Video: 30+ Interior Designer Interview Questions & Answers
Nail interior design interviews in 2022 by highlighting your strengths with this guide from Houzz Pro. Find interview questions & see what makes a great answer.
So you’ve written a superb resume and made it to the interview stage. This is where your personality can shine. We can’t stress enough the importance of preparing for your interview beforehand, so you are equipped with the correct knowledge about the company and the answers that will impress. Being prepared also fills you with self-confidence, which will come across in your body language.
Here, we dive into the common questions asked at interior design interviews and suggest some killer answers that will dazzle your interviewer. We’ll also equip you with questions to ask your interviewer to ensure the job is a good fit, as well as offer invaluable tips from successful designers in the video below.
Top Interior Designer Interview Questions
Click the links below to jump to the types of questions or tips you're most interested in.
Introductory questions about you
Despite having seen your resume, it’s important for an interviewer to get to know you personally and have an understanding of your interpersonal skills. They will ask general questions about your experiences, career aspirations and why you think you’ll be an asset to their company, so be prepared with compelling answers about your skills and interests. And remember, there’s no right answer, it's more about demonstrating you’re the best person for the job.
1. Tell me about yourself - This is likely to be the first question you are asked, so be prepared to talk generally about where you were bought up, your education, your experiences and what motivates you. Try not to reveal too much personal information, and stay focused on the main objective - establishing why you are the best candidate.
2. What is your greatest strength? It’s crucial to only highlight your attributes and strengths that match the job requirements and align with the needs of the company. To help prepare for this question, narrow down between 3-5 strong skills, such as leadership, communication and the ability to collaborate, and think of examples of how you applied these strengths. The interviewer needs to know how you will benefit their company, not what an amazing tennis player you are.
3. What is your greatest weakness? Despite this question being about your weaknesses, you can spin your answer so you focus on positive aspects of your skills. For example, choose a skill that you have improved upon or you are actively working to improve, such as using digital analytical tools to help with numeracy skills. You should also feature a weakness that isn’t vital to the success of the role, so the interviewer isn’t put off. Often this question is thrown in to observe how you respond to a challenging question, so ensure you are prepared with a well-thought through answer. If you are honest with your answer, you will demonstrate self-awareness and the ability to learn from your mistakes.
4. How does this job fit in with your career aspirations? This question gives you an opportunity to show the interviewer how much you know about their company and its ethos. Be specific about how you are a good fit for the role and mention aspects of the company and position that aligns with your career aspirations.
5. What do you like to do for fun? Keep this general with interests that make you sound rounded and sociable, but not pretentious. For example, you could mention you enjoy playing a particular sport, traveling, cooking for friends, and visiting galleries. Avoid too many personal details, the interviewer simply wants to know you are a well-balanced and cultured individual with many broad interests.
6. What is your dream job? Dream big! You can afford to have a little fun with this answer and demonstrate your knowledge of iconic architecture or a particular design era. For example, maybe your dream job is redesigning the interiors of a Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece, or it could simply be designing a boutique hotel. Think creatively and offer an intriguing answer.
7. Is there anything else we should know about you? This is an opportunity to highlight any unique and interesting accomplishments that are relevant to the industry, such as awards, media mentions and other worthwhile accolades.
Questions about your interior design background & experience
Learning about your background and experiences gives this interviewer a sense of your principles and skills, and whether you would be well-suited for the job.
1. What got you interested in interior design in the first place? Maybe a particular designer inspired you, or perhaps you visited an icon building and loved the decor. Whatever got you interested in interior design, make it a compelling answer that wows the interviewer.
2. Why are you looking for a new opportunity? If you are leaving your previous job under challenging circumstances, you don’t need to reveal all the details. Try and stay positive by sticking to the facts and staying focused on your aspirations for the future.
3. What makes you a good fit for this role? Review the qualifications and requirements in the job descriptions, and craft a response that corresponds with what the interview is seeking. Have a confident sales pitch prepared for why you would be good for this position, and offer up attributes that would be particularly beneficial for succeeding in this role.
