科大訊飛往屆生招聘

by Tiffany Eaton

蒂芙尼·伊頓(Tiffany Eaton)

我從飛往西雅圖的最后一波設計采訪中學到的東西 (What I learned from flying to Seattle for Microsoft’s final wave of design interviews)

Before I tell you about my onsite interview with Microsoft, I applied for the UX design intern position. My experience may differ from others, but it is definitely similar in regards to the rather rigorous (and long) process.

在向您介紹我在Microsoft的現場采訪之前，我曾申請UX設計實習生職位。我的經驗可能與其他人有所不同，但是在相當嚴格(且很長)的過程方面肯定是相似的。

背景 (Background)

One of my goals is to gain experience in a really big company and work on products that have a HUGE impact on millions of users around the world. Out of the companies I interviewed with, I am writing about Microsoft because it was a very comprehensive experience. This gives me a chance to reflect on each aspect of the interview process. Though things could have gone better in regards to the interviews, I have learned SO much about myself and how to improve as a designer.

我的目標之一是在一家真正的大公司中積累經驗，并致力于對全球數百萬用戶產生巨大影響的產品。在接受采訪的公司中，我寫有關Microsoft的文章是因為它是非常全面的經驗。這使我有機會思考面試過程的各個方面。盡管就面試而言情況可能會更好，但我已經學到了很多關于自己的知識以及如何提高設計師的水平。

I have used Microsoft’s products in past and since using them, they have helped me do simple tasks effortlessly, such as a writing a paper in Word or creating spreadsheets in Excel. Through countless uses, these products have left a lasting impression on me because of how versatile and convenient they were.

我過去曾經使用過Microsoft的產品，并且自從使用它們以來，它們已經幫助我輕松地完成了一些簡單的任務，例如在Word中撰寫論文或在Excel中創建電子表格。通過無數次使用，這些產品因其用途廣泛和方便而給我留下了持久的印象。

I also saw the kinds of designers who were working at Microsoft and their recent product releases. I saw the sheer amount of diversity and cross-collaboration driving the company to reimagine productivity for a wide range of users. And this was what really made me want to work at Microsoft.

我還看到了在Microsoft工作的設計師以及他們最近的產品發布。我看到了巨大的多樣性和交叉協作，促使該公司重新為廣大用戶重新定義生產力。這正是讓我想在Microsoft工作的真正原因。

第一封電子郵件 (The First Email)

Hello Tiffany,

蒂芙尼你好

We are very interested in speaking with you more about your technical skills and abilities to continue in the interview process for a User Experience role. There are many exciting opportunities and challenges to take on at Microsoft and we’d like to talk with you about the possibilities.

我們非常想與您交流更多有關您的技術技能和能力，以繼續進行用戶體驗角色的面試過程。在Microsoft面臨許多激動人心的機遇和挑戰，我們希望與您討論這些可能性。

When I saw this e-mail, I was ecstatic. It was so unexpected and out of the blue that I thought it wasn’t real. I actually passed the resume screening and had the chance to intern at Microsoft.

當我看到這封電子郵件時，我欣喜若狂。 這太出乎意料了，出乎我的意料，我以為那不是真的。我實際上通過了簡歷篩選，并有機會在微軟實習。

I applied to Microsoft via online application with no referral and 2–3 weeks after sending the application, I received an email from a recruiter who was interested in interviewing me and sent me a link to schedule my interview.

我通過在線申請向Microsoft申請，沒有任何推薦，在發送申請后的2-3周，我收到了一名招聘人員的電子郵件，該人員對我進行面試感興趣，并向我發送了安排面試的鏈接。

I quickly entered my information and the times I was available. Now it was just a matter of time before the first round of interviews. Time to OWN it.

我Swift輸入了我的信息和空閑時間。現在開始第一輪采訪只是時間問題。是時候擁有它了。

制備 (Preparation)

Before the phone interview, I had 2 weeks to prepare so I did a little research on Microsoft, such as what they were doing at the time as well as the company itself (values, products, etc). I was also actively searching for companies and had an onsite interview with another company in which I had received an offer from, so I had a feeling of what to expect from the phone interview.

在電話采訪之前，我有2周的準備時間，因此我對Microsoft進行了一些研究，例如他們當時的工作以及公司本身(價值，產品等)。我也在積極地尋找公司，并接受了另一家我提供報價的公司的現場采訪，因此我對電話采訪有什么期待。

I looked up people’s experience with the phone interviews online (Quora, Glassdoor, blog posts) and questions which might come up.

我通過在線電話采訪(Quora，Glassdoor，博客文章)和可能出現的問題來了解人們的經歷。

These three questions are typically asked in design interviews to lead the conversation:

在設計訪談中通常會問這三個問題來引導對話：

Tell me about yourself (your background in design such as how did you get into it)
告訴我你自己(你的設計背景，例如你是如何進入的)
Tell me about xxx project (a rundown of the project; title, what the project is, contribution, bullet point version of process, results, learnings and what you would have done differently, WHY is the project important to you)
告訴我有關xxx項目的信息(項目的概要；標題，項目是什么，貢獻，過程的項目要點版本，結果，學習以及您可能會做的不同的事情，為什么項目對您很重要)
Why x? (summarize your skills, how can you contribute to the company, are you a culture fit?)
為什么是x？ (總結您的技能，如何為公司做出貢獻，您是否適合文化？)

By having a basic understanding of what questions I might be asked, I wrote them down and then bullet pointed experiences (examples of projects, situations in school or from my internships) I could talk about for each question, connect it to Microsoft’s values and convey how I could contribute to the company’s needs.

