Process: First I spoke with an interview coordinator. Then I spoke with the hiring manager and they gave tips on my portfolio. Then I did a portfolio presentation with a panel.
Experience: The interviewers were prioritizing visual design skills over all the other UX skills, even for a senior UX designer with over 10 years of experience. Visual design was absolutely their top priority. It was very disappointing. They really did not care about creating great user experiences. I accepted the role, thinking perhaps the culture would be different, but it was exactly the same. There is really no passion for UX here.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Describe, in great detail, your own design for a feature we will prompt you with. Do not draw it or sketch it. Only describe it verbally, out loud, while speaking to someone. (It was a pretty ridiculous question. The instruction to not sketch a design gave me the impression the manager did not know what they were doing or how to interview designers.)
I applied through an employee referral. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at WhatsApp (Mountain View, CA) in Feb 2016
Interview
Everyone, from the recruiter to the founder, was very helpful and truly interested in learning about my skill set and career goals. The process took about 2 months – initial screen, 2 phone interviews, and the final onsite.
The onsite itself was a pleasant experience. It started with a 45 min portfolio presentation, following 7-8 one-on-one interviews. Each participant had a unique skill set and asked a variety of questions. Surprisingly, not too many duplicate questions were asked. Overall, my experience was positive.
Product Designer applicants have rated the interview process at WhatsApp with 3 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty) and assessed their interview experience as 50% positive. To compare, the company-average is 45.3% positive. This is according to Glassdoor user ratings.
Candidates applying for Product Designer roles take an average of 60 days to get hired, when considering 2 user submitted interviews for this role. To compare, the hiring process at WhatsApp overall takes an average of 25 days.
Common stages of the interview process at WhatsApp as a Product Designer according to 2 Glassdoor interviews include:
One on one interview: 20%
Presentation: 20%
Group panel interview: 20%
Skills test: 20%
Phone interview: 20%
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