It was the final round of interviews. Or, so the candidate thought.

这是采访的最后一轮。 或者，所以候选人认为。

She’d spent all day interviewing in our office. As the final interviewer, I walked her out the building. She seemed confident and asked, “How quickly will I hear about a decision?”

她整天都在我们办公室面试。 作为最后的面试官，我把她带出了大楼。 她似乎很有信心，问：“我多快能听到一个决定？”

“You’ll have an answer from Jen, the recruiter, in just a day or two,” I said, trying to hide my optimism. She’d done great.

“试图在一两天之内就能得到招聘人员简的答复，”我说，试图掩盖我的乐观情绪。 她做得很好。

The next day, the six of us who interviewed her met in a crowded conference room. We had a spirited conversation about our key concerns, but most of us were a solid thumbs up to hire, with clear rationale. However, the hiring manager could not make a decision on whether or not to make an offer. Our scheduled meeting time passed, and the next group, who had the conference room reserved, knocked again on the door. As we shuffled out, the hiring manager turned to the recruiter, and said, “Let’s send her the exercise.”

第二天，采访我们的六个人在拥挤的会议室见了面。 我们就主要问题进行了热烈的交谈，但我们大多数人都坚决反对雇用，并有明确的理由。 但是，招聘经理无法决定是否提出要约。 我们预定的会议时间过去了，预定会议室的下一个小组又敲了敲门。 当我们洗牌时，招聘经理转向招聘人员，说：“让我们把锻炼发给她。”

Uggghhh, I thought to myself.

gg，我心想。

Why assign an exercise? She’s got a great portfolio, did very well at her onsite, and you’ve heard feedback from several interviewers. You need to make a decision now. You’ve gotten so much signal already, why ask her for more?

为什么要进行练习？ 她的工作量很大，在现场工作得非常好，而且您还听到了几位面试官的反馈。 您需要立即做出决定。 您已经收到了很多信号，为什么要问她更多呢？

在危机时期保护求职者 (Protecting job seekers in a time of crisis)

Since then, I’ve screened hundreds of other candidates, and became a hiring manager myself.

从那时起，我筛选了数百名其他候选人，并亲自成为了招聘经理。

As a candidate, when a recruiter has told me that an exercise is a standard part of their process, my eyes glaze over and I start thinking about other options.

作为候选人，当一名招聘人员告诉我，锻炼是他们过程的标准组成部分时，我的眼睛瞪大了眼睛，我开始考虑其他选择。

I firmly believe that design exercises are ineffective and a waste of time.

我坚信设计练习无效且浪费时间。

Now, after a luxuriously long run in a candidate-driven design job market, the COVID-19 pandemic has suddenly thrown job seekers into an employer-driven job market.

现在，在以候选人为主导的设计工作市场上进行了漫长的长期运作后，COVID-19大流行突然将求职者带入了以雇主为主导的工作市场。

Hiring managers are finding lots of top talent on the market. There are lines of back-up candidates and less pressure to overpay.

招聘经理正在市场上找到许多顶尖人才。 有很多后备人选，减少了多付的压力。

Let’s be sure to not let the flawed practice of design exercises become prevalent in an ill-fated attempt to make hungry candidates jump through hoops to compete for a job.

我们一定不要让设计练习中有缺陷的做法在失败的尝试中盛行，这种失败的尝试是使饥饿的求职者跳上篮筐竞争工作。

There are many things that both job candidates and hiring managers can do to avoid leaning on the crutch of a design exercise.

应聘者和招聘经理都可以做很多事情，以避免依赖设计工作的the脚。

真的好心意 (Good intentions, really)

为什么招聘经理使用设计练习 (Why hiring managers use design exercises)

The biggest reason design exercises have been given is that the candidates’ portfolio is missing (or has scant examples of) some particular type of work that’s necessary for the job. Typically, it’s either process work or high-fidelity, high-quality final deliverables. It could be that they don’t have a lot of mobile work, or motion design. Without those types of work examples, the interviewer cannot effectively evaluate if the candidate could be successful in the role.

