Common Design Hiring Process: 7 Friction Points That Eliminate Design Candidates (And How to Pass Each One)

The design job market is brutal right now. Hundreds of applications, dozens of rejections, radio silence. Let me pull back the curtain on what actually happens generally when you click “Apply”, the friction points that silently eliminate candidates, and practical strategies to navigate each one.

Think of this as an insider knowledge from my hiring experience. This is nothing revolutionary, but hopefully clarifying. The process usually varies from company to company based on their hiring policy and other factors.

Okay! There are two types of design hiring.

1. Replacement Hiring (60-70% of roles)

• Someone left, urgent need to fill seat
• Strict filters: years of experience, domain match, salary budget, notice period
• Timeline pressure: “We need someone in 2-4 weeks”
• Less flexibility on requirements

2. New Hiring (30% of roles)

• Team expansion, new roles created, Budget increased, new product line etc
• More flexible filters, longer timeline
• Room for “close enough” matches, training budget

Most roles are replacement hiring. This guide focuses on that gauntlet.

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FRICTION POINT 1: ATS Keyword Filtering

What happens: Your resume hits the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) first—before any human sees it.

AI scans for:

• Years of experience match
• Tools mentioned (Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD)
• Domain keywords (B2B, SaaS, enterprise, mobile)
• Salary range alignment

Pre-set filters auto-reject if there’s a mismatch.

How to pass:

Include relevant keywords naturally in your resume (don’t keyword-stuff—ATS detects that too)

Match the job description’s language exactly

• If they say “SaaS,” say “SaaS” (not “cloud software”)
• If they say “B2B enterprise,” use that exact phrase

Put key information upfront

• Clear job titles (“Senior UX Designer” not “Design Ninja”)
• Years of experience visible in header or summary
• Tools/domains in skills section

Reality check: Even great designers get filtered out here due to resume formatting or keyword mismatch. This isn’t about your skills—it’s about passing robots first.

FRICTION POINT 2: The NDA Portfolio Challenge

What happens:

Portfolios that pass ATS screening reach the hiring manager.

Preference hierarchy:

• Real projects with visible work (screenshots, prototypes)
• Detailed case studies with process shown
• “Under NDA” placeholders with zero details → “Check later” pile (often never checked)

The NDA tension:

Here’s the reality: NDAs exist for good reasons—they protect company IP and competitive advantage. But as a hiring manager, I’ve seen talented designers eliminated because they couldn’t show their best work. And as someone who’s been on both sides, I understand the frustration.

The system isn’t perfect. But we can work within it.

Many talented designers have portfolios full of “Under NDA, can’t show work.” This is frustrating for both sides—you can’t show your best work, we can’t evaluate it.

How to pass (if NDA-bound):

First: Check your NDA and ask for permission

Some NDAs include a residuals clause (allows use of general knowledge/skills retained in memory). Ask your former employer for written permission to use sanitized work samples (most companies understand designers need portfolios). If in doubt, consult legal counsel (your career is worth the investment)

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What hiring managers DON’T need to see:

When you say “Under NDA,” we don’t expect:

• Client names
• Proprietary features or IP
• Specific product details
• Real user data
• Competitive information

What we DO want to see:

Problem statement (generic): “Designed onboarding flow for B2B SaaS platform serving industrial vendors”

Your contribution: “Led research, prepared insights, prototyped 2 solutions, tested with 5 users”

Your process: Research methods, design thinking, iterations (show skeletal wireframes with common patterns—no real data needed)

Outcome: “Selected solution reduced onboarding time by 30%”

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Three tactics for NDA projects:

Tactic 1: Sanitize (if permitted)

If you’ve received written permission or your NDA allows it:

• Remove client identities
• Replace names with generic placeholders
• Hide financial data (use “XXXX.XX” format)
• Create wireframes with zero reference to actual project

Better yet: Use low-fidelity sketches showing your approach, not the actual product.

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Tactic 2: Add a clear disclaimer

At the top of each NDA case study:

“This project is under NDA. All visuals are sanitized and generalized. Happy to discuss problem statement, design process, user research, and outcomes in detail during interview call.”

Why this works: Shows you respect confidentiality, sets expectations, and signals willingness to discuss details.

Most hiring managers respect NDAs. We just need to know you can have a real conversation about your work.

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Tactic 3: Use hypothetical case studies (for super-strict NDAs)

If you’re bound by healthcare, government, or other strict NDAs where you cannot discuss the work:

Create a hypothetical case study using a publicly available product (not your NDA work):

• “How I’d redesign Slack’s notification system to reduce alert fatigue”
• “How I redesigned a food ordering app’s My Orders page for accessibility”

Pro tip: Match the domain to your target role (B2C case studies resonate less when interviewing for B2B companies)

This demonstrates your skills without referencing NDA-bound work at all.

