Interview process
The Product Design hiring process
Our design interview process is built to explore your identity as a designer, celebrate your unique problem-solving methodology, and see how you drive impactful, user-centric outcomes.
The interview stages
01Introductory chat
An informal conversation with a design recruiter to better understand what you're looking for in your next role, your work experience, skills, and career aspirations. No preparation is needed, just be ready to discuss your interview timeline, notice period, and what drives you.
- 30 minutes
02Hiring manager call
You will meet a Design Manager to dive deeper into your work. After brief introductions, you will spend 20 minutes presenting a single case study covering:
- An overview of the problem, product, or company, and its place in the broader business context.
- Your end-to-end process, including design explorations and early iterations (we love to see the messy stuff!).
- The final solution and how it impacted the business or its users.
The remaining 30 minutes will be a conversational deep dive into why you are interested in Entrust, your career goals, and what makes you shine as a candidate.
- 60 minutes
03Virtual onsite
A series of virtual conversations exploring your craft, strategy, and collaboration style. More information below.
- Around 4 hours
04Next steps
Our team reviews all data points holistically. We aim to make a final decision within two weeks, and your design recruiter will reach out directly to provide transparent, actionable feedback.
- 1 to 2 weeks
The virtual onsite
01Presentation of past work
You will deliver a narrative presentation introducing yourself (around 5 minutes) and running through two end-to-end projects demonstrating your creative vision, strategy, execution, and results. For junior candidates, student or personal work is perfectly fine.
What we look for
Clarity in framing problems, validation of design fundamentals, cross-functional collaboration stories ("I did" vs. "We did"), effective storytelling, and a clear understanding of user needs and business metrics.
With your permission, we securely record this session for internal feedback loops, and delete it once a decision is finalised.
- 60 minutes
- Full panel
02Background I: craft, behaviour, and leadership
A behavioural interview exploring how you drive results and navigate challenging situations. We encourage using the STAR format (Situation, Task, Action, Result) and welcome stories of learning through failure.
What we look for
Rational, user-centred design thinking (colour, layout, typography, visual hierarchy), process flexibility, and the ability to balance compromise with taking a principled stand.
- 45 minutes
- Designer
03Background II: collaboration, strategy & impact
This conversation focuses on your business acumen, strategic thinking, and cross-functional partnerships.
What we look for
Precise framing of business challenges, using analytics, experimentation, and research insights to shape design decisions, and examples of strong stakeholder collaboration.
- 45 minutes
- Designer and PM
04Critique
You will lead and facilitate an interactive critique of a well-known app (e.g. Google Maps or Slack).
What we look for
A healthy balance of UX/UI sensibilities, your ability to articulate what makes a user flow successful, and strong session facilitation skills.
- 45 minutes
- Designer
05Ask us (almost) anything
An optional, extra 30-minute block for you to ask any remaining questions. Declining this does not factor into our hiring decision in any way.
- 30 minutes
- Hiring manager
- Optional
Our Product Design evaluation criteria
To mitigate bias, maintain a high quality bar, and ensure consistency, we evaluate all design candidates against four core attributes.
For Junior or Associate roles, we focus heavily on strong fundamentals, a willingness to learn, and demonstrated initiative rather than deep mastery.
Craft
We look for evidence of user-centred design principles, clear problem framing, and modern tool proficiency (e.g. Figma) via your portfolio. You should be able to justify design choices using qualitative or quantitative data and demonstrate iterative loops based on feedback.
- Design proficiency
- Problem-solving
- User research
Communication & collaboration
You should be able to explain your design rationale, user flows, and product outcomes clearly and concisely. We evaluate how effectively you collaborate with cross-functional partners (PMs, Engineers) and your openness to actively receiving, digesting, and incorporating feedback.
- Intent
- Articulation
- Flexibility
Behaviour & leadership
We value candidates who take deep ownership of overall product quality, proactively seek solutions, and build resilience under real-world constraints (like tight deadlines or strict brand guidelines). For senior paths, we look for mentorship and an ability to influence broader product directions.
- Ownership
- Accountability
- Adaptability
Strategy & impact
You should demonstrate an understanding of how your design decisions move the needle on business goals and customer satisfaction. We want to see measurable outcomes from your work, a strong customer-advocacy mindset, and an understanding of how your execution fits into a larger strategic vision.
- Business acumen
- Outcome-driven
- Vision
- Advocacy