4. If hired, what will be your greatest contribution to our firm? Research the firm so you know the sorts of projects they work on and how your experiences, skills and qualifications will fit with this particular company’s mission. Give details of two or three relevant accomplishments from your past and how you could better these contributions in the future if you worked for them.
5. What are you hoping to get out of your experience with our company? Show that you know what the role entails and how the position fulfills your interests and career goals, so the employer feels you will be an asset to the company.
6. What philosophy guides you as an interior designer? Again, study the company’s own design mission and mirror the language, extracting keywords and using them within your own philosophy. For example, if the company’s principles are focused on sustainable living and eco-friendly design projects, make sure you mention this in your own statement.
7. Tell me about a time you failed in design. What happened and what did you learn? Have one scenario prepared in your mind, such as missing a deadline, and describe it quickly and clearly, mentioning why it was challenging without making excuses. Then focus on how you resolved the situation and what you learned from the event. The interviewer is more interested in your self-awareness, as well as the problem-solving measures you put in place to prevent it happening again.
8. Tell me about a time you had success with design. What happened and what did you learn? Describe a situation where your design work provided positive results, such as increased revenue, won an award, or finished a project ahead of its deadline. Then go on to explain how this triumphant accomplishment has given you drive to continue producing successful work and projects in the future.
Interior design specific interview questions
To understand a candidate's knowledge and grasp of interior design, the interviewer is likely to ask design specific questions that help dive deeper into the candidate's thought processes. They will be looking for examples of the candidate's creativity and innovative thinking, and things that influence their design decisions. It’s a chance for the employer to ascertain if the candidate's inspirations and design principles align with the companies.
1. Choose a piece from your portfolio and tell me about it. It goes without saying that you should pick your greatest work that you're passionate about. Tell the interviewer about the design brief, how you achieved it aesthetically and functionally, and how successful the end result was.
2. Tell me a little about your style as an interior designer. Consider the company’s style and pick 3-4 adjectives to describe your work that line up with theirs. You’ll sound confident and informed, with a sound knowledge of interior design themes.
3. What do you think is the most important aspect of interior design when planning for a project? Showcase your critical-thinking skills here, and explain that budget is the most important aspect when planning a project, followed closely by time and style. Without these aspects, you have no idea of what to start designing.
4. How do you stay on top of trends and changes within the interior design industry? Avoid a common answer, such as reading interior magazines, and instead, wow the interviewer with a more creative reply, such as visiting international design shows, or subscribing to associations such as ASID and AIA to stay informed.
5. Tell me about your experience with [insert type of design here] design. If your resume mentions a particular design experience, such as working with sustainable solutions or with historic buildings, wow the interviewer here with your knowledge of this specific design area, describing a project that involved your niche skills. If the company works on similar projects, your experience and knowledge could be invaluable to the role.
6. Tell me about how you use [insert aspect of design here] in design. Again, whatever you have on your resume, whether it’s your experience with spatial planning, or perhaps your perspective drawing skills, be ready to respond to the interviewer by describing a project that utilized these specific design techniques and the successful outcome.
7. What forms of technology are you used to using in your interior design practice and how do you use them? Check the job description for any desired tech skills and list relevant ones. Be honest and only list software that you’ve used in your role, such as excel spreadsheets for budgeting and scheduling, or Powerpoint for client presentations.
8. Tell me about your experience with technical visualization tools. Again, refer to the job description and the skills required for the role, then list your experience with the tools that are needed for the job. If there are specified tools that you don’t have experience with, demonstrate your willingness to learn them in the future and develop your skills. You could even ask the interviewer if there are any opportunities to take courses or learn new skills within the role.
9. Tell me about your experience with product sourcing or custom ordering. Keen to assess your knowledge of sourcing and procurement, explain to the interviewer the systems you use to stay within budget and on track, such as budget templates and reliable vendor relationships. Go further and impress the interviewer with clever time-saving solutions you may have put in place, such as a comprehensive checklist to save hours of research.
