Asked to bring laptop to interview...
June 30, 2015 10:24 PM Subscribe
Hi all,
I am a graphic designer and have an interview with a large company next week. The HR person asked that I fill out a couple forms, bring my resume, printed portfolio... the usual. However, she also stated I should bring my laptop.
I know it's becoming common practice to take your laptop and/or tablet when going to a tech-related interview, but I guess I'm just curious as to why they'd specifically request I do this. I don't know why, but I have this fear they're going to ask me to design something quick, right then and there with them watching me!
Has anyone ever been asked to take their laptop in or design anything on the spot? I'm really into this company and want to mentally prepare myself for such a task. ;) Regardless, I'll have to "man up" and do what I have to do, but I'd like to be as prepared as possible! Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!
- TheShmeek
I know it's becoming common practice to take your laptop and/or tablet when going to a tech-related interview, but I guess I'm just curious as to why they'd specifically request I do this. I don't know why, but I have this fear they're going to ask me to design something quick, right then and there with them watching me!
Has anyone ever been asked to take their laptop in or design anything on the spot? I'm really into this company and want to mentally prepare myself for such a task. ;) Regardless, I'll have to "man up" and do what I have to do, but I'd like to be as prepared as possible! Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!
- TheShmeek
Call this person back and politely ask why.
I bet he/she is just trying to blanketly remind you to bring everything you might need to make a good impression.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 10:45 PM on June 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
I bet he/she is just trying to blanketly remind you to bring everything you might need to make a good impression.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 10:45 PM on June 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
You will likely have a task test and they want to let you use your own tools so you aren't on an unfamiliar setup.
Ask good questions, don't try to churn out a perfect product -- they just want to see what your workflow looks like.
posted by amaire at 10:56 PM on June 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
Ask good questions, don't try to churn out a perfect product -- they just want to see what your workflow looks like.
posted by amaire at 10:56 PM on June 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
I imagine checking that you know the tools is one way to check that you actually are conceivably capable of doing whatever is in your portfolio and you aren't just some jerk showing off other people's stuff.
posted by aubilenon at 11:03 PM on June 30, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by aubilenon at 11:03 PM on June 30, 2015 [2 favorites]
If you were coming to my office we'd want you to bring a laptop or an iPad so we don't have to go get one ourselves if we need to look at some of your work online.
posted by Hermione Granger at 11:11 PM on June 30, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by Hermione Granger at 11:11 PM on June 30, 2015 [4 favorites]
Whenever I go in for an interview, I ask how to best come prepared - this would be one of those things that you could ask. In a follow up e-mail, say, "I saw that you want me to bring my laptop. Should I be prepared to show you some of my work or are you interested in having me do a short test or demo?"
Totally appropriate to ask, and makes you look like a responsible person.
posted by Toddles at 11:18 PM on June 30, 2015 [26 favorites]
Totally appropriate to ask, and makes you look like a responsible person.
posted by Toddles at 11:18 PM on June 30, 2015 [26 favorites]
A slight digression, but this is a real tip: before you go give your laptop a very good cleaning and then look at it in a few different lights, including out in the sun. I've had a few occasions where my computer looked fine at home, but then I'll take it somewhere and open it up and it looks filthy, with streaks all over the screen and gunk between the keys. Really, the difference can be amazing and you definitely don't want potential employers to think you're a gross laptop slob!
posted by Ursula Hitler at 3:16 AM on July 1, 2015 [22 favorites]
posted by Ursula Hitler at 3:16 AM on July 1, 2015 [22 favorites]
I've never asked a candidate to come in with their device, but it is really handy when they do, and have their portfolio loaded already. It always takes me longer to dig theirs up, and our meeting rooms always have spotty wifi — to say nothing of the times when I take a candidate for coffee instead and have to hope for a connection at all!
If you're curious about whether there's a test involved, email and ask if you'll need specific software installed. Perhaps you prefer to work on your desktop, so you don't have Sketch installed on your laptop, but could get that ready if needed, of course.
posted by third word on a random page at 4:11 AM on July 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
If you're curious about whether there's a test involved, email and ask if you'll need specific software installed. Perhaps you prefer to work on your desktop, so you don't have Sketch installed on your laptop, but could get that ready if needed, of course.
posted by third word on a random page at 4:11 AM on July 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
Laptops make it easy to project your work and present to a larger group of people, so that may be one reason.
