Hasta La Ideas

For a high-profile, design-driven company like Nike, populating the studios with the best designers on the planet is more than just an aspiration, it’s a matter of brand survival. And while much can be said for the company’s famously pro-designer culture as a tool for attracting top talent, picking the right applicants out of an enormous pool can be a daunting task.

Beth Sasseen has been doing creative hiring since the early 90s, first for Lucasfilm in California and Singapore, then for Nike starting in 2007. This long experience finding great designers from across the globe who are also great fits, and getting them to stick around, is what draws us to put her on the stage for next week’s Creative Confab in Portland, Oregon, a few miles from the Nike World Campus in Beaverton.

1. Given the highly specialized nature of many design disciplines, and the difficulty of identifying a truly great portfolio, is it crucial (or even helpful) that a recruiter of creative professionals have some design training herself?

Learning a list of job requirements is easily done, but if the role for which one is recruiting is more specialized, deeper training is a good idea. For design recruiting, having an inherent interest in things that are more creative than analytical is helpful, if not necessary. I am a visual person, so I sympathize greatly with the creative process designers go through. I’ve tried recruiting for finance and accounting roles before and that just didn’t come as naturally.

2.You’ve mentioned that a good recruiter has to serve as a career counselor for misguided applicants sometimes — under what circumstances does this level of engagement become necessary, even with a designer who’s not getting the job?

The opportunity occurs most often with students and professionals in transition, two circumstances in which everyone, not just designers, probably feel most vulnerable. The career counselor in me comes out when I sense defeat in a candidate’s voice. The hiring process is full of hurdles, so the last thing a candidate should feel is failure if they haven’t gotten the job.

Sasseen will be sharing the stage with recruiters and designers from Ziba, Intel, and Cinco Design, as we talk about creative hiring from both sides of the process. The event also offers the chance to meet and trade notes with some of the best design firms and creative professionals in the Pacific Northwest. See the Confab page over on Coroflot for more details, and registration information.

Coroflot’s Creative Employment Confab
Thursday, June 11th, 2:30-6pm
University of Oregon, Portland – White Stag Block
70 NW Couch St. @ NW 1st Ave, Portland, OR

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