Before March 2020, working from home was still perceived as a questionable choice for anyone wanting to get ahead, especially if you’re just starting out in your career. Working from home was considered a coveted privilege, reserved for employees with longer tenure. Even then, such a concession was usually reserved for Fridays.

It took the COVID pandemic to break this stigma. There is no contradiction between working from home and nurturing your long-term career ambitions. In March 2020, billions of workers were thrown into a completely new way of working, kickstarting the largest cultural shift in how we work since the industrial revolution. Within just three weeks, the percentage of U.S. employees working from home doubled from 31% to 62%. Today, 97.6% of workers would like to work remotely forever after this pandemic is over and 1 in 2 US employees won’t return to jobs that don’t offer remote work.

Remote work is a flexible work style where you work outside a traditional office environment. It comes in many forms depending on a company’s size, stage, and philosophy.

At one extreme, employees may work from home occasionally. At the other end of the spectrum, fully remote employees stop commuting entirely and work whenever and wherever they’re most productive.

This article outlines how and why people work remotely, how to find a remote job, common misconceptions about remote work and the different types of remote companies.

Whether you’re a seasoned graphic designer with years of experience or brand new to the design industry, one thing never changes: interviews are stressful.

Most graphic designers spend weeks polishing their portfolios in preparation for a graphic design interview but then neglect to spend enough time preparing answers to common interview questions. Portfolios are great to show off your design skills and showcase recent graphic design projects, but in the increasingly-competitive design industry, how well you interview can be what allows you to stand out from a sea of other applicants.

At the end of the day, hiring managers are looking for the best graphic designers for the job. That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re looking for the candidate with the most impressive portfolio. The interview process is where great designers can really stand out and is the perfect opportunity to showcase their passion for the role, skills, and creative process.

Thankfully, there are some common interview questions that most hiring managers will ask during the interview process. By carefully preparing answers for these questions ahead of your interview, you’ll dramatically increase your chances of making a good impression and landing a job offer.

We’ve written this article as a step-by-step guide on how to prepare for your graphic design interview, with example answers to common questions.

“Why do you want to work here?” is a question you can expect in most job interviews.

While an answer may seem obvious, a good response starts with how your skills, characteristics, and experience can help the particular company. Only then do you talk about why you’re excited to work there.

As it’s a common interview question, there are no excuses not to prepare.

To provide a good answer, you need to understand what the hiring manager wants in an ideal candidate, which requires research. Understanding what they’re looking for allows you to personalize your answer and helps you stand out from other candidates.