给出设计练习的最大原因是，候选人的作品集丢失了(或缺少示例)某项工作所需的某些特定类型的工作。 通常，它要么是过程工作，要么是高保真，高质量的最终交付成果。 可能是他们没有太多的移动工作或动作设计。 没有这些类型的工作实例，面试官就无法有效地评估应聘者是否可以成功担任该职位。

Sometimes the hiring manager will call this out, and ask to be shown other projects that might demonstrate the type of work that’s missing. Sometimes.

有时，招聘经理会大声疾呼，并要求向其他人展示可能证明所缺工作类型的项目。 有时候 。

Other times, it’s straight to the offending email from the recruiter with, “Before proceeding, we’d like you to complete the attached take home exercise.”

在其他时候，直接发给招聘人员的冒犯电子邮件，上面写着：“在继续之前，我们希望您完成所附的家庭练习。”

问题所在 (The Problems)

提示与分配的时间不匹配 (The prompt never matches the time allotted)

Now, I believe that most hiring managers know that asking candidates to spend hours and hours of their time doing design exercises for free is wrong. That’s because the exercise instructions I have seen all say, “the recommended time spent on this is 3 to 6 hours.” Maybe 4 to 8 hours. Maybe one weekend.

现在，我相信大多数招聘经理都知道，要求应聘者花费大量时间免费进行设计练习是错误的。 这是因为我看过的所有锻炼说明都说：“建议的锻炼时间为3到6个小时。” 可能需要4到8个小时。 也许一个周末。

The glaring problem is, 3 to 6 hours isn’t enough time to execute a project that demonstrates their robust design process (e.g. problem framing, research, ideation, refinement, testing, final delivery, learnings, etc.). And it certainly isn’t enough time to create high-quality final UI deliverables. Often, I’ve seen design exercise prompts that ask candidates to produce both process and final deliverables, in a few hours! (After you’ve worked all day at your current job.)

明显的问题是，3到6个小时不足以执行一个能够证明其强大设计过程的项目(例如，问题框架，研究，构想，完善，测试，最终交付，学习等)。 当然，现在还没有足够的时间来创建高质量的最终UI交付物。 我经常看到设计练习提示，要求求职者在几个小时内制作过程和最终交付物！ (当您整天从事当前工作后。)

What ends up happening is the candidate wants to put their best foot forward. So, they spend loads of time on the exercise. All along, they’re stressed that it’s taking longer than the recommended time. Dozens of hours? Couple of all-nighters? Two full weekends? And ultimately, they turn in a project that is a shell of the other projects in their portfolios. It’s loaded with disclaimers of, “If I had more time, I would have done…” Or, “I would polish these more…”

最终发生的事情是候选人想尽自己最大的努力。 因此，他们在练习上花费了大量时间。 一直以来，他们一直在强调，这比建议的时间更长。 几十个小时？ 几个通宵？ 两个完整的周末？ 最终，他们提交了一个项目，该项目是其投资组合中其他项目的外壳。 它带有免责声明，“如果我有更多的时间，我会做的……”或者“我会进一步完善这些……”

Next time you meet a hiring manager who thinks they have created a good exercise prompt, ask them and their direct reports to complete it themselves (in 3 to 6 hours). And ask them to create a repository of bad, good, and great exercise responses on which future exercise responses can be judged. Ain’t gonna happen. They’re too busy…

下次您遇到一名招聘经理时，认为他们创建了良好的锻炼提示，请他们和他们的直接报告自己完成(3至6个小时)。 并要求他们创建一个不好，很好和很好的运动React的资料库，以判断未来的运动React。 不会发生的。 他们太忙了...

没有人有时间运动 (No one has time for your exercise)

Candidates are very busy. It’s no secret that looking for a job is a full-time job. Candidates are employees, students, or caregivers. They may be in the midst of relocating their family across the country. Everyone has busy personal lives that demand a lot of their time. You’re asking them to make time by sacrificing other parts of their lives- school, sleep, work, family time, and more.

