Hiring in DesignOps: A Critical Study on How to Hire and Get Hired
Summary
In this talk, I plan to share my experience over the last year (April 2023 - April 2024) trying to get hired in Design Operations after being laid off from a Design Operations Manager role at Meta. I will share my stories - both the good and the bad - and what I learned from those moments. I’ll then shift my focus from the candidate experience to how we as a community can improve the job search experience from the perspectives of hiring teams and recruiters. I have and will continue to source thoughts and feedback from professionals in these roles.
Key Insights
-
•
Layoffs in design and design ops have significantly shrunk teams, with 30-40% facing reductions or hiring freezes in 2023.
-
•
The psychological impact of job loss ranks seventh among the most stressful life experiences and can take around two years to recover from.
-
•
Inadvertent 'fake' job postings comprise about 30% of listings due to internal hires or role freezes, complicating the job search.
-
•
Corey submitted over 700 applications with only 7% resulting in interviews, highlighting extreme market competition.
-
•
Preparing detailed interview guides and application trackers is crucial to manage complex, drawn-out hiring processes lasting months.
-
•
Humility to seek feedback even from candidates who beat you can transform your approach and improve outcomes.
-
•
Job hunting needs to be treated as a full-time job with a strict routine to maintain momentum and morale.
-
•
Employers should design well-defined, transparent hiring processes that include clear role expectations, structured interviews, and honest communication.
-
•
Respectful candidate engagement—such as not multitasking during interviews and timely feedback—greatly improves candidate experience.
-
•
Community support and self-care are vital for maintaining resilience throughout the stressful job hunt journey.
Notable Quotes
"Layoffs take on average two years to recover from the psychological trauma of losing a job."
"I submitted 710 applications throughout the year and only 7% of those resulted in interviews."
"The job market is flooded with overqualified candidates competing for fewer roles, often below their experience level."
"Treat unemployment as a full-time job; be relentless and turn over every stone to improve your chances."
"Being humble enough to ask a competitor for feedback changed everything and led directly to job offers."
"Don’t read canned questions during interviews; make it conversational and human."
"Always communicate next steps, timelines, and delays honestly with candidates; they will appreciate it and stay engaged."
"Respect candidates’ time and attention; don’t multitask during interviews no matter how busy you are."
"There are roles out there, but they come with longer processes—some of mine lasted up to five months."
"Community and self-care kept me going when I felt overworked, stressed, or down during my job search."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"No one hated technologists, they just didn’t know who they were because there were no personal relationships cross teams."
Husani OakleyBias Towards Action: Building Teams that Build Work
June 14, 2018
"Design Operations is a massive force multiplier on your design team—it can increase output by at least 25 to 30 percent."
Bob BaxleyLeading with Design Operations Past and Present
December 19, 2019
"Question your assumptions. What bubbles are we living in?"
Adrian HowardSturgeon’s Biases
September 25, 2024
"Sponsor sessions are not sales pitches. They offer incredibly high-quality content and are free to anyone to attend."
Bria Alexander Louis RosenfeldWelcome
September 8, 2022
"For many users with disabilities, mobile is the best experience for the job because of its accessibility affordances."
Sam ProulxMobile Accessibility and You
June 9, 2022
"Uber bus drivers in Cairo end up working longer than their scheduled shift because they still receive requests 20 to 30 minutes before their shift ends."
Etienne FangPower of Insights: Why sharing is better than silos with Uber’s Insights Platform
December 16, 2019
"A small change in the quarterly business review template led to surfacing eight new collaborative projects each quarter."
Melissa TsangFrom Insights to Action: Driving Business Values through DesignOps
January 8, 2024
"Choosing the right hill to die on is so important and so hard; the problems that matter come around again and again."
Leisa ReicheltOpening Keynote: Operating in Context
November 7, 2018
"I don’t want to make those decisions anymore. I can’t compartmentalize who I am to be successful at work."
B. Pagels-MinorBreaking the Tension: The Power of Enabling Your Employees to Show Up Authentically
June 10, 2022
Latest Books All books
Dig deeper with the Rosenbot
How can individuals develop personal constraints after leaving full-time employment to maintain productivity?
In what ways can talking to a financial advisor change retirement planning for tech professionals?
In what ways has AI increased workload and burnout among designers despite promises of efficiency?