10. Tell me about your experience with administrative interior design tasks like bookkeeping, invoicing, etc. Demonstrate your knowledge of the interior design industry beyond paint colors and fabric swatches, by explaining your experience with areas like invoicing clients and suppliers, and keeping the accounts of each project up to date. If you use tech tools to assist with bookkeeping, definitely flag these as it might be the same software used by the employer.
11. What are some tools you use to manage your time and keep projects on track? Mention the main tools you’ve used and how they helped increase focus and improve productivity.
12. Tell me a little about your interior design process from start to finish. Not only should you demonstrate here your understanding of working with a client, but also how you use your organizational and practical time management skills to stick to schedule, and your critical-analysis skills for staying within budget.
13. What would you ask a client during a discovery call? The interviewer wants to know your ability to interact with clients, as well as your understanding of the most important aspects of an interior design project. Asking a client about their demands, their style, budget and constraints is crucial at the discovery call so you can establish if the project is a good fit for the designer.
14. How will the answers you obtain from a client during a discovery call influence your design Decisions? A discovery call is your route to making a connection with the client, so explain how the outcome of the call will establish if their budget and brief is a good fit for your design principles, and whether you think you can help them achieve these goals successfully.
Situational interior design interview questions
Situational-based questions often focus on problem-solving in order for the interviewer to understand how the candidate would handle challenging scenarios and issues. Read on to discover top tips on how to answer specific workplace scenario based questions.
1. How would you design a small space? The interviewer wants to see your innovative and creative thinking sparkle, so give them lots of clever space saving solutions and color palette ideas that would enhance the feel of a compact room.
2. What would be your first step if you realized a project was falling behind schedule? The interviewer needs to know you can meet deadlines under pressure, so talk about your ability to remain calm and composed while you identify the core issue that is causing the delay. Then it’s a case of reorganizing, rearranging and rescheduling to get back on track.
3. What would you do if a client expressed they weren’t satisfied with a design decision you made? The goal here is to show how you would handle the tricky situation by staying calm and relaxed, engaging with the client directly to identify the problem and offering to change or improve the design until they are happy. Above all else, the employer needs to know you understand the importance of the client and keeping them satisfied.
4. Look around our office. What would you change about our design? Be cautious here. Don’t say anything negative about the space that might offend the interviewer, they may have designed it themselves. Instead, offering suggestions that could enhance the area and lift the mood, such as a statement wall color, or perhaps some funky lighting in the meeting room.
5. What would you do if you showed up for installation day and found that a couch did not fit in a space? You wouldn’t panic! You need to show you would be able to deal with a highly pressurized situation by staying calm and finding a solution. Perhaps you could suggest you’d hire a smaller couch while your sourced one with the right dimensions.
Top tip: The STAR method is a common technique used by interviewees to remember how to answer challenging questions thoroughly. Start by outlining the Situation, followed by the Task, the Action taken and the Result of your accomplishment.
Interior design management and teamwork questions
With this type of questioning the interviewer can establish how well you work in a team, the role you tend to take in group projects, and your drive to contribute to a shared goal.
1. Describe a time when you managed a conflict with a coworker or employee. The key is to spin this question in a constructive and positive light. Start by briefly outlining the issue and then describe what you did to resolve the situation. Emphasize what you learned from the conflict and how your actions had a positive outcome. Definitely refrain from blaming others as it could sound like you are unreasonable to work with and don’t like to take responsibility.
2. Describe your management style or what role you typically take when working as a part of a team. Provide the interviewer with examples of your management approach that suits the company and role you are interviewing for. For example, if you’ll be leading a group of entry-level designers, suggest ways you would motivate them and offer support. You could also describe examples of how your leadership skills have been successful, and highlight how your management style helped your team feel valued and appreciated.
