The portfolio presentation that got me hired as a design manager

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As many of you may know, I recently left my senior designer job, and I’ve started a new opportunity as a design manager.
After 5 years of being an individual contributor designer, I was ready to take on a new challenge. Management has always been an area I wanted to grow into, and I was pretty nervous about applying for a manager role and not having any management experience. Regardless, it didn’t stop me from actually applying to these jobs, interviewing and landing a new role 🤗
In this video, I’ll walk you through the portfolio that got me hired as a design manager.
Enjoy!
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//LINKS
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//TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - My background
01:15 - Intro
01:29 - Shout out to Superpeer
01:41 - Interview process for a design manager role
02:42 - More efficient and productive design workflows with Setapp
04:47 - Intro slide and agenda
05:40 - Outlining my experience
06:25 - Influence as an IC
07:33 - Influence as a coach
09:18 - My principles
10:02 - My process
10:21 - Project highlights
11:34 - Presenting the case studies
12:25 - The final pitch
14:38 - Outro
// MORE
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//GET STARTED IN UX
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[@AntoniaMarcella]

Thanks so much for sharing this Femke! You’ve literally reinforced everything I have been considering when applying for this level and showing it can work even without multiple years of management experience. Congratulations on your new design manager role, so well deserved!

[@femkedesign]

Thanks so much!!

[@justmehhl]

This is awesome Femke!! Been following you and seeing your growth into a Manager Level role really inspires me. Great Job and congratulations!

[@PedroMarques]

This is awesome! Presenting yourself as a leader gets harder the more you develop into the craft, this is something I talk to people a lot about... Managers, Directors, VPs... everyone struggles at this

[@starogre]

yeah it's hard to balance between craft, strategy, leadership/people skills. you can lead by example and having amazing craft. or lead by enabling teams to upgrade and perform better, etc etc

[@nikeadesanoye6702]

You’re amazing…. the last 3 slides is something new that I learnt here and I love it. Thank you so much FemKe for all that you do for the design space

[@femkedesign]

Thanks for watching Nike!

[@SPOONKRUST]

Total gold. Thank you!

[@hollympriest]

Literally amazing as always. So inspiring how you approach things differently and creatively!

[@femkedesign]

Thank you so much!

[@mytrung]

Thanks as always for sharing your work with us!

[@femkedesign]

yay you're welcome!!

[@vintage21]

Congrats on your new gig! Ive been on the hunt myself and your videos have been helping me get through the many rounds of interviews 🥵

[@femkedesign]

Good luck!

[@MANJEETCHAURASIA]

Very helpful, learnt lot from here! Thanks for creating

[@raphaelworotikan]

This is so helpful! Thanks Femke.

[@user-cu2zq9kb6k]

Femke you are amazing. Thank you 🎊

[@chiv7002]

Congrats on your new role as a Manager! This video is super insightful, especially the last 3 slides. Wondering how you share the work initially with companies. Do you share the work via an online portfolio, a different variant of the presentation deck or a PDF version of it?

[@damiojetunji]

Congratulations on this role, Femke! Thank you for sharing such insightful tips 👏🏾👏🏾

[@femkedesign]

Thank you so much!!

[@romanlanda]

Thank you for sharing Femke! This is very helpful!

[@femkedesign]

Glad it was helpful!

[@uxtshili]

Great video! I will definitely be putting these tips into practice. Thank you

[@femkedesign]

Glad it was helpful!

[@AbdulWahab-pk4jx]

This is great thanks for making it 😊

[@femkedesign]

Thank youuuu

[@fromlovejenn]

Congratulations Femke! Thank you for documenting your journey and sharing your experience. And of course, good luck in your new role!! P.S. you inspired me to create my youtube channel

[@femkedesign]

Thanks! Congrats on the launch of your channel!!!

[@secession77]

THANK YOU so much for sharing this. This helps me with my mental breakdown as I struggle with getting the job despite having 6 years of experience 😢

[@femkedesign]

Aw no! That sounds rough. Sorry to hear that but glad this video helps!

[@cupboardseven]

super useful! Thanks a lot for the great content😊

[@femkedesign]

You're welcome!

[@underscoreroa]

Great work on delivering a great breakdown of your presentation! One q - when submitting the initial application, most posts ask for a link to your portfolio. Do you send the deck you share here as well as links to the Figma file? TIA and congratulations on the new role!!!