通過對可能會問我的問題有基本的了解，我寫下了這些問題，然后寫下了要點的經歷(項目示例，學校情況或實習經歷)，我可以針對每個問題進行討論，將其與微軟的價值觀聯系起來并傳達如何為公司的需求做出貢獻。

電話面試 (Phone Interview)

I interviewed with a senior interaction designer who is part of the Bing team. From some other people’s experiences, they would interview with a recruiter first to screen applicants but this was not the case for me. I believe they expedited the interview process for whatever reason.

我采訪了Bing團隊的一名資深交互設計師。根據其他人的經驗，他們將首先與招聘人員面談以甄選應聘者，但對我而言并非如此。我相信他們無論出于何種原因都會加快面試過程。

Tell me about yourself

說說你自己

After exchanging basic how are yous, the interviewer immediately asked me to tell me about myself. Because, it was such a broad question, I asked her to clarify a bit more by asking what she wanted to know about me. If you are not sure about answering a question, it never hurts to ask clarifying questions as it shows your thoughtfulness to what the interviewer would want to hear.

交換基本情況后，面試官立即問我有關我自己的情況。因為這是一個廣泛的問題，所以我要求她通過詢問她想知道的關于我的信息來進一步澄清。如果您不確定要回答的問題，那么提出澄清的問題也無濟于事，因為這表明您對面試官想聽的內容有所考慮。

Tell me about a project you did

告訴我你做過的一個項目

After I told her about how I got into design, she asked me to talk about one of my recent projects at the time. I talked about a start up project I was working on with a team of three designers to connect junior designers with senior designers. I told her about the process of coming up with the idea as well as the overall purpose of why we were designing the product in the first place.

當我告訴她如何進入設計領域后，她要求我談論我當時的最新項目。我談到了一個由三位設計師組成的團隊進行的啟動項目，以將初級設計師與高級設計師聯系起來。我告訴了她提出這個想法的過程，以及為什么我們要首先設計產品的總體目的。

Answer every question like a story

像故事一樣回答每個問題

I didn’t just talk about the project; I told a story about how my teammates and I came up with the idea, the struggles we had as a team, how we overcame it, and what I learned from the experience. By framing every answer like a story, the interviewer can relate to you better and it creates a better interview atmosphere. Here is a structure my teacher, Christina Wodtke taught my class to answer questions without having to remember a script: S.T.A.R.

我不只是在談論這個項目。我講了一個故事，講述我和我的隊友是如何想出這個主意，團隊中的掙扎，如何克服這個主意以及從經驗中學到的。通過將每個答案都像故事一樣構架，訪調員可以更好地與您建立聯系，并營造更好的訪調氛圍。這是我的老師克里斯蒂娜·沃特克 ( Christina Wodtke)教給我的課的結構，無需記住劇本即可回答問題：STAR

Situation - Explain the experience (context)
情況 -說明經驗(上下文)
Trigger - What was the problem you needed to solve?
觸發因素 -您需要解決什么問題？
Action - The steps you took to solve it
行動 -解決問題所采取的步驟
Result - Was the outcome positive or negative? (describe you learned or what you would take away from the experience)
結果 -結果是陽性還是陰性？ (描述您學到的東西或將從中獲得的收獲)

With this method, regardless of the question, I was able to describe a story of facing obstacles which resonated better than giving a straightforward answer. Interviewers want to know about you as a person and why you made the choices you did.

使用這種方法，無論出現什么問題，我都能描述一個面對障礙的故事，這個故事比給出一個簡單的答案更好地引起了共鳴。面試官想了解您作為一個人的身份，以及您為什么做出選擇。

Tell me about a technical problem and how did you overcome it?

告訴我一個技術問題，您是如何克服的？

Following the question about my project, the interviewer proceeded to ask me a technical problem that occurred in the project and how I approached it. In 5–10 minutes, I told her about the problem of validating our idea and reaching out to our target audience in regards to our value proposition.

在回答有關我的項目的問題后，面試官繼續問我項目中發生的技術問題以及如何進行。在5至10分鐘內，我告訴了她有關驗證我們的想法并就我們的價值主張與我們的目標受眾進行聯系的問題。

I then presented one solution which was where I created a landing page to advertise on Linkedin, Facebook, etc. in order to see if people would be interested based on the number of signups we gathered and from there, found a way to interview them and gain insights on iterating our service.

然后，我提出了一個解決方案，即在該解決方案中創建了一個登陸頁面，以便在Linkedin，Facebook等上做廣告，以便根據我們收集的注冊數量來查看人們是否感興趣，并找到了一種采訪他們的方法。獲得有關迭代我們的服務的見解。

In the end, I presented my findings, what I learned from overcoming the problem and our team’s next steps. The interviewer asked me questions regarding my idea, such as why was it important and even gave me feedback on next steps which I found very helpful moving forward.

最后，我介紹了我的發現，從克服問題中學到的知識以及我們團隊的后續步驟。面試官問我有關我的想法的問題，例如為什么它很重要，甚至還給了我有關下一步工作的反饋，這些對我的前進很有幫助。

Why do you want to work at Microsoft?

您為什么要在Microsoft工作？

Every company you apply for will ask this question. They want to know how well you align with the company culture and their goals, but the most important thing they want to know is why are you interested.

您申請的每個公司都會問這個問題。他們想知道您對公司文化和目標的適應程度，但是他們想知道的最重要的事情就是您為什么感興趣。

Would you work well with one of their teams? Does Microsoft have what you need to grow? Do you have skills beneficial to the company? Are you passionate about their problems?

