Compass Designer Interview Questions
& Process

The hiring process started with a quick chat with the recruiter. Then, there were three separate chats with people I'd be working with. Mostly, they asked about design stuff and wanted me to show them my portfolio online. The last interview was with someone not in design, just to see if I'd fit in with the team vibe. It was a chill chat, nothing intense. After that, they checked my references and then the in-house recruiter called to offer me the job. The whole thing was super fast, under two weeks. I had two days to decide if I wanted to take the job, which would've meant moving. Even though that was a bit stressful, the team was helpful, answering my questions and giving moving tips, which was really nice. Good to know that now designers are remote, you don't have to live in the city you're serving, just be in the same time zone.

I had a really disappointing experience with a major red flag. I interviewed for a designer role and after interviewing with 8 people and presenting a brochure assignment, I was told I was doing really well throughout the process by the HR recruiter. She shared the benefits package with me after my final interview and checked in between interviews too many times. Then, I was given a bait and switch and asked to take an associate role with less pay despite my ~5 years of design experience. The recruiter was full of air and couldn't exactly tell me why I was being asked to take a lower role. When I finally got a response about what the actual difference between an associate and a designer is, I was told 'we delegate projects based on bandwidth not title' which didn't make any sense at all. What's the point of the title exactly? I was pretty gobsmacked by how this turned out. I was truly excited about the company beforehand but after this, wouldn't recommend them at all. To add to this, not a single designer, associate, or manager I spoke to during this process sounded excited about the projects they are working on. Everyone seemed stressed out and uninspired, which isn't surprising when you consider that they are designing variations of the same black and white monograms, flyers, and brochures for agents all day. I had to follow my gut and walk away from the demoted offer. They seem like they don't value their 100+ designers and there seems to be some chaos within the organization. The SF office is very subpar as well, I was surprised by that. It's across from Adobe's HQ and has ZERO windows. It felt very basement-like.

I had an interview with two people from the marketing team, one of them being the regional designer. They asked me some behavioral questions and some design questions about my process and past projects. Then, the marketing manager joined in. She was super inspiring and really knew her stuff, sharing a lot of amazing experiences.