I have also given interviews where it was helpful to both myself and the candidate to go back to older process work that they had on their computer but not in a presentation format, and to open up source files to see how they work.
I haven't seen anyone ask for a candidate to bring a laptop to make them do a test without some advance notice. That said if I were you I would organize your important digital files with the expectation of someone seeing them.
posted by thirdletter at 5:38 AM on July 1, 2015
I have also given interviews where it was helpful to both myself and the candidate to go back to older process work that they had on their computer but not in a presentation format, and to open up source files to see how they work.
I haven't seen anyone ask for a candidate to bring a laptop to make them do a test without some advance notice. That said if I were you I would organize your important digital files with the expectation of someone seeing them.
posted by thirdletter at 5:38 AM on July 1, 2015
I agree with Toddles' recommendation. Also, you may want to ask if they would like you to be able to hook up to anything specific; for example, my employer asks candidates to bring a laptop and requires that they can hook up to an HDMI projector (including bringing an adapter if their machine doesn't have an HDMI port).
posted by neushoorn at 5:56 AM on July 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by neushoorn at 5:56 AM on July 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
In addition to cleaning your laptop physically, I would clean it up internally - delete browser history, log out of any social media accounts, and tidy things up in general on your desktop and files.
Good luck.
posted by NoraCharles at 6:26 AM on July 1, 2015 [8 favorites]
Good luck.
posted by NoraCharles at 6:26 AM on July 1, 2015 [8 favorites]
What would one do if you didn't own a laptop? I know many designers who either don't own one or don't do any of their work on one (and, thus, don't have the requisite software on it).
When I worked for a small tech startup, all of our meeting rooms already had a computer set-up specifically for instances like this.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:53 AM on July 1, 2015
When I worked for a small tech startup, all of our meeting rooms already had a computer set-up specifically for instances like this.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:53 AM on July 1, 2015
I'd be prepared to do a quick demo when they request, say, a simple fictional logo "ok, so I work in MS Paint... the request seems to be for X, Y, and Z, so I'd do a quick sketch to see how my vision matches the customers..." and while you talk, you're mousing frantically...
posted by Jacen at 7:30 AM on July 1, 2015
posted by Jacen at 7:30 AM on July 1, 2015
In addition to cleaning your laptop physically, I would clean it up internally - delete browser history...
OMG THIS. And test it! Open your common browser and start typing each letter of the alphabet in the omnibox and make sure no...ahem...interesting websites start popping up in the autocomplete.
You would *not* believe what shows up on laptops when vendors come to visit and hook their machines up to our huge projector.
posted by JoeZydeco at 7:54 AM on July 1, 2015 [2 favorites]
OMG THIS. And test it! Open your common browser and start typing each letter of the alphabet in the omnibox and make sure no...ahem...interesting websites start popping up in the autocomplete.
You would *not* believe what shows up on laptops when vendors come to visit and hook their machines up to our huge projector.
posted by JoeZydeco at 7:54 AM on July 1, 2015 [2 favorites]
Being a designer as well, I have found that some employers are asking to see examples of your .psd's and .ai files to see how organized you are. That means everything in layer groups which can be turned on and off easily.
Showing that you use guidelines and grids etc.
posted by gregjunior at 9:19 AM on July 1, 2015 [2 favorites]
Showing that you use guidelines and grids etc.
posted by gregjunior at 9:19 AM on July 1, 2015 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: You guys are amazing - WOW! Thank you for all of your responses! I'm going to email them and try to get a better idea as to why I should bring it. Looks like I need to organize some of my files, as well. Grouping my layers is something I really need to get in the habit of doing. ;)
posted by theshmeek at 9:57 AM on July 1, 2015
posted by theshmeek at 9:57 AM on July 1, 2015
Whether it's a MAC or pc, start a new profile and put up a carefully considered wallpaper. It would be unpleasant to bring up a browser, start typing, and get an iffy autocomplete URL, or to have a recent document show that you just applied to Evil Competitor. You can bring in any favorites and make work available.
posted by theora55 at 10:11 AM on July 1, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by theora55 at 10:11 AM on July 1, 2015 [2 favorites]
To follow up on the wallpaper advice, connect an external monitor before interview day if you can. Your primary wallpaper might not be the one that shows up on a secondary display.
posted by kiripin at 11:23 AM on July 1, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by kiripin at 11:23 AM on July 1, 2015 [2 favorites]
It sounds odd to me, but I don't know. What I do know, as someone who does a lot of presentations and is constantly showing my laptop to other people, is ...
