip sweat on to their portfolios, completely lose the ability to speak, blush deep eggplant, knock their water glass over, but I wouldn't call thesehorror stories. We tend to look beyond nerves, and in most cases I find a nervous candidate endearing and genuine.
I think the worst "horror stories" are candidates that aren't taking the time to be personal or do their research. We often get cover letters to the affect of "IDEO is my top choice…"
4. Do you have any specific advice for recent graduates, or people just starting straight out from school?
Recent graduates are essential to firms in the innovation business. They bring new ideas, questions and insights to our teams. However, unfortunately in this economy there are few full time positions available for recent graduates. Be open to alternative relationships with design consultancies such as apprenticeships, part time and temporary contracts. The first few years out of school should be viewed as a form of graduate school. Exposure and experience is crucial to your career, take any opportunity you can get.
5. What is the single, most valuable piece of advice you could give to those on the hunt?
Be authentic to yourself. An interview is not all that different from a date. If my husband had shown up in heels blaring Indigo Girls on his stereo for our first date, I would have found it down right creepy. Don't try to imitate the company you are pursuing, demonstrate how you can have a meaningful relationship with them.
6. Regarding creative employment, what do you know now that you wished you knew then?
Focus on understanding what you want to do, not who you want to work for.
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