3. Describe a time when teamwork contributed to success at work. Here, you could flag up your listening, communication and organizational skills in delegating tasks in order to create a productive team environment. A success story might be when your team met early completion dates due to good working practices.
Questions to ask your interior design interviewer
To make sure the interviewer knows you are passionate about their company and have an active interest in the job, prepare a few questions to ask at the end of the interview. It will make you look enthusiastic and engaged, and gives you a chance to highlight any qualities you’ve forgotten to mention.
1. What is the most important thing for you to find in a candidate for this role? This question shows you are eager to make a positive contribution to their company. Focus on the recruiter’s response, as this is what they will expect from you in the first few weeks.
2. Is there anything about my experience or background that I could work on to strengthen my chances of getting this role? This shows the employer how passionate and determined you are to get the job, and that you're willing to advance your learning to develop your skills.
3. How will my success be evaluated? This question shows the interviewer you are thinking long-term about how you can contribute to the success and growth of the company, but it also gives you an indication of the company’s work ethic and how they value their staff. Depending on the response, this might give you a chance to mention how your previous successes have been evaluated.
4. If I were to get this role, what would a typical day look like? This question gives you an opportunity to learn about the skills and responsibilities involved with the role and if it’s the right fit for you.
5. Can you describe the culture at your firm? Again, another question that helps you identify if this is the right working environment for you and if you’ll fit in. It’s worth noting the company’s benefits and the work-life balance.
Additional Preparation Tips To Nail Your Interior Design Interview
Read on for more general tips on how to succeed during an interview:
- Research the person who is interviewing so you have some detail about their background. Look them up on social media, Linkedin, and the company’s website. It’s important to know their position within the company so you can tailor your answers accordingly.
- Take time to practice answering the questions above conversationally and memorizing your comments. This will give you confidence and ensure you don’t sound like you’re reading from a script at the interview.
- Consider other topics an interviewer might ask you by switching out the details of a question with new details, so you can practice how you might answer. For example, consider having multiple answers prepared for questions such as ‘ tell me about your experience with sustainable design / minimalist interiors / low budget projects.’
- Whenever you can, reframe negatives into positives and express what you’re doing to improve your weaknesses.
- Do not criticize a previous employer or colleague. The interviewer doesn’t need to know, or is interested, in any details of a dispute.
- Show you are listening and have positive interest by smiling and nodding. Practicing deep breathing beforehand will calm your nerves, so you feel confident and composed.
- Keep eye contact with the interviewer, and don’t fidget or look round the room.
- Be mindful of filler words, like “um”, and don’t just answer questions with a simple “yes” or “no.
- Send a prompt “thank you” note after the interview, so you remain on the interviewer’s radar.
In-Person Interior Design Interview Tips:
- Arrive 10 minutes early to make a good impression and give you time to calm any nerves.
- Dress professionally. If you look neat and tidy, you will feel good about yourself and make a great first impression.
- Come prepared with a printed version of your resume or accessible version of your portfolio, such as a tablet or a printed version. This reminds the interviewer why they liked you and also demonstrates your proactive thinking.
Virtual Interior Design Interview Tips:
- Double check your internet connection and update your computer, if necessary, a few hours before the interview, so you can be sure nothing goes wrong.
- Even for virtual interviews, you should dress smartly and professionally and ensure the background is appropriate.
- Do your best to clear your home of any distractions, such as barking dogs or deliveries.
- Be prepared with links to your resume or digital versions of your portfolio, so you can easily share them with the interviewer. This will ensure the interview runs smoothly and there aren’t any awkward pauses while you search for a link.
- As with an in-person interview, keep eye contact with the interviewer and avoid looking at places that are not your camera or you will come across as disinterested.
Don’t underestimate the power of preparation. It will fill you with self-confidence that will radiate from you and help you to answer the questions thoroughly. But if you need more helpful hints on securing that dream interior design job, don't miss our article on How to Write & Nail an Interior Design Resume in 8 Steps.
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