Ace Your UI/UX Interviews: Mastering Mock Interviews with ChatGPT Voice
Unlock Interview Confidence: A Step-by-Step Guide to Nailing UI/UX and Product Design Interviews Using ChatGPT's Voice Mode
I recently asked my mentee, "What are your largest difficulties right now as a new Product Designer?" She said, “There aren’t many entry-level positions, and knowing how to position yourself.”
That is the most relatable statement I have heard all year.
I used to ramble on for so long in my interviews that I would never land a single role. Positioning myself wasn’t going well, let’s just say that. Those failures taught me the importance of understanding a mock interview and how it can benefit your job search.
Does failing interviews sound familiar?
What is a Mock Interview
Suppose you suck at talking in general or just under pressure. It doesn’t matter anymore. We're going to run drills so you are the biggest baddest designer. This is where mock interviews come in – they provide a safe space to practice and improve your interview skills before the real thing. It’s all practice to get to where you want to be.
Definition of Mock Interview
A mock interview is when you simulate a real interview situation to prepare for the actual event. It's an exercise in which you act out an interview before the actual interview, allowing you to refine your responses and reduce stress. Don’t get confused; mock session and mock training are the same as mock interviews (I found both terms online while doing research).
“An excellent designer needs to be able to explain the “why” behind his/her decisions.” - My mentor and friend, Wyatt Feaster
Confidently articulating design decisions during job interviews is one of the most challenging tasks for UX/UI and Product Designers. Even skilled designers may lack this critical skill when presenting themselves in an interview without practice. If you are nervous about conversing with your interviewer, I have a straightforward solution: mock interviews.
Let's discuss how you can utilize OpenAI's ChatGPT voice mode to beat back your introverted demons into the nether realm and start winning your interviews to land your dream role as a UI/UX or Product Designer. We all want to earn a salary of $100k and do something we love. Understanding how to effectively conduct and prepare for a mock interview is crucial to achieving this goal.
How to Overcome Tech Industry Layoffs and Boost Your Interview Confidence with ChatGPT
The tech industry is turbulent. You will crash and burn if you don’t practice your job-hunting skills. Feeling self-doubt and anxiety about interviews is totally normal. Still, you need to pull every ounce of courage, strengthen your confidence, and rise against the sea of interviewers in the industry.
This is where understanding the mock interview meaning and its benefits can make a significant difference in your job search.
Lack of practice and preparation can lead to multiple rejections and start a wave of our dark passenger, imposter syndrome, which leads to low confidence and limits your career advancement. Mock interviews can help you overcome these challenges by gathering feedback and improving your interview skills.
You have two options:
You practice your communication skills as a designer and win your interviews
You don’t improve and give up.
Confidently articulating design decisions is not only an interview skill but a critical skill for your entire career.
From Anxiety to Confidence: How Practicing Mock Interviews Transformed My Skills for a UX/UI Career
Did you choose option 1? That's good because I want to see you succeed, and I'm here to tell you that a design career is still possible despite the doom and gloom of the internet. Let's explore how to prepare for a mock interview and why they are so crucial for your career development.
When I began my design career, ChatGPT didn't exist yet and was still a twinkle in Sam Altman's eye. I practiced interviews by doing the reps with actual interviews, and it was an ugly site. I was embarrassed and had a terrible time explaining how my years of customer service roles and lack of college education translated into this new and foreign career. With the power of artificial intelligence (AI), we can skip the awkward, sweaty talks with interviewers and focus on improving our interview strategies using the feedback from our virtual conversations on ChatGPT.
“Using generative AI (like ChatGPT in business improves users’ performance by 66%, averages across 3 case studies. More complex tasks have bigger gains, and less-skilled workers benefit the most from AI use.” (Nielsen Norman Group)
It's a good thing it's 2024! ChatGPT can see, hear, and speak to you. Mock interviews are even more accessible, more accurate, extremely beneficial, and not as nerve-racking! Reducing interview anxiety is just one benefit. I have included an entire list below.
Benefits of Mock Interviews for UI/UX and Product Designers
Understanding the mock interview definition and its advantages can significantly boost your job search efforts. Here are some key benefits:
Build confidence: Mock interviews can help you pinpoint your strengths and weaknesses and improve your performance during an actual design interview.
