

Stripe: Redesign status page as part of job application - gbuckingham89
http://finejobs.co/082813-designer
Read the last paragraph. Also on their official site too; https:&#x2F;&#x2F;stripe.com&#x2F;jobs#designer
======
envex
This reminds me of the "I will not do your tech interview." post. [1]

There's a good chance if you're applying you're either a. unemployed, looking
for a job, or b. you really want to work at stripe.

If you're passionate about what you do, you're going to enjoy designing
anyways, so what better way to make you stand out than doing something that
benefits the company you're applying for -- working on something you'd
actually be working on.

Anyone can copy designs from dribbble to make themselves look like an amazing
designer.

It's not like they're going to take your design, implement it and never reply
to your email.

1\. [https://medium.com/lessons-
learned/80ba19c55883](https://medium.com/lessons-learned/80ba19c55883)

~~~
cstejerean
It does sound like a good way to filter for people that really want to work at
Stripe, and I don't really see anything wrong with that.

~~~
envex
Exactly. Sending a resume is cheap -- sending a design takes some time.

------
functional_test
I always wonder when I see things like this -- are there actually people who
will work for free just to apply for a job?

I do not mean this as snark. And I certainly would be open to the idea of a
trial period or working on an in house project after the interview. But to ask
someone to put in hours just for the possibility of an interview seems like a
very asymmetric request. Am I off base here?

EDIT: It's probably worth noting that I work more on the software side than
the design side.

~~~
AznHisoka
You're on base. I guess this would work for certain companies like Google, or
Apple, but if you're an average company (no offense, but Stripe is nothing
special), then you probably won't get many candidates, maybe not even 4 or 5.

~~~
AznHisoka
In other words, Stripe is just like every other boring, trivial corporation!!!

------
mmuro
This is just silly. Any good web designer should be able to point to a body of
work and that should be enough to test their skills.

------
thezilch
Stripe, I'm curious how 80% of your downtimes are bound to 60s intervals, and
the two that aren't were only 1-2s above that interval. I would hazard a guess
that you check these services on a one-minute interval or only report home on
that interval -- checks may be much more rapid, and the two cases were simply
an example of the interval scheduler not being perfect.

------
viennacoder
Maybe this would work better if it came after a phone screen or in person
interview, so there's less chance of wasted work. I think the general idea is
good though.

~~~
jlees
Design hiring pipelines often include a project stage. I guess the difference
here is self-selection.

------
jtreminio
This feels so unfair to an applicant.

A better way would be to go through the normal filtering process of accepting
applications. Choose several designers, then offer them this same task _with
proper payment_ for their time.

~~~
madoublet
The idea this is unfair or "spec" work seems silly to me. As a professional,
you do a ton of stuff that you don't get paid for: attending classes, building
your skillset, designing your portfolio, writing your resume, creating
concepts, etc., etc. This is simply a fact of life.

~~~
ktsmith
It's not simply a fact of life. These types of application processes are no
different than saying "There is a $200 application fee."

------
dayyan
Stripe: Do work for us for free, maybe we'll hire you.

~~~
icecreampain
The more I see about Stripe the less I like them.

~~~
sogen
Agreed, this is going to anger the design community

~~~
ceejayoz
Is there anything that doesn't?

------
uams
IIRC, this has always been on stripes job page. Always thought it was a clever
idea.

------
steven2012
Who owns the submitted design, the designer or Stripe?

~~~
damoncali
The designer does.

------
alabut
It's not exactly spec work - there isn't an explicit understanding that
they'll use somebody's work if its good enough; it's not commissioning a one-
off project with vague promises of future work - but it's also definitely not
standard practice, at least for design gigs, since it's so easy to get a feel
for their work by flipping through a portfolio.

If the concern is whether they can strike the same tone and style, hiring
people on a temp contract is usually a better way to go, plus then you also
test if they're fast, present their work with a strong rationale, play nicely
with others, etc.

------
timmillwood
Yay for spec work!

------
aresant
I get how controversial it is to ask for "free work" but on the other side of
the coin:

a) I've found that lots of design applicants will put stuff in their portfolio
that they contributed to, rather than built end-to-end. This solves that
problem.

b) Tracking on the statement above, they're looking for a designer that has a
"deep understanding of how applications should work". In an online design
portfolio it's easy to misinterpret application design skills w/the ability to
take a design spec from a product manager and make it pretty. Stripe is
looking for a unicorn - a designer that is also a product manager / UX talent.

c) Design, especially UX design, is not just a "show me your portfolio" \-
it's a "what is your process to build the right UX." If a candidate submitted
several iterations of design + maybe a "let's test these two things because
I'm not sure" I would be 100% more likely to prioritize their app vs a "look
at how pretty this is"

So I don't know, I get the argument that this is taking advantage.

But on the other end it makes them a lot more likely to find an awesome
candidate who actually wants to work there, and has the talent to deliver the
goods.

~~~
willimholte
> a) I've found that lots of design applicants will put stuff in their
> portfolio that they contributed to, rather than built end-to-end. This
> solves that problem.

Effective designers (and effective hiring managers) have already solved this
problem by describing their role in projects (or asking about specific roles
in the interview process). Don't hire designers that have a portfolio full of
nothing but sex-shots.

> "what is your process to build the right UX."

I agree that is the intention of this sort of application requirement, but I'd
be surprised if it consistently worked. These sorts of requirements force
designers to work in a vacuum. It is impossible to make an effective solution
without having a deep understanding of the product—the hiring company will get
a tepid/run of the mill/boring design. (Though perhaps a beautiful design,
which often works for these sorts of interviews)

> But on the other end it makes them a lot more likely to find an awesome
> candidate who actually wants to work there, and has the talent to deliver
> the goods.

It's maybe likely to find them someone that wants to work with them
(especially if we define "wants to work here" as "willing to do spec work"
which may be fair) but in my experience, talented designers are busy working
on cool projects and students/young designers are the ones with time to
dedicate to this sort of application.

