Interesting how most red flags seem to focus on the visual parts of design. What conclusions do you draw when someone uses a free domain or template? A designer using Notion might do so intentionally because it offers a lot of great integrations that tools like Framer do not.
Also curious how you look out for and value other skills (senior) product designers are expected to bring, like research skills, strategic insight, collaborative mindsets.
If I were on the market and read this article, my take away would be that you’re looking to hire a visual designer instead of a product designer.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts! I respect your perspective, but I believe some of these points—such as using free domains or no-code tools—are subjective and not directly tied to a designer’s skills.
Hi this article is the problem with the current job industry for designer. Look how much stuff you need to focus/work to get a job, it seems that I need to work more to get the position instead of doing the actual job.
Also the “red flags” list is hilarious, I have to pay a domain or I need to show my portfolio, even if I have projects locked by a NDA, in LinkedIn to have a chance
I was literally thinking the same thing. This is such mediocre thinking which prevents companies from hiring great candidates — because they won’t be bothered with any of the red flags as noted here. And employers complain that they can’t hire good talents.
I have a question about the portfolio. Do you expect that a person who applies for this job must have a website-portfolio made exclusively by himself? Why are you not satisfied with a no-code solution?
I think, the idea here is the design of your site shouldn’t seem like something that hasn’t been well thought about. Keep it simple yet have your mark somehow.
In the last 4 years, during my college days, I started to experiment with multiple no code tools and bought a domain on my name and settled with wix’s basic plan, there must have been 5000 revisions for sure and dozens of rejections and that’s how it took shape!
Portfolio isn’t something, you would nail in a day but a gradual process that would someday come to a standstill, when wouldn’t need it any longer.
So you’re pretty much judging this person on the visual design. Why not just call it a “Visual Designer” position then?
What about people who are stronger in research and information architecture? Do you have those positions at your company as specialists or are you expecting those skills to be in this role?
You also seem ignorant about people who can’t show their work because they’re under NDA. Not everyone is going to be able to have a public website. Sometimes people need to password protect things for whatever reason.
Also, I’m hearing that people in the hiring process hardly ever read the cover letter letters. Since you can’t get past the ATS systems unless you tailor resume, it makes more sense to spend time the time editing your resume to match the job description than spending an hour coming up with the best cover letter. That’s why you’re getting AI generated cover letters. Also, just because they are AI generated doesn’t mean the person wasn’t using more complex prompts to tailor the talking points.
Really appreciated this, Micka — especially how you broke down the 30s / 3min check. Super clear and practical.
I come from the B2B SaaS side too (though on the marketing end), and a lot of what you shared rings true beyond design — especially the tension between polish and actual problem-solving.
Also had a little chuckle at the domain name bit... guilty in my early days 😅
Interesting how most red flags seem to focus on the visual parts of design. What conclusions do you draw when someone uses a free domain or template? A designer using Notion might do so intentionally because it offers a lot of great integrations that tools like Framer do not.
Also curious how you look out for and value other skills (senior) product designers are expected to bring, like research skills, strategic insight, collaborative mindsets.
If I were on the market and read this article, my take away would be that you’re looking to hire a visual designer instead of a product designer.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts! I respect your perspective, but I believe some of these points—such as using free domains or no-code tools—are subjective and not directly tied to a designer’s skills.
Hi this article is the problem with the current job industry for designer. Look how much stuff you need to focus/work to get a job, it seems that I need to work more to get the position instead of doing the actual job.
Also the “red flags” list is hilarious, I have to pay a domain or I need to show my portfolio, even if I have projects locked by a NDA, in LinkedIn to have a chance
I was literally thinking the same thing. This is such mediocre thinking which prevents companies from hiring great candidates — because they won’t be bothered with any of the red flags as noted here. And employers complain that they can’t hire good talents.
Yeah exactly thank sharing your thoughts about it!
Hi, thanks for the article.
I have a question about the portfolio. Do you expect that a person who applies for this job must have a website-portfolio made exclusively by himself? Why are you not satisfied with a no-code solution?
I think, the idea here is the design of your site shouldn’t seem like something that hasn’t been well thought about. Keep it simple yet have your mark somehow.
In the last 4 years, during my college days, I started to experiment with multiple no code tools and bought a domain on my name and settled with wix’s basic plan, there must have been 5000 revisions for sure and dozens of rejections and that’s how it took shape!
Portfolio isn’t something, you would nail in a day but a gradual process that would someday come to a standstill, when wouldn’t need it any longer.
Crazy amount of work ahahha
You should probably say you’re hiring a senior visual designer with product sensibilities
How no code portfolio is red flag while job posting is on notion :)
Genuinely interested in understanding why ChatGPT created cover letter is a red flag?
Why is the job posting made on a notion site, and is not part of the website?
https://vidisharaj7.substack.com/. Hi everyone, If you’re as passionate as I am with creativity, subscribe to my Substack channel :)
So you’re pretty much judging this person on the visual design. Why not just call it a “Visual Designer” position then?
What about people who are stronger in research and information architecture? Do you have those positions at your company as specialists or are you expecting those skills to be in this role?
You also seem ignorant about people who can’t show their work because they’re under NDA. Not everyone is going to be able to have a public website. Sometimes people need to password protect things for whatever reason.
Also, I’m hearing that people in the hiring process hardly ever read the cover letter letters. Since you can’t get past the ATS systems unless you tailor resume, it makes more sense to spend time the time editing your resume to match the job description than spending an hour coming up with the best cover letter. That’s why you’re getting AI generated cover letters. Also, just because they are AI generated doesn’t mean the person wasn’t using more complex prompts to tailor the talking points.
Really appreciated this, Micka — especially how you broke down the 30s / 3min check. Super clear and practical.
I come from the B2B SaaS side too (though on the marketing end), and a lot of what you shared rings true beyond design — especially the tension between polish and actual problem-solving.
Also had a little chuckle at the domain name bit... guilty in my early days 😅
https://open.substack.com/pub/nikhilkhandelwal/p/the-ultimate-guide-to-call-apply?r=1yg8z6&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
A lot to take away from this. While I may have some reservations about certain points, you’ve shared a lot of undeniable truths. 💯