您會和他們的團隊之一一起工作嗎？微軟有您增長所需要的嗎？您有對公司有利的技能嗎？您對他們的問題充滿熱情嗎？

By conveying your interest and honesty to why you want the position, as well as why they should choose you over a bunch of other qualified candidates will go a long way.

通過表達您的興趣和誠實感，您為什么想要這個職位，以及他們為什么要從其他一群合格的候選人中選擇您，這將大有幫助。

Microsoft is known to have lots of benefits as well as enormous brand value. I wanted to be able to go beyond the company name and really understand what I wanted to get out of my internship experience. I looked at the role as well as overall culture to have a better understanding of what to expect and how could I align it with my goals. From my research, I would want to work at Microsoft for a few reasons:

眾所周知，Microsoft具有很多好處，并且擁有巨大的品牌價值。我希望能夠超越公司的名稱，并且真正了解我想從實習經驗中獲得什么。我研究了角色以及整體文化，以更好地了解期望的結果以及如何使其與目標保持一致。根據我的研究，出于以下幾個原因，我想在Microsoft工作：

微軟正在經歷文化變革 (Microsoft is going through a culture change)

I would like to experience how they are becoming a company who focuses more on being customer-obsessed, diverse and inclusive.

我想體驗一下他們如何成為一家更加專注于客戶癡迷，多樣化和包容性的公司。

微軟不斷成長 (Microsoft is constantly growing)

I want to be able to learn in a fast paced environment which allows me to make quick and calculated decisions.

我希望能夠在快速的環境中學習，從而使我能夠做出快速而有計劃的決策。

微軟擁有許多才華橫溢且精明的設計師，他們不僅具有設計知識，而且還具有如何將設計用于評估業務和消費者不同方面的經驗。 (Microsoft has many talented and smart designers who don’t just have design knowledge, but experience on how design can be used to assess different aspects of the business and consumer)

Receiving mentorship is something extremely important to me as I want someone who is very open to giving me honest advice and feedback to grow as a designer. During my last internship, Aviva Rosenstein was an amazing mentor as she wasn’t afraid to give me critical feedback and she always was able to set time to talk to her when I needed advice.

接受指導對我來說非常重要，因為我希望有人愿意向我提供誠實的建議和反饋，以發展成為一名設計師。在我上一次實習期間， Aviva Rosenstein是一位了不起的導師，因為她不怕給我重要的反饋，而且她總是能夠在我需要建議時與她交談。

微軟一直在將技術轉移到云中，并使其可在所有產品中使用 (Microsoft has been in the process of moving technology to the Cloud and having it work across all products)

They have also been creating products which have the potential to change the way we use software and navigate through technology such as exploring mixed reality with the Hololens. With the way product teams work, there is the opportunity to work on high impact products which are directly related to another product. I want to be able to explore the different technologies and how they relate + work together as one cohesive experience.

他們還一直在創造產品，這些產品有可能改變我們使用軟件的方式并瀏覽技術，例如使用Hololens探索混合現實。通過產品團隊的工作方式，就有機會處理與其他產品直接相關的高影響力產品。我希望能夠探索不同的技術以及它們如何相互聯系并一起工作，作為一種凝聚力的經驗。

I would advise you to have a good idea of why you want to work somewhere before you interview. In fact, not understanding why you want to work at x company is a red flag for not doing your research. It wastes the interviewer’s time if they see you aren’t putting in the effort to know them and shows your lack of respect/enthusiasm for the company.

我建議您在面試之前先弄清楚為什么要在某個地方工作。實際上，不理解為什么要在x公司工作是不做研究的一個危險信號。如果面試官看到您沒有努力去了解他們，并浪費了您對公司的尊重/熱情，那將浪費他們的時間。

Do you have any questions for me?

你有任何問題問我嗎？

This part is where I had the opportunity to show my interest and passion for Microsoft. I asked my interviewer questions about my role, such as what would be expected of me and how to be a successful intern. I also asked about deliverables and what kinds projects I might be working on to understand how my skills would be a good fit.

在這一部分中，我有機會表達了我對Microsoft的興趣和激情。我問面試官有關我的角色的問題，例如對我的期望以及如何成為一名成功的實習生。我還詢問了可交付成果，以及我可能正在從事哪些項目以了解我的技能如何適合自己。

Going off from that, I then asked the recruiter about herself; what project she did in last 6 months, why she likes working at Microsoft and what she learned. It was really insightful being able to hear my interviewer talk about her work at Microsoft because I could tell from her voice and the amount of detail she went into describing her work showed me how much she loved working at Microsoft.

然后，我問招聘人員關于她自己的情況。她在過去6個月中做了什么項目，為什么喜歡在Microsoft工作以及學到了什么。能夠聽到我的面試官關于她在Microsoft工作的談話真是很有見識，因為我可以從她的聲音中看出她所描述的工作細節，這表明我非常喜歡在Microsoft工作。

I looked at your portfolio and your design work is very thoughtful. I love your aesthetic. You’ll be successful where ever you go and anyone would love to work with you.
我查看了您的作品集，您的設計工作非常周到。我愛你的美學。無論您走到哪里，都將獲得成功，任何人都愿意與您合作。

Before the call ended, the interviewer shifted the focus back to me and though she didn’t know what the next steps or when Microsoft would be getting back to me, she said some very encouraging things about my work that left an extremely positive atmosphere and was motivation for me to keep producing work that means a lot to me.

在電話結束之前，面試官將注意力轉移到了我身上，盡管她不知道下一步該怎么做，也不知道微軟何時會回到我身邊，但她說我的工作非常令人鼓舞，這給我留下了非常積極的氣氛。是我繼續從事對我意義重大的工作的動力。

Good interviews are a conversation

好的訪談是一次對話

By showing your passion in the way you tell a story to asking questions to your interviewer, it enhances the overall feeling of an interview to feeling more like a conversation and can lead to the interviewer to passing you because you are not just qualified and good at answering questions, but because of your personality (culture fit) and great communication skills.

