What Creative Directors Actually Look for When Hiring
Landing a career at a design firm is hard... But usually anything worth doing is.
For many designers, how design firms hire can feel like a mystery. It definitely was for me. Coming out of college, I had a decent design background, a marketing degree, and a minor in statistics—my secret weapon to prove I could use both sides of my brain. I was student body president, managed millions in student budgets, and—even in hindsight—pulled off some pretty impressive wins for the people I represented.
I applied to most of the local design and marketing firms and… Crickets
In their defense, it was 2007–2008 and the height of a global recession. In mine? I didn’t really understand what they were looking for and truthfully, I wasn’t that good yet.
For context: I’m Jason, founder and partner at Propaganda Creative (PC), a full-service design firm with a crew of adaptable problem solving assassins. I could go on about the company (happily bask in the warm glow of ego and pride in what we’ve built), but the short version is: we’ve created something special here. A real gem. I’m proud of our people and our work.
If you’re just starting out, this is for you. If you’ve been in the game a while, you still might find a few useful nuggets. Think of this as a CliffsNotes-style breakdown of how to improve your odds of breaking into the field—or at least landing a spot at a creative firm like ours.
After years of interviews and reviewing hundreds of portfolios, I felt compelled to get this down. We see the same gaps and missteps over and over again. Not all of them—some of those folks now work here—but more than you would think.
And to be fair, I don’t think our industry does a great job of setting expectations. We don’t tell you what we want, what that actually means, or why you’re not getting hired. We are busy trying to assemble teams, hit deadlines, and nurture relationships, and living life. Sometimes circling back around and giving hard honest advice to applicants falls to the bottom of the list.
So here it is. All I can do is share how I (and I’m pretty sure my business partner Kyle would agree) approach the hiring process. Hopefully, it gives you a little clarity—and a better shot—at landing where you want to be.
So What Is This?
My intent is to humbly offer a bit of perspective. As mentioned, there’s a vacuum of insight coming from leadership in this field—and many of you are left trying to figure it out on your own. Some of you learn and live to interview another day. Some use rejection as fuel to start something of your own. But too many just move on. It is a sad waste of time—and talent.
What this isn’t: a shortcut, a trick, or a hack for getting hired. Sure, that’d make for a catchier title. But it’d also be a dangerous one. You don’t want to end up somewhere you don’t belong. “Fake it till you make it” might get you through an interview, but it’s a risky foundation for a career.
The last thing you want is to skip the line, land your dream job, and then feel the gravitational weight of a collapsing star as each day reveals to your peers and employer that you’ve overpromised and are underdelivering. Time has a way of revealing the truth—and in this industry, time is different, it flies.
If you’re here for quick hacks, this is probably not for you. But if you’re after honest insight that might actually sharpen your edge—LET’S GO!
Ahem… Disclaimer: Any examples I share are a mashup of experiences from the past 15 years. If it sounds like you—don’t take it personally. You’re definitely not the only one.
Let’s start with the low-hanging fruit.
In an industry where over half your job is visual, please include examples of your work. The format doesn’t matter—Behance, portfolio, Figma board, personal website, facy napkins—we’ll look at it. And we’ll put in the effort and respect equivalent to what you put into organizing it. Just make sure it’s easy to find and clearly highlighted.
Next up, your résumé. This feels super obvious, but double-check your spelling—and better yet, have someone else proof it. We’ve seen everything from typos to lorem ipsum still hanging out on resumes. That placeholder text really just says: “I don’t pay attention to details.”
This is petty and not a deal breaker but you don’t need skills bars on your résumé. I get it, they look slick and let you get something other than words into your layout. But we’ve never understood what it means to be 70% proficient in Illustrator. Either you’re proficient, or you’re not. We’re all constantly learning and adapting and never 100% we get it, but we are not 68% for sure… Moving on.
The Important Stuff
There’s a lot we consider when hiring. We’re not just looking for talent—we’re looking for a long-term partner. That means the work matters, but it’s not the only thing that matters.
Culture Fit
How will this person vibe with our carefully curated little slice of paradise?
We’ve got a good thing going here. And as my blue-collar dad used to say: “It takes one ‘ah shit’ to ruin a thousand ‘attaboys.’” A bad fit can throw off the balance. Credit to my team—they’re kind, collaborative, and quick to course-correct—but we’d all prefer less stress, not more. We really care about this, and have ways of making you talk… 🙂
How You Take Critique
Do we have a person with a little ego—or an ego with a person attached?