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Legal disclaimer:

I'm not a lawyer—this is general guidance, not legal advice. NDAs vary widely. Before sharing any work (even sanitized), read your NDA carefully, ask for written permission, and consult legal counsel if uncertain. If your NDA explicitly forbids portfolio use, honor it and use alternative approaches like hypothetical case studies.

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For all portfolios (NDA or not):

Before/After visuals >> 2-page text essays. Show the ugly old UI → your beautiful new UI. Instant understanding beats lengthy explanation.

Include interactive prototypes (Figma links, live demos). Hiring managers LOVE clicking through and experiencing your work.

Lead with impact:

• “Reduced checkout drop-off by 30%”
• “Increased feature adoption from 12% to 45%”
• Numbers speak louder than adjectives
• Not able to figure the impact? Use AI tools to analyze context, provide wireframes, and do baseline impact evaluation (declare this with disclaimer)

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FRICTION POINT 3: TA Data Collection (The Brutal Reality)

What happens:

Talent Acquisition collects critical data:

• Current salary and expectations
• Notice period
• Availability to join

For replacement hiring (urgent needs), this stage brutally eliminates candidates:

90-day notice period = generally auto-eliminated (even if you’re exceptional)

Why this hurts:

Hiring managers often want to hire you, but:

• Team needs someone in 2-4 weeks
• You need 90 days to exit current company
• Math doesn’t work → rejected despite strong portfolio

How to pass:

Negotiate early exit from current employer (if possible)

• Reduce notice to 30-45 days through discussion with current manager
• Offer transition documentation, handover plan

Be realistic about salary expectations

• 20-30% bump is typical for level jump
• 50%+ jumps are rare (unless significant level change or underpaid currently)

Use this stage strategically

• Ask TA: “What’s the urgency for this role?”
• Ask: “What’s the team structure and growth plan?”
• Gather intelligence to assess if role is right fit

Strategic note: If you have 90-day notice, prioritize applying to NEW HIRING roles (not replacement)—they have longer timelines and more flexibility.

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FRICTION POINT 4: AI Screening Calls (The English Fluency Trap)

What happens:

Some companies now use AI chatbots for initial screening:

• 1 hour text-based Q&A
• Questions about your resume, projects, skills
• AI evaluates responses for relevance and clarity

The problem:

AI screening is spotty. It can misinterpret answers, especially if:

• Responses aren’t structured clearly
• English phrasing is ambiguous
• You ramble or provide context AI doesn’t parse well

I’ve seen exceptional designers eliminated here—not due to lack of skill, but inability to communicate effectively with AI in real-time text format.

How to pass:

Practice with AI beforehand

Use ChatGPT or Claude as a mock screener:

“Act as an AI recruiter screening a UX designer. Ask me questions based on this resume: [paste your resume]. Evaluate my answers for clarity and relevance.”

Practice answering:

• Clearly and concisely (AI prefers structured responses)
• With specific examples (“In Project X, I did Y, which resulted in Z”)
• Without unnecessary context dumps

Build fluency through repetition

• Do 3-5 mock sessions before real AI screening
• Time yourself (get comfortable with 1-2 minute responses)

This levels the playing field, especially if English isn’t your first language or you’re not naturally concise in writing.

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FRICTION POINT 5: Hiring Manager Deep Portfolio Review

What happens:

If you’ve made it this far, the hiring manager examines your work closely.

Internal questions we’re asking:

• How does their experience fit our open role?
• What’s their team context? (Solo designer? Part of 10-person team?)
• What’s their work setup? (Agency? Product company? Startup?)
• How much user research depth do they have?
• What level of autonomy have they operated at?

We’re doing mental calculation: “How does their background map to our needs?”

How to pass:

Be brutally honest

Not every company does the “full 5-stage design process” for every feature. Don’t claim you “led end-to-end research with 50 user interviews” if that’s not true.

Hiring managers know constraints. We’re checking FIT, not perfection.

If your company doesn’t do extensive user testing, say so. If you mostly worked with pre-defined requirements, acknowledge it. Honesty helps us strategize how to onboard you effectively.

What to include in case studies:

Problem statement: What was broken? Why did it matter?

Your specific contribution: What YOU did (not “the team redesigned…” but “I led discovery interviews, synthesized insights, proposed 3 solutions…”)

Outcome: Metrics if possible

• “Reduced support tickets by 25%”
• “Increased task completion rate from 60% to 85%”

Team context: Worked solo? With PM? With 5 other designers? With engineers directly?