通過以講故事，向采訪者提問的方式表現出您的熱情，它使采訪的整體感覺更像是談話，并可能導致采訪者通過您，因為您不僅具有資格并擅長回答問題，但由于您的個性(適合文化)和出色的溝通能力。

等待游戲(更多電子郵件) (The Waiting Game (more e-mails))

Days to turned weeks and weeks turned into almost a month when I received an email from my recruiter, hearing back on my results that I passed and was going Seattle for the final round of interviews!

收到招聘人員的電子郵件后，幾天到幾周的時間變成了將近一個月的時間，我回聽了我通過的結果，并打算去西雅圖進行最后一輪面試！

Good Afternoon,

下午好，

I wanted to reach out and thank you for taking the time to interview with Microsoft. You did a great job in your interview, and I’m happy to let you know that we would like to have you move on to the final round of interviews!

我想伸出手，感謝您抽出寶貴時間采訪Microsoft。您在面試中表現出色，很高興告訴您，我們希望您繼續進行最后一輪面試！

Because of hectic scheduling, the recruiter told me they had very few opportunities to schedule me for an interview during that month and I would have to wait. I exchanged e-mails with the recruiter to notify her of pending offers I had from other companies and asked if they expedite the process. My recruiter told me she would do her best to accommodate and schedule the interview earlier.

由于日程安排很忙，招聘人員告訴我，在那個月內他們幾乎沒有機會安排我去面試，因此我不得不等待。我與招聘人員交換了電子郵件，以通知她我收到其他公司的待定報價，并詢問他們是否加快了這一過程。我的招聘人員告訴我，她會盡力安排和安排較早的面試。

It is important to be very transparent with your recruiter when you have pending offers, so they can do their best to expedite the interview process and allow time for you to decide between multiple offers.

當您有待處理的錄用通知時，與招聘人員保持高度透明非常重要，這樣他們才能盡力加快面試過程，并留出時間讓您在多個錄用通知之間做出決定。

Though, sometimes this doesn’t work and you have to take the other offer, it is MUCH better than rejecting it and counting on the chance to get a “better” offer. After all, job searching is extremely competitive these days and having an internship is better than none.

不過，有時候這并不工作，你必須采取其他優惠，這是明顯優于拒絕它，指望機會得到一個“更好”的報價。畢竟，如今求職競爭異常激烈，擁有實習總比沒有好。

Eventually, I received an email to prepare for the final interview as well as the date and what to expect on the day of:

最終，我收到了一封電子郵件，以準備進行最后的采訪以及日期和當天的期望：

I have secured you a space in the next upcoming final round event, scheduled for x/xx/xxxx, and am very excited for you to get the opportunity to show your work to our broader design teams! Schedulers will be reaching out shortly to arrange travel and accommodations if needed.

我已經為下一次即將到來的x / xx / xxxx決賽活動確保了空間，很高興您有機會向我們更廣泛的設計團隊展示您的作品！如有需要，調度員將很快伸出手來安排旅行和住宿。

All of the waiting paid off; I WAS GOING TO SEATTLE!!

所有的等待都得到了回報；我要去西雅圖！！

D日之前 (Before D-Day)

I took an Uber to the airport where I took an 2 hour afternoon flight to Seattle. Once I got to the hotel, I told the receptionist I had a reservation and when she found my name, she immediately greeted me by welcoming me on behalf of Microsoft and the hotel (SO cool). She explained how the room service and food was all paid for by Microsoft as long as I kept the receipts. The cost of transportation was unlimited so I could take as many Uber or taxi rides as I wanted.

我乘坐Uber到機場，在下午2個小時的航班飛往西雅圖的情況下。到達酒店后，我告訴接待員我已經預訂了房間，當她找到我的名字時，她立即代表Microsoft和酒店向我表示歡迎(太酷了)。她解釋說，只要我保留收據，客房服務和食物都是由Microsoft支付的。交通成本是無限的，因此我可以隨意乘坐Uber或出租車。

I received my hotel key and went up to my room where I explored the hotel room. It was pretty nice and had a pretty decent view of city buildings!

我收到了酒店鑰匙，然后回到了我探索酒店房間的房間。這是非常好的，并具有相當不錯的城市建筑的景色！

By the time I settled down, it was already 3:30pm. I decided to go downtown to explore Pike Place Market.

在我安頓下來的時候，已經是下午3:30。我決定去市區探索派克市場。

Let me just say, the traffic going from Bellevue to Downtown Seattle during rush hour was TORTURE. It took me a hour to get to Pike Place Market. By the time I arrived, most places were beginning to close. In the end, I only went to a few places such as Piroshki Piroshki where they sell piroshki, fried buns with fillings inside.

我只想說，高峰時段從貝爾維尤到西雅圖市中心的交通是酷刑。我花了一個小時才到達派克市場。當我到達時，大多數地方都開始關閉。最后，我只去了一些地方，例如Piroshki Piroshki，那里出售piroshki，里面有餡料的炸面包。

For dinner, I went to a French restaurant. Let’s just say I ate pretty fancy that night with the budget Microsoft gave me. After a satisfying dinner, I went back to the hotel where I practiced my presentation. I prepared to defend my design decisions and other questions I would be asked on the big day.

