Most advice on how to stand out in a design interview stops at “polish your portfolio.” The problem is that every serious candidate does that, so a strong portfolio makes you competent, not memorable. Maitri Patel, placed at Livspace as a Junior Interior Designer at 18, took a different route, and it is a repeatable one: instead of only presenting past work, she designed something new, specifically for the company she was interviewing with.
Why the Standard Portfolio Is Not Enough?
A portfolio shows what you have done. It does not, on its own, show initiative, how you think, or how much you want this particular role. In a stack of similar portfolios, the reviewer has little to distinguish one capable candidate from the next. To be remembered, you have to give the interviewer something they were not expecting and something that could only have been made for them.
Build a Concept Project for the Company
Maitri’s move was to build a concept project designed exclusively for the employer. In a single week, she created LivHub, a dedicated designer workstation concept built for Livspace’s own design teams and inspired directly by the company’s brand identity. Crucially, it was not a mockup; it ran the full length of a real design process:
- Research and brand analysis of the company itself.
- Ideation grounded in a real need the company might have.
- Technical drawings, 3D modelling, and rendering.
- Full written documentation of the concept and reasoning.
The effort was deliberate. She had read about a candidate who built an ambitious concept project purely to demonstrate initiative, and she wanted to show how she thinks as a designer rather than simply describe her skills.
Lead With It: Change the Shape of the Interview!
The second decisive move was presentation order. Before the formal interview began, Maitri asked for permission to present her project first. That single request reshaped the session: instead of a routine question-and-answer, it became a discussion about design thinking, creativity, and initiative, on her terms. By leading with something she had built, she set the agenda of the conversation rather than reacting to it.
What Does This Indicate?
A company-specific concept project does something a portfolio cannot: it proves a set of qualities all at once. Maitri is clear that she was not selected on technical skill alone.
I was selected because I demonstrated preparation, originality, confidence, and the ability to communicate my ideas effectively.
– Maitri Patel
Preparation, because building it took real time and research. Originality, because it did not exist before. Initiative, because nobody asked her to. And communication, because she had to present and defend it. These are exactly the qualities employers struggle to assess from a portfolio and an interview alone.
How Can You Implement This Yourself?
The strategy generalises to almost any design role and to many roles beyond design:
- Research the company deeply: Understand its brand, its work, and its likely needs.
- Identify a real, specific opportunity: A product, space, feature, or improvement that fits them.
- Build a focused concept, end to end: Research, ideation, execution, and documentation, however small.
Lead with it: Ask to present it early, and let it steer the conversation.
The Principle Underneath
Sometimes the extra effort that nobody expects becomes the reason you are remembered.
– Maitri Patel
Here, the impactful lesson is not luck or any overnight trick; it’s a mindset and set of conscious choices that helped her gain this confidence & skill set. The aspiring design enthusiasts can take her story as an experience that when you run an extra mile, you will surely be rewarded for it. Go beyond the brief. And that’s when you will shine. Inspired already? You too can begin your design era by discovering Parul University’s B.Des in Furniture & Interior Design, Master of Design in Interior Design, Diploma in Interior & Furniture Design, and Certificate Program in Interior Designing. These exclusive courses are designed to help you transform your creativity into professional possibilities.
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FAQs
How to get hired instantly?
This is the most frequent question. Indeed, you can do so by going beyond the brief and by building a conceptual design portfolio. When you run an extra mile, it shows curiosity, passion, preparation, originality, and communication—all at once. A standard portfolio will always outshine the other candidates, and it shifts the interview into a discussion about your design mindset and skills!
Will a portfolio help in cracking a job interview?
To be precise, a portfolio is your real key, as a conceptual portfolio will showcase how genuine you are and what your core skills are. Employers are looking for such candidates who make it different and are genuinely passionate!
What is a concept project in design?
It’s a self-driven design proposal built around research, ideation, models, rendering, and core documentation that solves a problem for real. For any interview you’re looking to crack, it will help you demonstrate how design thinking goes far beyond your portfolio!
What skills matter most beyond technical expertise?
Technical skills are important, but preparation, idea originality, initiative, mindset, design thinking, communication, and confidence will keep you ahead of other basic candidates. They look for candidates who think and execute differently; hence, tools & design thinking play a major role in any design interview!