[@RajivNarayanan]

Awesome video. Really helpful to create my own presentation. Thank you!❤❤❤❤😊😊

[@femkedesign]

You are so welcome!

[@leonardopanhan]

This is awesome! Great content, Femke! Question, would you use this file also to send on your application or only use it on the portfolio review phase?

[@lexvalishvili]

Brilliant work and well deserve position 👏

[@femkedesign]

Thanks so much Lex!

[@Camimorales97]

The feedback slide is such a good idea! Thanks a lot!

[@femkedesign]

You're welcome!

[@TotallyHonestReviews]

Hi Femke, I really like this video. Were you ever asked to send some of your case studies to the company before the interview with them? If so, do you usually send them in the same format as in this portfolio presentations you show to us or do you send something different? 🙂

[@carovillah]

Thank you for this video! I really like how you managed to design this experience for your interviewers. It is practical, clear and represents your personal touch of warm and joy. I have a question: What role would let a designer keep creating designs and also stay closer to the development process of it in the frontend dev area? Does that exists? I am curious.

[@agadil_08]

Huuge thanks! 🙏🏾 Very helpful

[@femkedesign]

Glad it helped!

[@walterchidike6394]

Thank you so much for this❤️

[@femkedesign]

You're welcome!!!

[@MrConway007]

Great video Femke,excellent quality content - as always! Honest question though, does it matter if I personally never want to become a manager and always want to remain a senior UX/UI designer even in my 40s and 50s? and beyond

[@m1y912]

Hey Femke, thanks for sharing such a great video!! Can you share if you applied for the job with a website portfolio/resume or is this the only design slide deck you shared with the recruiter? Thank you!

[@paritejdan]

Congrats 🍾

[@femkedesign]

Thanks Pari!

[@daviktran4742]

Thanks for sharing your perfect experience ^^

[@femkedesign]

Of course :)

[@rimpybhatia1395]

Hi. Thanks a lot for sharing your presentation work. While creating a portfolio as a design manager, I was wondering how that would that differ from a designer portfolio. You answered all my questions. Your work & presentation is awesome by the way !

[@jaloliddinesonboyev]

Great Femke!

[@egbeyemiridwan7389]

Awesome!

[@sachin.animusical]

Hi Femke, v informative video :). Few questions... Where did you design your entire presentation? If it was Figma, in which format did you share your portfolio with the recruiters? Was it a PDF or a ppt?

[@SamanehShirzad]

Hiii was learning so much from you Femke! When you show high-level overview of all your projects - do you think of changing step 2 with step 3? I think before setting a persona we can't know about the principle. or in the other way could you more explain the principle?

[@aloysiofranca]

I logo your vídeos. I learn a lot!

[@mingchenye]

Thank you so much for sharing this! What font do you use for your presentation? It looks super nice and clean!

[@femkedesign]

Sofia pro!

[@elazaryoo7521]

wow...thank you for sharing your brilliant job! and I was wondering what is the font in your portfolio??

[@shimingxiao8811]

Hi Femke, thanks for sharing!! Your UX videos are always helpful!! When you send google forms for feedback, do you have any suggestion about how to ask for feedback effiently? Or could you please share your structure of asking for feedback? Thanks so much!

[@mikeparkerf3]

Thank you so much, im a SR really hoping to grow into a management role so this is super valuable! Are you ever available on something like ADPlist or any mentoring sessions? Id pay

[@femkedesign]

Yes! Here: superpeer.com/femke

[@user-lo2hv3kv7m]

Please tell us about the process of creating personas, what they are for and how to use them in general)))

[@femkedesign]

I will in my upcoming course! Join the waitlist here: airtable.com/shromw20hDOiouHyB

[@starogre]

Thanks a bunch for this, very helpful! I organized a few of my slides the same as yours - in terms of columns with text under each element. I got some feedback saying it's too much text on the single slide to digest. Have you gotten similar feedback before? Are you presenting yours by summarizing quickly, or reading the exact text on the slide to help the viewer?

[@femkedesign]

I haven't had that feedback - I never read the slides word for word. I tell the story in my own way, not by reading out the slides.

[@spanish2succeed445]

Great content and your videos are so engaging. What tools do you use to create your videos? ( 5:58, 8:12 and 9:35) I am starting a course to become a Instructional Design and I would love to create a demo for my portfolio. Thank a lot :)

[@TheShrestha01]

Hey, would you say this would be the file or the format in which you'd be sharing your portfolio in, when you initially apply? Or is this another version you created after bagging the interview?