候选人很忙。 找工作是全职工作已经不是什么秘密了。 候选人是雇员，学生或照料者。 他们可能正在全家搬迁。 每个人的生活忙碌，需要很多时间。 您要他们通过牺牲生活的其他部分(例如上学，睡眠，工作，家庭时间等等)来抽出时间。

该练习本身并非旨在获得有用的回应 (The exercise itself isn’t designed to get a helpful response)

Candidates who don’t have a clear understanding of what “success” looks like in an exercise response, won’t be set up to succeed.

对运动React中“成功”的表象不了解的候选人将不会被设置为成功。

And, with a desire to make the exercise feel light-weight, hiring managers write a short description of the exercise, which lacks any rationale for giving the exercise that is specific to the candidate. The prompt often has unclear instructions and brief expectations on deliverables. Typically, the prompt sets a little context, describes a problem, and has some open-ended questions along with a short description of what to deliver.

而且，由于希望使练习感到轻巧，招聘经理对练习进行了简短描述，但缺乏针对候选人进行练习的任何理由。 提示中通常会有不清楚的指示，并且对可交付成果的期望很简短。 通常，提示会设置一些上下文，描述一个问题，并带有一些开放式问题以及对要交付内容的简短描述。

It’s no wonder that when the exercise is turned in, you might hear, “Well, they took an approach that we weren’t looking for. This isn’t very helpful.”

难怪当练习开始时，您可能会听到：“好吧，他们采用了我们所不希望的方法。 这不是很有帮助。”

Also, saying to a candidate, “Go away by yourself, without any knowledge of your users or this industry, without any data on key business metrics, and spend several hours doing X, Y, and Z” is not reflective of how your designers actually work.

另外，对应聘者说：“在没有您的用户或这个行业的任何知识的情况下，自己走开，没有关于关键业务指标的任何数据，花几个小时做X，Y和Z”，这并不反映您的设计师如何实际工作。

为了说服他们说“是”，招聘团队对锻炼React的模样并不一致 (Hiring teams aren’t aligned on what the exercise response should look like in order to persuade them to a “Yes”)

Other common comments on exercises are, “I wish they had shown more iterations and refinement.” Or, “they didn’t include any user testing.” And, “why did they stop at wireframes instead of high-fidelity UI?”

关于练习的其他常见评论是：“我希望他们显示出更多的迭代和改进。” 或者，“它们不包含任何用户测试。” 而且，“为什么它们停在线框而不是高保真UI？”

When that hiring manager told the recruiter to send the exercise, I wanted to ask, “What exactly do you need to see in her exercise response to get you to a ‘Yes’?”

当那个招聘经理告诉招聘者发送练习时，我想问：“您需要在练习中清楚看到什么才能使您获得'是'？”

Based on his answer, I’d ask, “Do we all agree? If so, is the exercise designed to produce that? How do we know?”

根据他的回答，我会问：“我们都同意吗？ 如果是这样，该练习是否旨在产生这种效果？ 我们怎么知道？”

Everyone on the hiring team would have to be aligned on what they need to see (that they haven’t already seen in the portfolio, in the interviews, etc.) in order to be persuaded to make a stronger case to hire the person. They would need to be bought-in that the exercise will produce an appropriate response. Have you ever seen this happen? I haven’t.

招聘团队中的每个人都必须根据他们需要看的东西(他们在投资组合中，面试中尚未见过的东西)保持一致，以便说服他们提出更充分的理由来雇用该人。 他们需要接受，这样练习才能产生适当的响应。 您见过这种情况吗？ 我没有

练习的其他(而且只是简单的邪恶)原理 (Additional (and just plain evil) rationale for exercises)

The common rationale and my rebuttals:

共同理由和我的反驳：

• “We give everyone an exercise, even very senior candidates. I had to do one. It’s just our process.” If they have a strong, complete portfolio, there’s no justifying an exercise.

  “我们为所有人提供锻炼，甚至是非常资深的候选人。 我不得不做一个。 这只是我们的过程。” 如果他们拥有强大而完整的产品组合，那么就没有理由进行演习。

• “They’re young and inexperienced, so they should be happy to have a chance to prove themselves. They just graduated and aren’t working yet, so they have the time. Plus, if they don’t get a job soon, they have to leave the country.” We should respect the most vulnerable candidates the most. We shouldn’t take advantage of inexperienced or sometimes desperate candidates.