吃晚飯，我去了一家法國餐廳。可以這么說，就是那天晚上我吃了微軟給我的預算。享用了令人滿意的晚餐后，我回到了我的飯店進行演講。我準備捍衛我的設計決策以及在重要的一天會被問到的其他問題。

面試日 (Day of Interviews)

I woke up at 5am to get dressed and prepare my presentation. I had to check into Microsoft by 9:30am, but I wanted as much time to present before I had to leave. The night before, I ordered room service (because free meal and YOLO), so at around 5:40am, breakfast was brought to me and after I finished eating an overpriced filling meal, I practiced 3–5 more times.

我在凌晨5點醒來穿衣服并準備演示文稿。我必須在上午9:30之前登錄Microsoft，但是在離開之前，我想有足夠的時間進行演講。前一天晚上，我訂購了客房服務(因為免費用餐和YOLO)，所以在早上5:40左右帶了早餐，當我吃完一頓定價過高的便餐后，我又練習了3-5次。

At around 8:30am, I ordered Uber and proceeded to go to the Microsoft campus. I left relatively early in case there would be traffic and there was, of course. As I was getting closer to my destination, I saw buildings. I didn’t know those were Microsoft buildings until I entered the campus, but they were was HUGE. The driver had a bit of trouble finding the right building, as there were lots of numbers, but I eventually arrived.

大約在上午8:30，我命令Uber前往微軟校園。我走得比較早，以防萬一會有車流，當然有。當我離目的地越來越近時，我看到了建筑物。直到我進入校園，我才知道那是微軟的建筑物，但那是巨大的。由于有很多數字，駕駛員在找到合適的建筑物時遇到了一些麻煩，但我最終還是到了。

I entered the building of where I would have my interviews and I got my name badge at the reception. As I was about to go into the area where all the other interviewees, I asked the receptionist if I could take a pen or two as a souvenir. After taking some pens (I took a lot more later haha), I went to the meeting space where there were other candidates around my age or older hanging around and talking. There was a wide spread of coffee, drinks and food for the candidates as well as an area to play X-Box and go on a PC. This space was where interviewees would be called for their interviews as well as dropped off to take a 15 minute break between interviews.

我進入了將進行面試的建筑物，并在接待處得到了我的名字徽章。當我正要進入所有其他受訪者所在的地區時，我問接待員是否可以拿一兩支鋼筆作為紀念品。拿完筆后(后來我花了很多時間哈哈)，我去了會議空間，那里有我這個年齡或更年長的其他候選人閑逛并交談。應聘者的咖啡，飲料和食物種類繁多，還有可以玩X-Box和在PC上玩耍的區域。在這個空間中，受訪者將被要求進行采訪，并在采訪之間間隔15分鐘。

Overall, I noticed that there were a lot of people applying for the full time UX designer position while I barely was able to find people applying for the UX design intern position like myself. Some of the people I met would be the people I hung out with and talked to between breaks. Before 10am, recruiters were greeting the candidates and giving us a rundown of how the rest of the day was going to look.

總的來說，我注意到有很多人申請全職UX設計人員職位，而我幾乎找不到像我這樣的申請UX設計實習職位的人。我遇到的一些人可能是我在休息時間與之聊天的人。上午10點之前，招聘人員向應聘者致意，并向我們簡要介紹了其余時間的情況。

作品集介紹 (Portfolio Presentation)

Once it was 10am, my interviewer called me and took me to a room where I would be presenting my work to her and two other designers from different teams. She told me that the presentation was informal and reassured me not to worry. It wasn’t specified as to what team I would be working with until after the interview. I presented for 30 minutes with a good amount of time saved for Q and A.

凌晨10點，面試官給我打電話，帶我去一個房間，向她和來自不同團隊的另外兩位設計師介紹我的作品。她告訴我，這次演講是非正式的，讓我放心。直到面試之后才確定我將與哪個團隊一起工作。我參加了30分鐘的演講，并為Q和A節省了大量時間。

It’s important to show your design work where interviewers can understand how you interact on a day to day basis and your problem solving skills.

重要的是要向您的設計工作展示，使訪調員可以了解您每天的互動方式和解決問題的技能。

They want to see a breadth and depth of different work and process. Make sure to stand behind your decisions, show that you are able learn from feedback and I think one of the most important things which may make or break your presentation is whether or not you have an understanding of is the fundamental design principals to support your design style.

他們希望看到不同工作和流程的廣度和深度。確保支持您的決策，表明您能夠從反饋中學習，并且我認為可能影響或破壞您的演示文稿的最重要的事情之一就是您是否了解支持設計的基本設計原則樣式。

At the end of the presentation, the interviewers asked me questions regarding my projects, such as clarifying whether or not I shipped product (which I did), and asking about what my contributions were for each project. They also asked some questions about my design decisions in which they didn’t ask too much in detail, just a lot of general questions regarding my technical skills and process. Overall, they wanted to know the outcome, the tradeoffs of WHY I did something and how was that beneficial to solving the problem, rather than the WHAT.

在演示的結尾，面試官問我有關我的項目的問題，例如澄清我是否發貨(我做了)，以及詢問我對每個項目的貢獻。他們還問了一些有關我的設計決策的問題，其中沒有詳細詢問，只是有關我的技術技能和Craft.io的許多一般性問題。總體而言，他們想知道結果，為什么要做一些事情的權衡以及對解決問題有什么好處，而不是什么。

午餐 (Lunch)

After the portfolio review, we had a hour left until lunch, so I chatted with people I met in the morning. The time in-between interviews is a great opportunity to network with other people, especially when the candidate pool for big companies is high and extremely competitive. I was able to meet super passionate and talented designers.