Get feedback: ChatGPT can provide constructive criticism on your responses, which can help you improve your interview skills.
Prepare for behavioral-based questions: 65% of Fortune 500 companies use behavioral questions (AJN); mock interviews can help you prepare for these using the STAR method.
Practice interview etiquette: You can rehearse how to talk to the interviewer and practice eye contact and body language without the awkward moment of a real person.
Review answers: You can quickly review your responses and have ChatGPT target where you need more practice, improving your time management during interviews.
Assess your outfit: Skip video conferencing. Ask ChatGPT for feedback on what you're wearing. Did you dress professionally?
Practice public speaking: Asking for specific feedback can help you structure concise and clear sentences, avoid taking too many pauses, and avoid rambling on too long.
Practice listening: You can practice listening skills when ChatGPT is speaking to help you avoid interrupting an actual interviewer.
Practice negotiation: You can practice negotiating a higher salary and better benefits for your desired position, an essential part of career development and being a designer.
Practicing for interviews will completely change your job search, and using ChatGPT is perfect for introverts. Need I say more?
How to Set Up ChatGPT Voice Mode for Realistic UX/UI Mock Interviews
Here are the initial steps to kick-start your journey in learning how to do mock interviews. You will need the ChatGPT app to use these features, and depending on whether you use the paid version or not, your experience may differ.
How to start Voice mode inside the app
Open ChatGPT and look for the voice icon at the bottom right. It looks like a sound wave inside a circle. Once selected, it will load voice mode, and you can start your mock interview process.
Voice mode once opened inside the app
The blue circle is the advanced voice mode, and the black circle is the standard voice mode. OpenAI may have an initial limit of 15 minutes in its advanced mode, but things change so fast that this may be different by the time you read this.
Voice mode details straight from OpenAI
“Advanced voice is rolling out to Plus and Team users, and a monthly preview of advanced voice is rolling out to Free users. Advanced voice uses GPT-4o’s native audio capabilities. It features more natural, real-time conversations that pick up on non-verbal cues, such as the speed you’re talking and can respond with emotion. Usage of advanced Voice (audio inputs and outputs) by Plus, Team, and Enterprise users is limited daily.” (OpenAI)
“Standard voice is available to all signed-in ChatGPT users through our iOS, macOS, and Android apps. Standard voice uses several models to generate its response, including transcribing what you say into text before sending it to our models for response. While standard voice is not natively multimodal like advanced voice, standard voice conversations also use GPT-4o alongside GPT-4o mini. Each prompt in standard voice counts towards your message limits.” (OpenAI)
Setting up ChatGPT for your mock interviews
Once you open a new chat with ChatGPT, you can type in the prompts to prepare for the perfect UX/UI, product design, or mock job interview. This is where you'll learn how to conduct a mock interview effectively.
The more you customize your chat, the better your experience will be. The best part is that you can always return, and ChatGPT will remember the interactions. See for yourself and have a little fun!
Get Real Interview Practice: It's FREE with ALL subscriptions. Download my guide to setting up ChatGPT for mock interviews, which includes a 10-step checklist and ready-to-use prompts.
Knowing how to position yourself confidently is one of the most significant hurdles as a UX/UI designer.
Don't let your dream job slip due to your avoidance of talking to strangers, introversion, or lack of communication skills. In my free guide above, I've made it super simple to walk you through the process of practicing mock interviews using ChatGPT, helping you understand why mock interviews are essential for your career goals.
Perfecting interview confidence goes hand in hand with conversation confidence. As I mentioned in my recent article, improving communication skills will bring these things and more:
Stronger relationships: The better you communicate, the more you can grow, communicate on a deeper level, and understand the people closest to you.
Confidence boost: Confidence is power. The more you build this, the more women (or men) will notice you and your career will follow you on your way up.
Networking opportunities: Your network is invaluable. It will help you find work, friends, possibly love, and more.
The benefits of mock interviews are obvious, so what are you waiting for? Get out there and start practicing for your upcoming interview! Remember, a mock interview is when you simulate an actual interview situation, allowing you to refine your responses through feedback and reduce stress before the event.
You don't have to do it alone. Join a community of inspired individuals and build a network of people practicing their interviews, or chat with me—it's all at Design Your Life! Together, we can improve your interview skills, reduce interview anxiety, and set you on the path to success in your UI/UX career.