  “他们还年轻，没有经验，所以他们应该很高兴有机会证明自己。 他们刚刚毕业，还没有工作，所以他们有时间。 另外，如果他们很快找不到工作，就必须离开该国。” 我们应该最尊重最脆弱的候选人。 我们不应该利用经验不足或绝望的候选人。

• “I don’t know if they did the work in their portfolio, or if it was done by someone else on their team. So, an exercise will show what only they can do.” Telling a candidate that you don’t trust them right away is the wrong way to start a relationship. Strong candidates clearly list their specific contributions for each group project. If they don’t, just ask. And if you’re still unsure, ask probing questions to understand the why behind their design explorations and decisions. I assume the best in people, and that candidates won’t blatantly take credit for the work of others, since they’ll quickly be shown as an impostor if given the job. (Plus, can’t they always outsource the design exercise you give them?)

  “我不知道他们是否在自己的投资组合中完成了工作，或者是否由团队中的其他人完成了。 因此，练习将显示只有他们才能做的事情。” 告诉应聘者您不立即信任他们是建立关系的错误方法。 优秀的候选人清楚地列出了他们对每个小组项目的具体贡献。 如果没有，问一下。 如果您仍然不确定，请询问一些问题以了解其设计探索和决策背后的原因。 我认为最好的人选是，候选人不会公然地为别人的工作而称赞，因为如果得到这份工作，他们很快就会被视为冒名顶替者。 (此外，他们难道不总是将您提供给他们的设计工作外包吗？)

• “Let’s make the exercise prompt about a real problem we’re working on, so we can judge if they can solve the type of problems we work on.” In the back of every candidate’s mind, “Are they just going to take my ideas and use them without hiring me? How screwed up is that?”

  “让我们Swift提示我们正在解决的实际问题，以便我们判断它们是否可以解决我们正在解决的问题类型。” 在每个候选人的脑海中，“他们是否只是要接受我的想法并使用它们而不雇用我？ 这是怎么搞砸的？”

• “We have such high demand from people who want to work here, that we give an exercise before the first onsite to screen out the people who don’t really want to do whatever it takes to join us.” By not conducting a portfolio review interview before an exercise, you haven’t given a promising candidate a real chance to provide context to the work in their portfolio, to clarify their contributions, to discuss confidential projects they can’t put online, to answer questions. You’re just wasting everyone’s time.

  “我们对想要在这里工作的人的需求如此之高，以至于我们在第一个现场进行演习之前就筛选出那些真的不想做任何事情加入我们的人。” 通过在练习前不进行项目组合审查面试，您就没有给有前途的候选人提供在项目组合中提供工作背景，澄清其贡献，讨论他们无法在线进行的机密项目，回答问题的真正机会。问题。 您只是在浪费每个人的时间。

• “I can’t decide whether to hire or not. I just wanna see a little more work to be sure.” Really? Even after the recruiter screened them, you interviewed them, and the key team members shared their specific feedback? You still need more? It’s a “No”. Time to move on.

  “我无法决定是否雇用。 我只是想看到更多的工作可以肯定。” 真？ 即使在招聘人员筛选了他们之后，您也采访了他们，关键团队成员也分享了他们的具体反馈？ 您还需要更多吗？ 这是“否”。 分手后要往前看了。

那么，我们该怎么办呢？ (So, what can we do instead?)

作为候选人，您应该积极填补投资组合中的空白 (As a candidate, you should proactively fill the gaps in your portfolio)

Overall, you should get clarity on which skills employers are looking for when filling the type of role you are going after. Read lots of job descriptions. Have informational interviews with designers. Attend design industry events. (Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, you find them during breakfast, lunch, and dinner).

总的来说，您应该清楚雇主在担任所要担任的职务时需要寻找哪些技能。 阅读大量的职位描述。 对设计师进行信息采访。 参加设计行业活动。 (在旧金山湾区，您可以在早餐 ， 午餐和晚餐时找到它们)。

Here’s the difficult part: create a portfolio that demonstrates your level of competency for those skills. There are tons of resources online for how to create a portfolio. Checkout my portfolio tips for landing a product design internship.