在對作品集進行審查之后，我們還有一個小時才到午餐，所以我和早上遇到的人聊天。面試之間的時間是與其他人建立聯系的絕好機會，尤其是在大公司的候選人池很高且極具競爭力的情況下。我遇到了超級熱情和才華橫溢的設計師。

The design industry is small, so by connecting with the people you meet, chances are, you’ll probably meet them again

設計行業很小，因此通過與您遇到的人建立聯系，機會很可能會再次遇到他們

At 12pm, a recruiter and some employees came and led us to the cafeteria to get food. The cafeteria was HUGE. It was like a mall, where there was a plethora of food choices as well as other stores in it. The food isn’t free, but it is subsidized. We received a meal card to purchase food with and if we wanted more food, we could get more cards. My new friend and I ordered Thai food and it was pretty good in terms of size and quality! There was no lunch interview with your interviewers like in some other people’s experiences, but instead, candidates and some of the employees ate together.

下午12點，一名招聘人員和一些員工來了，并帶我們到自助餐廳領取食物。自助餐廳很大。就像一個購物中心，那里有很多食物選擇以及其他商店。食物不是免費的，而是有補貼的。我們收到了一張飯卡，用來購買食物，如果我們想要更多的食物，我們可以得到更多的飯卡。我和我的新朋友點了泰國菜，而且在大小和質量上都還不錯！沒有像其他人的經歷那樣與面試官進行午餐面試，而是候選人和一些員工一起吃飯。

After lunch, we went back the interview building and waited until our first interviewer came to pick us up individually.

午餐后，我們回到面試大樓，等到我們的第一個面試官來接我們。

Every interview was different in regards to the structure and the kind of questions I received. Because it won’t be fair to the interviewers, I will not disclose specific questions as they were unique to my interview or the people who interviewed onsite.

每次面試在結構和我收到的問題方面都是不同的。因為這對訪問者不公平，所以我不會透露特定的問題，因為它們是我的訪問或現場訪問者所特有的。

第一次面試 (1st Interview)

In the first interview, my interviewer asked me to describe a team project and how I contributed to it. I went to my website to show her one of my pieces where I described to her my role as a leader of the group and each part of the process. I could have described how I specifically contributed to each step but I did not. The next part of the interview was to a whiteboard challenge where I had to design an improved experience for an app. From here, I asked clarifying questions to understand the problem better as well as talked about my design out loud.

在第一次面試中，我的面試官要求我描述一個團隊項目以及我對該項目的貢獻。我訪問了我的網站，向她展示了我的作品之一，向她介紹了我作為小組負責人的角色以及過程的每個部分。我可以描述我是如何為每個步驟做出具體貢獻的，但是我沒有。采訪的下一部分是白板挑戰，我必須為應用設計更好的體驗。從這里開始，我問了一些澄清問題，以更好地理解問題，并大聲談論了我的設計。

I framed the process like this: problem, user, value of product, persona (assuming i had research insights), mapping out current experience, finding pain points and opportunities and brainstorming key features. This process does not apply to every problem but based on the information I was given and being able to brainstorm different solutions in the time given.

我將流程設計為：問題，用戶，產品價值，角色(假設我有研究見解)，規劃當前經驗，找到痛點和機會并集思廣益。 此過程并不適用于所有問題，但基于我得到的信息，并能夠在給定的時間內集體討論不同的解決方案。

Everyone has a different design process depending on the context you are given and being able to show your framework of analyzing the problem is more beneficial than solving the problem

每個人都有不同的設計過程，具體取決于您所獲得的上下文，并且能夠展示您的問題分析框架比解決問題更有益

After the exercise, the interviewer asked “Do you have questions for me?” and I asked her questions about her role and what would be expected of me. I would say this interview ended on a pretty good note and we left the conference room to go back to the waiting room.

演習結束后，面試官問：“您有問題要問我嗎？” 我問她有關她的角色以及對我的期望的問題。我想說這次采訪的結果很好，我們離開了會議室回到等候室。

第二次面試 (2nd Interview)

The second interview was probably one of the most “casual”, but challenging interviews I had. At first the interviewer asked if I had questions for him and then when I was done, I was ultimately given one extremely open-ended question which would then be used to ask other questions.

第二次采訪可能是我最“隨意”但最具挑戰性的采訪之一。最初，面試官問我是否有關于他的問題，然后當我完成后，我最終得到一個非常開放的問題，然后將其用于提出其他問題。

Along with the one open-ended question and the questions relating to that, the interviewer asked me to show a project that was related to my design statement, why I wanted to intern at Microsoft and how did they align with my goals. I explained how I wanted to able to work with a wide range of different designers and people from different backgrounds as well as the mentorship. I also talked about wanting to work on products which have an impact on many people and being able to create new meanings and uses through the continued use of their products. The interview ended with me asking questions to my interviewer in which some of the questions were a little unrelated to my role or the interviewers role.

除了一個不限成員名額的問題以及與此相關的問題之外，面試官還要求我展示一個與我的設計聲明相關的項目，為什么我要在Microsoft實習以及他們如何與我的目標保持一致。我解釋了我如何能夠與來自不同背景和背景的眾多不同設計師和人員一起工作。我還談到了希望開發對許多人有影響的產品，并希望通過持續使用他們的產品來創造新的意義和用途。面試結束時，我向面試官提出了一些問題，其中有些問題與我的角色或面試官的角色無關。

What kind of designer am I?

我是什么樣的設計師？

I believe the overall interview could have been better in that I do more research on the company, read more on design in general and the most important thing, think about what kind of designer I am. What problems do I want to solve? What are my strengths? I still don’t quite know what I want to do specifically and how I could use my strengths to contribute to what the company is currently doing. Also thinking thoroughly about the questions I was given and asking clarifying questions before answering would be something to do moving forward.

