Monzo Bank Product Designer Interview Questions
& Process

Got contacted on LinkedIn by an internal recruiter about a role. Everything seemed really good initially, especially since Monzo is a brand I really liked. Sadly, I had to reschedule the first call, so I messaged the recruiter directly but didn't get a response. I figured it was fine. The next available slot, about a week later, I had to postpone again because I was sick the whole week. Not great, but still no replies to my messages, which was starting to feel strange. I set up a third meeting time but still wasn't hearing anything back, so I decided to cancel due to the lack of communication. It might have been a miscommunication or they might have filled the position, but it didn't exactly set a good first impression to be ignored before even meeting, which was a bummer.

So I started with an application form where I had to answer a few questions like what excites me about Monzo, what's the best designed product I use and why, and what I do really well with little effort. Pretty soon after, the Head of Design emailed me to set up a 30-minute video call, which was super easy to schedule through a calendar link they sent. The video interview was a really nice Google Hangout with the Head of Design. We chatted about my experience and skills, went through my portfolio, and talked about a few projects. He asked some really good questions. It was so positive that I actually ended up being considered for two roles: Product Designer and Visual Designer! Then came the design tasks, one for each role. I had to spend about 4-6 hours on each, and they were pretty complex but fun. For the Product Designer job, I had to design a companion app for a physical product. For the Visual Designer role, it was to create a visual cue for an event. I submitted both tasks within a couple of days. It took about a week for them to get back to me. They let me know I wouldn't be moving on. I was bummed that I didn't get a chance to explain my design process and talk through my work after putting in so much time, which was the only downside. Thinking back, maybe I should have spent a bit longer on the tasks because they mentioned they were impressed by how quickly I finished them, making me wonder if others took more time.

The whole thing took a bit over 4 weeks. It was pretty well set up with Goodtime and they sent over a PDF with useful info about values, teams, and the org structure. First up was a recruiter call with their internal tech recruiter. Then, I had a 1-hour 'Craft' interview with three designers. The last part was two 45-minute sessions called 'Teamwork & Impact' with a Lead Designer and a Product Manager. The 'Craft' interview involved a presentation of the project for context, and then we dove into the design specifics using Figma, which was pretty cool. The 'Teamwork & Impact' interviews were scenario-based. Teamwork covered things like process, influencing, and feedback, while Impact focused on strategy, handling ambiguity, and balancing business and user needs. About a week after, the recruiter emailed saying things went well and they were looking for a team for me. That was it, and then I got ghosted. I get that companies are busy, but the lack of communication about the outcome was really unprofessional and reflects badly on the company.