这是困难的部分：创建一个投资组合，以证明您具备这些技能的能力。 在线上有大量资源可用于创建投资组合。 查看我的产品组合技巧以获取产品设计实习机会 。

Then, take a hard look at your body of work. What’s missing?

然后，仔细查看您的工作内容。 少了什么东西？

Where are you weak or inexperienced? Ask a friend or colleague for their honest feedback.

您在哪里虚弱或缺乏经验？ 向朋友或同事询问他们的诚实反馈。

Then get to work filling the gaps in your portfolio.

然后开始工作，填补投资组合中的空白。

Your portfolio may only have desktop, enterprise work, yet you want to switch to consumer-facing mobile products. Yes, you have a lot of skills that would transfer to mobile, but adding some mobile projects to your portfolio would remove any doubt.

您的产品组合可能只有台式机和企业级产品，但是您想切换到面向消费者的移动产品。 是的，您有很多技能可以转移到移动设备上，但是将一些移动项目添加到您的产品组合中可以消除任何疑问。

So, here’s where you have control. You can choose to spend as much or as little time as you want to add some mobile work. On your schedule.

因此，这就是您控制的地方。 您可以选择花费多少时间来添加一些移动工作。 按您的时间表。

Ideas:

想法：

• Redesign one of your existing desktop projects for mobile
  重新设计您现有的移动设备桌面项目之一
• Design a smartwatch app related to a favorite hobby of yours
  设计与您最喜欢的爱好相关的智能手表应用
• If you’re freelancing, aim for clients who need mobile work
  如果您是自由职业者，则针对需要移动工作的客户

Maybe you’re strong on design research and UX design, but lack a lot of experience creating and shipping pixel-perfect UI design. It’s gonna be tough to land a full-stack product design role. So, join a couple of hackathons where you’re the only designer and gotta do it all: research, sketch, prototype, final design, build. Or, consult for your friend’s startup where you design (and help ship) their first app.

也许您在设计研究和UX设计方面很擅长，但是缺乏创建和交付像素完美UI设计的大量经验。 要获得全栈产品设计角色将很困难。 因此，加入几个您唯一的设计师的hackathon，就必须完成所有工作：研究，草图，原型，最终设计，构建。 或者，请咨询您朋友的创业公司，在该公司中设计(并帮助交付)他们的第一个应用程序。

No experience coding or prototyping? Take some evening courses, such as those at General Assembly.

没有编码或原型制作经验？ 参加一些夜间课程，例如在大会上 。

Ideally, your portfolio will include multiple projects highlighting the type of work your future employer needs. However, even one really stand-out project can get you noticed and on your way to being hired.

理想情况下，您的投资组合将包括多个项目，以突出您未来雇主需要的工作类型。 但是，即使是一个真正出色的项目也可以使您受到关注，并在您被录用的途中。

招聘经理应明确传达角色要求并提供建设性的投资组合反馈 (Hiring managers should clearly communicate the requirements for the role and provide constructive portfolio feedback)

Writing job descriptions is hard. But clearly defining which skills, and the competency level needed for each of those skills, is critical to your company’s ability to attract qualified talent and to your team’s ability to effectively evaluate candidates- and ultimately make a hiring decision.

撰写职位描述很难。 但是，明确定义哪些技能以及每种技能所需的能力水平，对于公司吸引合格人才的能力以及团队有效评估候选人的能力至关重要，并最终做出招聘决定。

If you don’t need someone to do visual design, but rather upfront UX strategy, then clearly say so in the job description and sourcing calls. If you really need someone who can do motion design, be sure to list that.

如果您不需要某人进行视觉设计，而需要先行的UX策略，那么请在职位说明和采购电话中明确说明。 如果您确实需要可以进行运动设计的人员，请确保将其列出。

Avoid vague job descriptions that are trying to capture a range of designers from entry level to senior. Be sure you know which level of talent you’re looking for, and articulate that so candidates can identify potential roles for themselves, tweak their portfolios for that opening, and apply with confidence.