This context helps us understand your collaboration style and autonomy level.

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FRICTION POINT 6: Design Assessment

What happens:

You’re given a design problem to solve (typically 2-4 hours).

What we’re evaluating:

• Can you clarify ambiguous requirements?
• How do you reason through design decisions?
• Can you defend your choices with logic?
• How do you respond to feedback? (This is critical)

How to pass:

Before starting:

Agree on time/scope expectations

• Don’t spend 10 hours on a “2-hour assignment”
• Clarify: Is this sketch-level? High-fidelity?

Ask for domain-neutral problems

• Avoid assignments that solve the company’s actual product features (that’s free consulting work, not assessment)

Clarify doubts upfront

• Email or call TA: “Can I use AI tools? Should I focus on mobile or desktop? Do you want user research approach or final UI?”

During evaluation:

Show your thinking process

• Walk through how you approached the problem
• Explain alternatives you considered and why you chose this direction

Defend choices with reasoning

• “I chose tabs over accordion navigation because user testing shows tabbed interfaces perform better for comparison tasks”

Accept feedback gracefully (CRITICAL)

• If hiring manager points out an oversight: “Oh, I didn’t consider accessibility implications here—good point, thanks for catching that”
• Hiring managers test coachability, not just design skill
• Designers who defend every choice blindly signal: “This person will be difficult to work with”

DON’T:

Use AI to generate mocks (unless explicitly allowed)

Blindly defend every choice (shows ego over critical thinking)

Miss the problem entirely (rushing to solutions without clarifying requirements)

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FRICTION POINT 7: Final Fit Evaluation

What happens:

After all interview rounds, the hiring manager assesses overall match.

Reality check: 70-80% match usually gets hired (not 100%).

We’re evaluating:

• Technical skill fit (covered in earlier rounds)
• Cultural fit (collaboration style, communication)
• Coachability (can they grow into gaps?)
• Salary alignment (budget vs. expectations)
• Availability (when can they start?)

How to pass:

Ask smart questions (shows strategic thinking):

• “What are the key challenges this role will tackle in the first 6 months?”
• “How does the design team collaborate with product and engineering?”
• “What does success look like in this role after 1 year?”
• “What’s the business vision for this product/team over the next 2-3 years?”

That last question is gold. It shows you think beyond design execution—you understand business context. Hiring managers love this.

Salary discussion:

• Share expectations clearly upfront (don’t play games)
• But don’t make it the central focus of every conversation (signals money-driven over mission-driven)
• Let your performance + their budget determine the outcome

Remember: 70-80% match is generally enough.

You don’t need to tick every single box. If you’re strong in core areas and coachable in others, that’s often sufficient.

Don’t self-reject thinking “I don’t have ALL the skills listed, so I won’t apply.”

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REPLACEMENT vs. NEW HIRING: Strategic Differences

Replacement Hiring (70% of roles):

• Strict filters, urgent timeline
• If you don’t match 80%+ requirements → likely rejected
• Notice period matters A LOT
• Less training budget/flexibility

New Hiring (30% of roles):

• More flexible filters
• Longer timeline (can wait 60-90 days)
• “Close enough” matches considered
• Room for training and growth

Strategy: Apply to both types, but know which you’re entering. Adjust expectations accordingly.

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TL;DR: How to Survive the Gauntlet

1. Optimize resume for ATS → Keywords, clear formatting, match job description language
2. Solve the NDA problem → Add “happy to discuss in interview” note OR sanitize case studies
3. Show before/after visuals → Not text essays
4. Negotiate notice period → Reduce to 30-45 days if possible
5. Practice with AI screener → Build fluency before the real one
6. Be honest in portfolio → Fit matters more than perfection
7. Accept feedback gracefully → Coachability > ego
8. Ask business questions → Shows strategic thinking beyond design
9. 70-80% match is enough → Don’t self-reject

Most importantly:

Rejection often isn’t about you. It’s timing, budget, notice period, or fit.

Keep applying. Keep improving. Keep adapting.

You’ll get through.

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Final Thought: The Two-Way Street

One last note that often goes unsaid:

Avoid offer hopping, juggling multiple offers, or turning down accepted offers at the last minute.

Hiring is a two-way street. When you accept an offer, the hiring manager:

• Rejects other candidates (who were excited about the role)
• Plans onboarding (manager’s time, team’s time)
• Allocates budget (can’t hire someone else for 6+ months)

If you ghost or back out last minute, it creates real pain:

• Wasted time and effort for hiring team
• Missed opportunities for other candidates
• Damage to your professional reputation (industry is smaller than you think)

There are companies genuinely hiring and not playing with candidates. Extend the same professional courtesy in return.

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