Interview Tips For Roles Within Design, Technical and Production

Are you a job seeker in the fashion design, technical or production industries? We interview candidates on a daily basis within these areas and what’s even better; we get first hand feedback from clients after they’ve interviewed our candidates. We know what they want to hear and can give you some solid tips for your next interview.

1. 

First thing’s first; a question that is guaranteed to come up early is 'tell me a little bit about your background and previous experience’. Now this might sound very straightforward, but you need to know how to summarise your most recent / relevant experience in a clear and concise manner. Mention brands, how long you worked there, and what your key responsibilities were.

2.

The questions you will be asked during an interview will obviously depend entirely on the job you have applied to. A Designer will be asked about their artistic style, aesthetics and source of inspiration, while a Pattern Cutter or Machinist will be questioned about their skills and what materials they are used to working with.

Typical Design related questions are:

• Describe your handwriting style?
• Talk me through your portfolio and what your inspiration is?
• Which designer do you aspire to be like - and why?
• Why do you think you are a good fit for this brand?

...and typical Technical and Production questions are:

• Talk me through the development process you are used to?
• What materials and fabrics do you have experience working with?
• How extensive is your experience in quality control?

3.

'Why do you want to work for this brand?'

DO YOUR RESEARCH! This question is very likely to come up and can be a deal-breaker if answered poorly. You need to show passion for the brand, their vision and know their products.

4.

'Have you got any questions for me?'

One last tip is that no matter what job you interview for, you need to prepare a few questions for the end of the meeting. This will make you look keen, switched-on and hopefully memorable. Make sure you write down your questions in a notepad that you bring with you. These can be:

• What is the structure / size of the team?
• What is the brand vision and how would you see me contributing to it?
• How many collections do you release a year?
• What systems do you use?

Just be careful to not ask questions you should know the answer to (see point 3 above) - only ask about things that you could not have found out on beforehand!"