避免使用模糊的职位描述来吸引从入门级到高级的一系列设计师。 确保知道您正在寻找的人才水平，并清楚地表明候选人可以自己确定潜在角色，调整职位空缺并放心地申请。

If a promising candidate comes through with a portfolio that’s missing some key type of work, then tell them, and explain why that type of work is critical to success in the open role. Ask them if they have other projects to share. If not, give them some ideas on how they might fill that skills gap and encourage them to reapply.

如果有前途的候选人遇到的投资组合中缺少某些关键类型的工作，请告诉他们，并说明为什么这种类型的工作对于成功担任公开职位至关重要。 询问他们是否还有其他项目要共享。 如果没有，请给他们一些关于如何填补技能空白并鼓励他们重新申请的想法。

没有设计练习的未来 (A future without design exercises)

To all design hiring managers out there, I ask, “Commit to no exercises.” But first, do the legwork to clearly define and communicate the skills needed for the role.

对于所有在那里的设计招聘经理，我问：“不要练习。” 但是首先，做腿工作，以明确定义和传达角色所需的技能。

Candidates, you have work to do as well. Go the extra mile to be self-aware of your portfolio gaps, and fill them- on your own terms. Don’t give employers any reason to assign you an exercise. Go out there with your full breadth of work, apply with confidence, and join a team that has an effective hiring process and respects the hard work you’ve put into your portfolio.

候选人，您还有工作要做。 多花些功夫以自我意识到自己的投资组合缺口，并按照自己的意愿来填补它们。 不要给雇主任何理由让您参加锻炼。 全力以赴地工作，充满信心地申请，并加入一个拥有有效招聘流程并尊重您在自己的工作组合中所付出的辛勤工作的团队。

PS如何拒绝设计练习 (P.S. How to decline a design exercise)

After publishing, I’ve gotten questions about how to decline an exercise when you’re given one. First, send them this blog, and blame me. Kidding, but not really.

发布后，我遇到了有关如何在获得锻炼后如何拒绝锻炼的问题。 首先，向他们发送此博客，并怪我。 开玩笑，但不是真的。

It would for sure be difficult to do, but I believe you are up for it. Assuming you’ve flushed out your portfolio and they have an accurate job description, you can say no “because based on the job description, my portfolio demonstrates the skills that are needed to be successful in the role.” And be frank with, “I’m busy working/taking classes/caregiving, so I’m unavailable to do unpaid work right now.” Make sure you have many leads going so you can express how you’re progressing with companies that don’t require exercises.

这肯定会很难做到，但我相信您会为此而努力。 假设您已经冲销了自己的投资组合，并且他们具有准确的职位描述，那么您可以说不“因为基于职位描述，我的投资组合展示了成功担任该职位所需的技能。” 并坦率地说：“我正在忙于工作/上课/护理，所以我现在无法进行无薪工作。” 确保有很多潜在客户，这样您就可以表达您在不需要演习的公司中的进展情况。

Ultimately, it’s a great opportunity to get to the bottom of why they want to give you an exercise- you may learn about a gap you hadn’t seen in your portfolio, or you may learn they rely on one of my “evil” reasons listed above- in that case, steer clear!

最终，这是一个深入了解他们为什么要给您做运动的绝好机会-您可能会了解自己在投资组合中未曾看到的差距，或者您可能会得知他们依靠我的“邪恶”原因之一上面列出的-在这种情况下，请避开！

作者 (The Author)

Eric Burns is curious and inspired by other creatives who pursue their passions. He was most recently a Product Design Manager with a focus on the employee journey side of Design Operations: recruiting, education, and culture. He honed his UX Design and UX Research skills at frog design, led different design teams at Uber, and is currently focused full-time on being a dad.

埃里克·伯恩斯 ( Eric Burns )充满好奇，并受到其他追求激情的创意的启发。 他最近是产品设计经理，主要负责设计运营的员工旅程：招聘，教育和文化。 他在 青蛙设计 方面磨练了UX设计和UX研究技能， 在 Uber 领导了不同的设计团队， 目前全职致力于成为父亲。