Tell me about a time when a client was upset with a design choice you made. How did you handle the situation?
As an Interior Designer, you won't 'knock it out of the park' with your clients every single time. This sentiment is especially true if you are newer to your career, or if you often work with one-time clients on smaller projects where it can be more challenging to get to know them and their preferred style. The key to your response is to show that you handled the situation with maturity, that you presented solutions to your client, and that you learned a lesson in the end.
Give a story-based example to this, 'Tell me about a time...' question and organize your response using the STAR interview method. STAR is an acronym for Situation, Task, Action, Result. By following the STAR framework, you will provide a detailed story with actionable information, making it easy for the interviewer to follow along while picturing you in your element.
If this situation has never happened to you, that's great! Simply share that you have not encountered this challenge but also discuss what you would do in this hypothetical situation. Highlight the fact that you would offer exceptional service by presenting remedies to ensure the client walked away with a final product that made them happy.
"(Situation & Task) When I was fresh out of design school, I was not as forward about my client approach, and my system to projects wasn't as well-honed as it is today. There were times when I thought I knew better, and I made mistakes that were humbling but also fantastic lessons. I recall one client who would not look at the granite slabs that I presented for their kitchen and bathroom renovation project. He only looked from a small sample, despite my recommendation that we visit the showroom and look at a full-sized sample so that he could see the veining variations. In the end, the client did not like the granite that we had agreed on. He accused me of choosing a style that he did not choose. (Action) I asked the fabricator and the showroom manager to confirm that the granite installed was indeed the granite that the client had chosen. We presented various solutions, and finally, he agreed to 'learn to like' what he had chosen. (Result) It was not the ideal situation; however, what I learned was that I should be more insistent when it comes to the due diligence required on big decisions such as choosing granite."
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