Feedback is constant here—from clients and from your team. And that feedback is what makes the work better. Being open, inquisitive, and receptive is sometimes hard but what we do to grow. No resistance, no strength.
We hold weekly crits—friendly, constructive ones (not Game of Thrones-style public shamings). Most projects will get feedback from multiple team members at some point. With over 100 years of combined design experience in the room, people will catch things you don’t—and vice versa you are going to see things the old guard has long forgotten about.
That’s one of the things that sets us apart from freelancers or internal teams. When you work with PC, you’re tapping into a hive mind—a collective of different skills, experiences, client categories, and perspectives. Everyone on the org chart contributes, and we believe the work is stronger because of it.
If you’re not willing to kill, or add some arms, and pop an eye out of a couple of those little adorable babies you have created—It’s worth thinking about.
What We Can See From the Jump
We can get a sense of some things through interview prompts, reference checks, and experience. But a lot of it only becomes clear once you’re actually working here. (That’s why many of our hires started as interns.)
That said, there is one thing we can get a clear read on from the start—if you knock it out of the park:
Your Work
Your work tells us a lot. It shows how far you’re willing to go before calling something finished. Are you obsessive? Do you know when something is great—and done? You have a little of that lazy up in ya? It gives us a window into your thinking: how you approach problems, make decisions, and land on a final solution.
Not Just The What But The How
It’s not just about the projects themselves—how you organize and present your work matters just as much. It reflects your professionalism, clarity, and attention to detail.
In a perfect world, we’d love to see a diversity of badass work for high-profile clients, laid out thoughtfully and clean.
Of course, we know that kind of work isn’t always available—especially early in your career. That’s why we’ll always take brilliant fake work for a fake client over forgettable real work all day. It often gives us a more honest look at your potential—and it takes serious creativity to build something from nothing.
Even better? Excellent work pulled from the jaws of mediocrity. That’s the sweet spot. Believe it or not, elevating a polished brand is often easier than tuning up a rough identity within real-world constraints. When someone takes something average and makes it exceptional—that tells us a lot about their creative muscle. (And we do a fair share of that here.)
Quantity ≠ Quality
How you curate and present your work is just as important as the work itself. Few things are more disheartening than scrolling through three home runs—only to watch a portfolio decline under a wave of “design-value average.”
Too many examples of mediocre work can actually work against you. Being bold enough to showcase just a few pieces you truly stand behind—your ride-or-dies—says a lot about your taste, your confidence, and your character. Sometimes, less really is more.
When we’re reviewing résumés, portfolios, and other assorted vehicles of creativity, you want us smiling—excited. Running a business (our dream job) is hard. And like most things that are worth it, it comes with a dozen non-design distractions on any given day. So while we appreciate the subtle, clever details that make us think—we’re already doing a lot of thinking.
Better yet?
Hit us square in the face with a hammer.
Be undeniable.
Make us unthinkingly drool.
That will get you noticed.
Long Story Kinda Short…
We hire problem solvers—thinkers who just happen to design, develop, write, strategize, or create. Why? Because this industry and our customers change is the only constant. The more flexible you are, the more you’ll learn—and the more irreplaceable you’ll become.
A nice by-product of that? Our little love child of a company (courtesy of Kyle, the team, and I) keeps growing. When we adapt, we grow, get to do more, rinse and repeat. Along the way everyone benefits. That’s the reward.
At the end of the day—and with everything above said—Kyle and I started this business as designers. We don’t expect more from you than what we would’ve done (and did) to earn a seat here ourselves. A little hustle, proficiency and the will to not give up ever. Hopefully that makes sense.
I offer this in the spirit it’s intended: not as some judgy design tribunal casting down verdicts from on high. But also not as people sleepwalking through hiring decisions. We’re trading our blood, sweat, and treasure for your time. That means we owe it to our current team—and our clients—to make sure they’re getting a solid return on that investment.
That said, we’re pretty laid back. We only push when the juice is really worth the squeeze.
The payoff? We’ve built the kind of place we always wanted to work at when we were just starting out. We play well with others with fair pay, good people, and all the perks, the juice is good.
Oh yeah, we’re hiring if you’re into this kinda thing.