我認為總體面試會更好，因為我對公司進行了更多研究，了解了一般的設計，也是最重要的事情，請考慮一下我是什么樣的設計師。我想解決什么問題？我的優勢是什么？我仍然不太清楚我想具體做什么，以及如何利用自己的優勢為公司目前的工作做出貢獻。還要仔細考慮我所給的問題，并在回答之前問清楚問題，這是向前邁進的事情。

第三次采訪 (3rd Interview)

The third interviewer was focused on my technical skills as a designer. I was asked what my strengths and weaknesses are, the kinds of tools I used and what my design style was. I provided examples to products related to my style and why they were successful in doing what they do. We then talked about design trade offs, where the interviewer used my example of a design feature I mentioned before and presented a problem with a particular design feature. I was to provide alternatives around the problem and I answered with examples of other UI features I remembered through research and use of apps.

第三位面試官專注于我作為設計師的技術技能。我被問到我的長處和短處是什么，我使用的工具種類和設計風格是什么。我提供了一些與我的風格有關的產品示例，以及它們為何成功完成了自己的工作。然后，我們討論了設計權衡問題，在這種情況下，訪問員使用了我之前提到的設計功能示例，并提出了特定設計功能的問題。我將提供解決問題的替代方法，并回答了一些我通過研究和使用應用程序而記得的其他UI功能的示例。

The other interviewers and I really want to know: Do you want to focus on more UX research or UX design in the future?

我和其他面試官真的很想知道：您是否希望將來專注于更多的UX研究或UX設計？

This question was really important as it showed how much I must have emphasized my research work to the point where it sounded like I was applying for the UX research intern position instead. It also made me realize I might not have been clear on my UX strengths and what problems I was passionate solving for.

這個問題真的很重要，因為它表明我必須在研究工作中強調多少，以至聽起來好像我正在申請UX研究實習職位。這也使我意識到我可能還不清楚自己的UX優勢以及我熱衷于解決哪些問題。

After this question, I was asked on what products I would like to work on and if I had any questions for my interviewer.

在問完這個問題之后，我被問到我想使用哪種產品，以及對面試官是否有任何疑問。

Despite how good the conversation is with your interviewer, you are in an extremely professional situation where it is make or break.

盡管與您的面試官的交談非常愉快，但您處于極其成敗的局面。

Overall, I think I did a pretty good job on being able to explain my technical skills, but I definitely need to look at the job description more, highlight my strengths better with regards to UX and how that was conveyed through my design work. I made a little mistake where I felt too comfortable with the interviewer and ended up asking a question that was not related to the job or Microsoft AT ALL and also asking a question about how I didn’t know about one of their products.

總的來說，我認為我在解釋自己的技術技能方面做得很好，但是我絕對需要多看一下工作說明，更好地強調我在UX方面的優勢以及如何通過我的設計工作來傳達這一點。當我對面試官感到太自在時，我犯了一個小錯誤，最終提出了一個與工作或Microsoft AT ALL無關的問題，還問了一個關于我不知道他們的產品的問題。

After the interview was done, I was sent to the waiting room where the interviewer told me I would receive an e-mail with the results in the next week or two.

面試結束后，我被送到候診室，面試官告訴我，下一周或兩周內我將收到一封包含結果的電子郵件。

面試后 (After Interviews)

My new friends and I went downtown to explore Seattle. We met my friend’s friend where she took us to a Japanese restaurant and gave us a list of where to explore after dinner.

我和我的新朋友去市區探索西雅圖。我們遇到了我朋友的朋友，她帶我們去了一家日本餐廳，并給了我們晚餐后去哪里旅游的清單。

After dinner, we went for ice cream, drove to the Starbucks Reserve, Space Needle and then to Kerry Park where we saw the beautiful skyline of the city. We definitely bonded through our passion for design and I think being able to meet them was one of the best parts of the interview experience.

晚餐后，我們去吃冰淇淋，驅車前往星巴克自然保護區，太空針塔，然后前往凱里公園，在那里我們看到了城市的美麗天際線。我們絕對對設計充滿熱情，我認為能夠滿足他們是面試體驗中最好的部分之一。

We have kept in contact since that day and I believe we will all see each other soon.

自那天以來我們一直保持聯系，我相信我們很快就會見面。

我要完成的目標 (What I aimed to accomplish)

I had small goals where I wanted to make connections with new people, understand Microsoft better in terms of employees and the culture, presenting confidently, answering questions and understanding the overall interview process. I can say I met all of those goals and that I have improved more from them than if I were just aiming for the job.

我的目標很渺小，我想與新朋友建立聯系，在員工和文化方面更好地了解Microsoft，自信地發表意見，回答問題并理解整個面試過程。我可以說我實現了所有這些目標，并且與僅僅以工作為目標相比，我從這些目標中得到了更大的進步。

Never think about how SURE you are going to get the job until you get it.

在獲得這份工作之前，請不要考慮如何確定要獲得這份工作。

Job hunting and getting the job is an extremely competitive process so even when you do get a job, definitely do not take it for granted. I was originally going to decline all of my other offers for Microsoft, but as a student, the internship doesn’t matter too much as long as you get one, and despite getting so far into the process, there was no guarantee I would get the job in the first place. In the end, it is more important to learn from the opportunity you are presented with rather than dropping it all to chase one.

尋找工作和獲得工作是一個極度競爭的過程，因此即使您確實找到了工作，也絕對不要認為這是理所當然的。我原本打算拒絕所有其他對Microsoft的錄取通知書，但是作為一名學生，只要您能獲得一份實習機會，實習就沒什么大不了的，盡管過程如此深入，但無法保證我會得到首先是工作。最后，重要的是要從出現的機會中學習，而不是全力以赴。

學問 (Learnings)

微軟在西雅圖的巨大影響力 (Huge presence of Microsoft in Seattle)

When Uber/taxi drivers asked me what I was doing in Seattle and I said I had an interview, they immediately assumed it was Microsoft.

