When hiring, top firms like McKinsey value a candidate's ability to articulate a deliberate, logical problem-solving process as much as their past successes. Having a structured method shows you can reliably tackle novel challenges, whereas simply pointing to past wins might suggest luck or context-specific success.

Designers often focus on selling their craft to design managers, but the final hiring decision frequently lies with product leaders. To succeed, designers must frame their value as a business investment, emphasizing the ROI and metric impact that resonates with the ultimate approver.

New AI tools often have flawed user experiences. Instead of just getting frustrated, create a detailed product breakdown with recommendations for improvement. Sending this to the company serves as a powerful "warm intro," showcasing your product skills and providing value before you're hired.

Only showing the final, polished product makes others feel inadequate and behind. More importantly, it prevents you from building an engaged audience by not sharing the journey. Sharing mistakes, pivots, and behind-the-scenes struggles gives others permission to start messy and builds their curiosity for your eventual launch.

Designing a personal portfolio is uniquely challenging because, unlike client work with defined brands, it forces a deep self-reflection on your professional identity. This internal struggle to define "who you are" is often harder than the design work itself.

In the fast-evolving world of AI, the most valuable trait in a designer is a deep-seated curiosity and the self-direction to learn and build independently. A designer who has explored, built, and formed opinions on new AI products is more valuable than one with only a perfect aesthetic.

Candidates often fail Lovable's "past work" interview by treating it as a standard portfolio presentation. The company provides specific prep materials outlining discussion points. Ignoring these instructions and showing a generic deck is a major red flag, revealing a lack of preparation and attention to detail.

Lovable's Head of Design treats a portfolio not as a document but as a product. He looks for an immediate "gut reaction" based on fundamental design quality like typography and composition. A portfolio that fails this initial, milliseconds-long test is quickly discarded, regardless of the projects within.

Providing an exhaustive list of creative ideas, including weaker ones, often backfires. Clients, seeking safety or overwhelmed by choice, gravitate towards the most bland and forgettable option, undermining the project's quality.