Practice 30 Design Consultant interview questions covering portfolio presentations, client scenarios, and design methodology.
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Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
As a Design Consultant, you are aware that some projects come with curveballs. The interviewer wants to know how you react when the inevitable happens. Tell a story of a time when you recognized that a project was off track, and you were able to recover the situation. Discuss some detail of the project and situation. Include what you believe contributed to the unexpected project result. Mention the action steps that you took, and then the overall positive impact. Discuss how you made efforts to align communication and expectations. Be sure also to highlight what you learned from the situation.
For 'Tell me about...' interview questions, try delivering a response by using the STAR interview technique. STAR is an acronym for Situation, Task, Action, Result. The STAR approach will help you form an engaging story that is easy for the interviewer to follow.

Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"(Situation & Task) Last year, I consulted on a design project for a clothing shop in a heritage building downtown. The owner had some pretty wild ideas that I felt my design team could execute. These ideas included massive iron displays suspended from the ceiling and a rotating display case built into the floor. Partway into the project, issues around the store's structure arose. We could not bring this clients' vision entirely to life while maintaining safety and keeping the building's structural integrity. The client did not understand the recommendations made by our architect, and communication broke down quickly. (Action) I know that there is an emotional element to design, especially when working with entrepreneurs who live and breathe their businesses. I called a meeting between myself, the client, and our senior architect. We rendered some new drawings and presented three alternate options for the client. (Result) Ultimately, the client chose one of the alternate options but somewhat begrudgingly. I knew that the client was more disappointed than angry because everything we presented made complete sense, and the issues were not the fault of anyone - they were simply due to the buildings' limitations. During this project, I learned a lot about conflict resolution, problem-solving, and the importance of outlining explicit expectations and potential roadblocks from the beginning."
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Written by Rachelle Enns
30 Questions & Answers • Design Consultant

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By Rachelle