[@masha3365]

Learning so much from you Femke¡ When you show high level overview of all your projects - what if they ask you to tell them about other project that is not the case study you were going to show. How would you respond¿?

[@femkedesign]

That's an odd request - do you mean in the interview they ask to see something else? I've never heard of that happening.

[@mahshidzamani8579]

Thank you for the thorough walkthrough! quick question. What is the typography name for your presentation?

[@femkedesign]

Do you mean the font I'm using? It's Sofia Pro.

[@mahshidzamani8579]

@@femkedesign Yes exactly! thanks 🌿

[@LiaMarlundeen]

Hi, this was so insightful! I was wondering what you used to design this presentation and where you got all the fun icons?

[@femkedesign]

Figma! psxid.figma.com/31b1ifcmx6eb

[@spiritofsissi]

Dear Femke! I have been watching your videos for quite some time now and declared you secretly my personal design mentor Now it's the time to say Thank You for helping me land my new role as a UX/UI Designer and build more confidence as a designer. Thank you from here to Canada and back!

[@femkedesign]

Aw thank you so much!!!! That's so awesome to hear, congrats on your new role :)

[@unezakbar]

Great to see how designers present their work for interviews. I do a lot of portfolio reviews my self and have done fair share of hiring . Also wondering you say you were hired as a design manager but Linked in says other wise. So are you a design manager or a lead designer?

[@nikeadesanoye6702]

Maybe she is yet to fix that on LinkedIn

[@femkedesign]

I made this video before my first day at Gusto. When I started I learned the title they use is 'design lead', however the responsibilities are the same of that of a manager. Semantics really.

[@unezakbar]

Thanks and keep up the good work and keep inspiring 🙌

[@indrestrazdaite261]

Hi Femke! Love your content! 🤩🤩 I am myself in this UX Research field and been looking to see what you could recommend in terms of the laptop. As a Designer I wonder if you would recommend to have a 14inch or 16inch laptop to work on when doing a daily tasks, such as conducting or analysing the research? 🌻

[@mariarogers1267]

Throwing my two cents in here as Senior Product Designer who does research work: 16 inch can be super helpful if you are deep in the pixel work of designing, creating wireframes, very detailed work, etc. and you are on the go a lot so it's the only screen you have. If you're getting this to mostly use alongside a monitor and/or for mostly Zoom calls/writing docs or presentations/communicating with others, etc. you will be fine with a 14 inch. Hope that helps a little!

[@indrestrazdaite261]

@@mariarogers1267 thanks a lot!!!

[@alexandrabohmer1268]

How did you get around NDAs for showing your work (assuming you were under NDA at your previous roles)? Especially showing things like Figma files etc.?

[@femkedesign]

I am able to share anything that is publicly shipped work. I recommend you focus on this type of work, as unshipped work isn't as impactful in the context of an interview. That said if you do want to show something that isn't public or shipped, I do so in confidence - meaning that the interviews themselves are private and confidential anyway, so there's no risk of information leaking. You can always add a slide at the start to state that this is private work.

[@fitspotv4401]

@@femkedesign This is absolutely bogus... you are violating IP rights and disclosing internal information by showing the files, you are totally violating NDA if you signed one. It is one thing to show work that is public via the product, but showing internal Figma files is as if the devs would show the code. You are irresponsible and could get into legal trouble and sadly you are even telling others to do so.

[@joyusagi]

Hello femke, may I ask how you'd share projects that weren't published yet to public or when you signed a nda?

[@femkedesign]

I don't share work publicly unless the project is live and launched.

[@secession77]

In many cases the companies require a link to portfolio within the application. And there are hundreds of candidates. Do you think this slide deck would work to get invited for an interview? What would you recommend?

[@femkedesign]

You can totally link to a slide deck - I've seen many folks do that. I think it can work :)

[@psh.pamela]

How do you incorporate all the additional sides about yourself when you are in a limited amount of time? I rarely am given the time to do an "about me" or "this is why you should hire me" slide.

[@mdwahid8625]

Hi! Would you like to share your presentation files? It will help us for creating a great presentation. Thanks

[@femkedesign]

I will do in future :)

[@mdwahid8625]

@@femkedesign Thanks

[@njengathegeek]

I have never seen this anywhere else, how lucky am I

[@femkedesign]

yay!