I definitely have a few Firefox browser profiles, including one called "Conference" that saves passwords so I can get to them but never keeps any cookies or browser history.
You have to use the command line to get ahold of the profile manager the first time, but it is so worth it.
If you don't create a whole new user account, do take a look at what all is generating popup alerts. Quit your email client completely. Since you have a bare and spare browser profile you shouldn't need to log out of your webmail, but make sure that any Skype/AIM/Twitter/Instagram/Pinterest/Whatsapp/Snapchat/Tinder/Grinder/OkCupid whatever alerts aren't going to pop up.
Clear off your desktop. If that means taking everything that is on your desktop now and dumping into a new folder called "Notes," do that, but don't open it to show them a jumble of random crap.
Take a close look at your background. I've heard some sincere debates about whether or not it is "unprofessional" to have a family photo as a desktop background (I think the context was a presentation, not just something your colleagues would see.) It seems absurd to me, but it is easy enough to change it and then change it back.
posted by amandabee at 4:11 PM on July 1, 2015 [2 favorites]
I definitely have a few Firefox browser profiles, including one called "Conference" that saves passwords so I can get to them but never keeps any cookies or browser history.
You have to use the command line to get ahold of the profile manager the first time, but it is so worth it.
If you don't create a whole new user account, do take a look at what all is generating popup alerts. Quit your email client completely. Since you have a bare and spare browser profile you shouldn't need to log out of your webmail, but make sure that any Skype/AIM/Twitter/Instagram/Pinterest/Whatsapp/Snapchat/Tinder/Grinder/OkCupid whatever alerts aren't going to pop up.
Clear off your desktop. If that means taking everything that is on your desktop now and dumping into a new folder called "Notes," do that, but don't open it to show them a jumble of random crap.
Take a close look at your background. I've heard some sincere debates about whether or not it is "unprofessional" to have a family photo as a desktop background (I think the context was a presentation, not just something your colleagues would see.) It seems absurd to me, but it is easy enough to change it and then change it back.
posted by amandabee at 4:11 PM on July 1, 2015 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Just an update - I didn't even need to get the laptop out! Hahaha
The interviewer was wonderful. I think things went pretty well, though most of the interview was spent trading design stories and being told all the great things about the company. He seemed to really enjoy my portfolio as well. I was four of five people being interviewed, so the decision should be made soon. Super nervous, though, because I have a bad habit of thinking the worst.
Wanted to thank you all for your awesome advice. Even though I didn't need the laptop for the interview, it's nice to know what I should do to be prepared just in case this scenario pops up again!
- TheShmeek
posted by theshmeek at 5:00 PM on July 12, 2015
The interviewer was wonderful. I think things went pretty well, though most of the interview was spent trading design stories and being told all the great things about the company. He seemed to really enjoy my portfolio as well. I was four of five people being interviewed, so the decision should be made soon. Super nervous, though, because I have a bad habit of thinking the worst.
Wanted to thank you all for your awesome advice. Even though I didn't need the laptop for the interview, it's nice to know what I should do to be prepared just in case this scenario pops up again!
- TheShmeek
posted by theshmeek at 5:00 PM on July 12, 2015
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Typically when we interview candidates (in a different field), we put them through an actual on-the-computer test, but we're not looking for them to do everything perfectly. We mostly want to see that they're actually familiar with the tools that they're going to be using, and that they ask for sensible clarifications in response to requests from us that are (intentionally!) vague.
We understand that candidates are nervous and that no one likes to be stared at while they're working, and we take that into account, both with the difficulty level of the questions and the quality of the output we expect them to produce!
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 10:43 PM on June 30, 2015 [4 favorites]