當Uber /出租車司機問我在西雅圖做什么時，我說我接受了采訪，他們立即認為是微軟。

公司本身 (The company itself)

Microsoft still feels quite corporate despite being in the process of changing their culture. When I talked to my interviewers and the emails I received from multiple recruiters, I could definitely feel an bureaucratic vibe where people often move in-between the ladder to make decisions, which is probably why the interview process with Microsoft was so slow.

盡管微軟正在改變他們的文化，但微軟仍然感覺很堅定。當我與面試官交談以及我從多名招聘人員那里收到的電子郵件時，我肯定會感覺到官僚主義的氛圍，人們經常在階梯之間移動以做出決定，這可能就是為什么與Microsoft進行面試的過程如此緩慢的原因。

驚人的候選人 (Amazing pool of candidates)

Because Microsoft is a huge company, it attracts top talent. I was able to meet people doing amazing things and having a big penchant for design. I feel so thankful to have met my new friends and they are definitely people I look up to for feedback or advice because they have had lots of experience and are not afraid to share their tips. Being apart of a open, growing community where people encourage each other feels so amazing and I want to be a person who people can come to for help or encouragement. There is no need to create competition amongst your peers if no one is able to learn and grow from one another .As a designer, it is not all about you, but the community you surround yourself with and the ability to create relationships with others.

因為微軟是一家大公司，所以它吸引了頂尖人才。我能夠結識一些人，他們做著令人驚奇的事情，并對設計充滿了興趣。我很高興認識新朋友，他們肯定是我期待得到反饋或建議的人，因為他們有很多經驗，并且不怕分享自己的建議。在一個開放的，不斷發展的社區中，人們相互鼓勵感到非常驚奇，我想成為一個可以得到人們幫助或鼓勵的人。如果沒有人能夠相互學習和成長，則無需在同行之間進行競爭。作為設計師，這不僅關乎您，還關乎您周圍的社區以及與他人建立關系的能力。

準備工作很漫長 (Preparation goes a long way)

I prepared a few weeks before the interview and that really helped me be calm and composed during the interviews, as well as have a better understanding of who I was as a designer through my work and how to express that.

我在面試前幾周做了準備，這確實幫助我在面試過程中保持鎮定自若，并通過我的作品更好地了解了我作為設計師的身份以及表達方式。

西雅圖交通不暢 (Seattle has bad traffic)

The one thing I did not enjoy too much during the trip was the traffic. It was hard to get anywhere on time unless you planned accordingly in which I learned to do after the first day of my trip.

我在旅途中沒有過分享受的一件事就是交通。除非您做出相應的計劃，否則我很難準時到達目的地，這是我旅行第一天后就學會的事情。

帶走 (Takeaway)

Overall, I learned lot about the interview process, made new connections with employees and friends, and opened new opportunities for my career. In the end, the most important thing for me was having fun during the process and enjoying my trip.

總體而言，我對面試過程了解很多，與員工和朋友建立了新的聯系，并為我的職業生涯打開了新的機會。最后，對我來說最重要的是在此過程中獲得樂趣并享受我的旅行。

最后的想法 (Final Thoughts)

Getting to your dream or goal is a process. It doesn’t always happen right away but eventually if you put your mind to it, along with determination, hard work and luck, you’ll get there, one way or another. You might just not get there now.

實現夢想或目標是一個過程。它并不總是立即發生，但是最終，如果您全神貫注，再加上決心，努力和運氣，您會以一種或另一種方式到達那里。您可能現在還沒到那里。

My Microsoft experience was a learning opportunity and the main goal was to have fun, keep an open mind to learn and constantly be curious. Even if I don’t get the offer, there is still so much for me to improve on instead of being complacent where I am. I am really grateful to Microsoft for giving me the opportunity to notice my potential and challenge myself, as well as being able to interview in a company I admire so much and would want to work for in the future.

我在Microsoft的經歷是一次學習的機會，其主要目標是獲得樂趣，保持開放的態度進行學習并不斷好奇。即使我沒有得到報價，我仍有很多需要改進的地方，而不是對自己所在的地方感到沾沾自喜。我非常感謝Microsoft給我機會，讓我注意到自己的潛力并挑戰自己，并能夠在我非常佩服并且希望在未來工作的公司中進行面試。

如果您對設計有任何疑問，請在LinkedIn上給我發消息，我會寫信給您！ (If you have any questions about design, message me on LinkedIn and I’ll write about it!)

為了幫助您開始擁有自己的設計事業，這里有一些Rookieup的出色工具，我曾經從該網站獲得高級設計師的指導： (To help you get started on owning your design career, here are some amazing tools from Rookieup, a site I used to get mentorship from senior designers:)

Build a portfolio with help from an experienced designer
在經驗豐富的設計師的幫助下建立投資組合
Essential tools to strengthen and build your portfolio
加強和建立您的投資組合的基本工具
Take control of your time and career by becoming a freelancer
成為自由職業者，掌控自己的時間和職業
Tips and tricks to get an amazing design job
獲得出色設計工作的提示和技巧

鏈接到其他一些很酷的讀物： (Links to some other cool reads:)

A Commentary on Brand Perception (Uber vs. Reality)
品牌認知度評論(優步與現實)
How to turn Rejection into Success (So you didn’t get your dream job)
如何將拒絕變成成功(所以您沒有得到夢想的工作)