Connections, Culture, and Career Ladders: A Design Executive's Hiring Toolkit

Note: Welcome back to my mini-series on building a design organization from the ground up, from getting buy-in for design as a new executive to building out a successful team. In case you missed it, in my last post, I explored the importance of developing a relationship with Talent Acquisition to set the stage for successful hiring. Now, it’s time to go deeper. 

When you’re a new leader tasked with building a design organization, whether from scratch or from a scrappy existing team, you can expect to be involved (very involved) in the hiring process. On the surface, this can seem intimidating, especially if you’re building a team from nothing. The choices you make now will set the stage for the long-term future of design within your organization. 

Now, if you’ve played your cards right and gotten TA in your corner, you’ve already positioned yourself well. But what’s the secret to finding the right talent—not just for individual roles, but for the company as a whole? Let’s take a closer look. 

Connections & Networking: The best way to source candidates

Want to know the secret to successful hiring? It starts before you’ve had your first interview. It may even start before you yourself get hired! 

Put simply, the best way to source strong talent is to leverage a resource you should already have developed: your professional network.

Of course, recruiters, job portals, and other pipelines can be valuable, but in my experience, they’re far from the best way to find the right candidates. Why? Because when you have connections established already, you can remove a lot of the guesswork from seeking out prospects. 

I’m not just talking about reaching out to people you’ve worked with directly. I’m talking about tapping into second- and third-degree connections: people who know people you trust and who can connect you to people you’ve never worked with before. These referrals are likely to be more in line with your needs than cold intros, which is important for avoiding mismatches early in the team-building process. 

Take advantage of the goodwill you’ve built in the industry. Get your name out there. Attend industry events, take on speaking engagements, and expand your reach on LinkedIn. Form and nurture those connections, even when you’re not currently hiring or job-seeking. Think of this as a passive investment. You might not see the benefit right away, but when the time comes to start building a team, you’ll find that you have plenty of people to have coffee with—people who can connect you to the best talent in the industry. 

Screening for culture

When you’re first building a team, screening for culture can feel like a bit of a black box, even if you’re working for an established company. The reason is that in order to hire for culture, you have to understand the culture you’re hiring for. 

With this in mind, my biggest advice to new design leaders is to: 

• Clarify what kind of culture you’re trying to build. 

• List the values you’re looking for (such as respect, leading with curiosity, mutual support, etc.) and understand what each one looks like in action.

• Tailor your interview questions to screen for those values. 

For example, if you’re hiring for a fast-paced startup environment, you might know you need someone who can wear many different hats and operate under high amounts of stress. In practice, this might mean they can keep their cool in high-stakes, high-pressure situations (or help others on their team do the same). 

To screen for these behaviors in an interview, you might say something like: “Tell me about a time you were working on a big project and noticed some of your team members were getting stressed out. Were you able to defuse the situation? If so, how?” A candidate’s response to this question can help you clarify whether they have the calm and presence you’re looking for. 

All that being said, culture fit shouldn’t be the end-all-be-all. Building a design team where everyone thinks and behaves exactly the same doesn’t foster creativity and innovation. This is why it can help to view hiring as an additive process. Your goal is to bring in people with diverse values and perspectives who can each contribute something positive to the team. Let’s say, “culture-add” vs. “culture-fit”.

Sharing career progression ladders (It’s more important than you think!)

It’s easy to forget that when you’re interviewing a candidate, they’re interviewing you, too. And when you’re trying to attract world-class talent to a brand-new team, one of your biggest assets is the potential for career growth. 

This is why you should be sharing career progression ladders early in the hiring process. Open up that dialogue with a candidate as early as you can, and you can have a much more meaningful conversation about…

• Where they will fall within the organization

• What skills and behaviors they’ll need to bring to the table (not just for the role they’re interviewing for, but for future roles, too)

• What their career trajectory might look like

• How the organization will support their learning and development

• What mentoring, leadership, and community contributions look like within the organization

…and much more. 

When you can speak honestly about these things, you can help candidates visualize their future at the company and show that you’re invested in their growth. Don’t be shy—ask them what’s important to them in their career. Express your genuine interest in their success. This encourages them to be more open about their goals, but more importantly, it sets expectations early on. If the hire goes through, future career conversations will be much easier. 

Putting it all together

As you can see, I believe hiring and interviewing should be a holistic process. It’s both art and science—we are designers, after all! Finding the right candidate is about more than just shopping for skills; it’s about connecting to quality prospects through your network, having open conversations, aligning on values, and laying the foundation for a long-term relationship. 

The big takeaway? Don’t neglect the human side of hiring. As the one in charge of building your team, handling this process thoughtfully can have a lasting impact. 

Next time, we’ll take a hard look at some pitfalls and red flags to watch out for when interviewing. Avoiding hiring mistakes is just as important as finding the right candidates, so don’t forget to stay tuned!