The playbook to finding a design job in 2026

Hiring designers in 2025 has been wild. You’ve got this huge juxtaposition between companies hiring and people looking. It feels like every company is investing in design, yet you go on LinkedIn and see designers struggling to find work.

The market has changed. The urgency to reshape teams has been pressing throughout 2025.

Everyone seems to be after the same type of designer: AI-native, high agency, strong UX and product architecture, and sharp visuals.

The designers who are struggling haven’t suddenly become bad. They’re just not adapting to the way companies want to hire now. Most are turning up unprepared for how modern processes actually work.

In this article, I have put together a framework for you to use if you want to land a great design job in 2026, with the help of Eugene Trofimov to share his thoughts on each point.

Table of contents:

• Understand what companies want

• Reflect on your gaps

• Reframe your story

• Rebuild your portfolio—for IC’s and leadership

• Be proactive and target the right companies (personal brand)

• Prepare for modern interviews—You need multiple documents ready

• Negotiate like a founder

1. Understand what companies want

In 2026, companies are prioritizing specialists: designers who offer deep, domain-specific expertise and can prove real business impact. Being a generalist is no longer enough; teams want people who know their space inside out and can move key business metrics.

To stand out, you need to show how your work directly drives outcomes that matter to the business: conversion rates, time-to-value, retention, and engagement. Being able to clearly speak the language of business metrics has become a baseline for any serious design candidate.

The role of AI in design has shifted from experimentation to expectation. Employers want to see how you use AI to automate repetitive tasks, speed up prototyping, and extract insights from user data. Showing that you’ve integrated AI into your workflow will set you apart and often lead to stronger offers.

Specialization is now at a premium. Imagine two candidates interviewing for a product role on a fintech money transfers team. One has broad product experience across different industries. The other has spent the last two years improving peer‑to‑peer transfer flows and reducing failed payments. All else being equal, it’s usually the second profile that gets the offer: focused domain expertise and a clear, relevant track record are exactly what hiring managers are betting on in 2026.

2. Reflect on your gaps

Everyone has gaps. None of us are perfect, and that’s normal. The difference with strong candidates is self-awareness. Most people can list their strengths, but very few can clearly talk about where they need to improve.

Your gaps aren’t the issue — it’s how you deal with them. Companies value resilience, adaptability and a genuine growth mindset just as much as craft or technical depth. Managers want people who learn fast, take feedback well and actually close the gaps they have.

As Google’s former VP Claire Hughes Johnson noted “Self-awareness is the number one skill I look for when interviewing applicants.”

A few things hiring teams agree on:

• Only a small % of people are genuinely self-aware.

• Growth mindset and adaptability are huge predictors of success in 2026.

• Companies increasingly hire for problem-solving and resilience, not just skills.

• Self-aware people make better decisions and raise the bar around them.

If you can talk clearly about what you’re improving and how you learn, you stand out fast because most candidates can’t do this at all.

3. Reframe your story

In today’s market, you need to connect your past experiences to your future goals with a story that is clear, honest and relevant to the company you’re targeting. Instead of hiding career changes or perceived gaps, use them to show versatility and to position your background as an asset.

Employers value candidates who can explain how their skills translate into solving real business problems, especially when those skills directly line up with the job description. If the role emphasizes rapid prototyping or user research, make sure those things are clearly visible in your story and your portfolio. Or, for example, if your foundation is in visual storytelling, show how that helps you create intuitive, impactful product experiences that drive engagement and results.

How to craft your narrative:

• Acknowledge your background positively and show what you learned from it.

• Create a logical bridge from your past to your future with a clear “why now”.

• Demonstrate commitment by showing evidence that you’ve invested in your transition.

• Highlight transferable skills and make explicit links between what you did before and what you will do next.

• Show genuine enthusiasm and explain what excites you about this new chapter and this company.

For example: “I’ve spent the last two years in fintech, working on KYC and verification flows. That means I’m already familiar with regulatory constraints and edge cases, and I know how to balance security, trust and a smooth user experience for this type of product.”

Authentic, well-structured stories stand out because they signal adaptability, intentional growth and a willingness to contribute beyond a basic checklist of skills.

4. Rebuild your portfolio — for ICs and leadership

A strong portfolio is fundamentally about relevance. It is less about you in the abstract and more about showing hiring managers how closely you match what they need. You should understand your target company’s ideal candidate: the role, responsibilities and expected impact. When you design your portfolio around those priorities, it becomes much easier for someone to see that you are a fit.

Once you have that foundation, focus on the details that matter for your level.

For Individual Contributors (ICs), highlight three to five focused, high-impact case studies that reflect the type of work you want to do next. Show your decision-making process, your niche expertise and, most importantly, the results you delivered.

For leaders, spotlight team achievements, strategic influence, mentorship and how you have shaped design direction. Use metrics, testimonials and specific examples to reinforce your leadership story.

Best practices for 2025 portfolios:

• Start with the outcome. Lead each case study with a concrete result before you go into the details.

• Make it interactive. Add clickable prototypes, video walkthroughs or Figma links.

• Emphasize strategic choices. Explain not just what you created but why it mattered to the business.

• Show your AI fluency. Demonstrate how you use AI to automate routine work and free up time for higher-value thinking.

• Tailor everything. Adjust your selection and emphasis for each company and role instead of relying on one generic version.

71% of employers say that portfolio quality strongly influences their final decision. When you highlight clear outcomes and strong role fit, you significantly increase your chances of moving forward in the process. If you want concrete inspiration, I’ve collected a set of strong portfolio examples and breakdowns in this post.

5. Be proactive and target the right companies (personal brand)

Build a visible, active personal brand so that the right people can find you. Share your thinking, talk about wins and failures, and regularly show your expertise in public. Over time, this shifts you from chasing roles to attracting them.

The future of hiring is increasingly inbound: opportunities come to you because of your reputation. Focus on a clear niche, engage with your community and make your strengths obvious in everything you publish. Hiring managers will often review your online presence before they ever reach out.

How to build your design brand strategically:

• Pick a niche. Anchor your content around domains like “design for fintech” or “B2B SaaS design systems”.

• Share insights consistently. Post weekly on LinkedIn or similar platforms about what you are learning and shipping.

• Lead with outcomes. “How we reduced onboarding friction by 30%” is more compelling than “My design process”.

• Engage in the conversation. Comment thoughtfully on others’ work and build real relationships instead of just broadcasting.

• Create portfolio-level content. Case studies, threads or videos that could almost live in your portfolio will strengthen your brand.

After all, this isn’t a theory. When I published a post about common CV mistakes for designers, recruiters from Spotify, Meta, Deel, Revolut and several other startups reached out to me directly.

6. Prepare for modern interviews — you need multiple documents ready

Modern interviews often require more than a CV and a portfolio link. You may be asked for a tailored deck, a hero case study, a brief walkthrough video or a one-page summary of your impact. Having these ready shows that you are prepared and professional.

Recording a short Loom walkthrough of your work is a simple way to stand out. It shows how you think, how you communicate and how you frame problems and results. A concise “Portfolio Highlights” deck can also make it easier for busy hiring managers to remember you.

All of this is happening because the interview landscape has shifted toward practical demonstrations. Companies want to see how you solve problems, how you adapt and how you think under pressure. Current hiring trends show that employers are deliberately testing problem-solving, adaptability and on‑the‑spot thinking, which means your materials should help tell that story before and during the interview.

A simple preparation checklist:

• A Loom walkthrough for one or two key case studies (3–5 minutes each), tested and ready to send.

• A portfolio deck customized for the company and role.

• A one-page summary with your key metrics and outcomes.

• STAR-style answers written and practiced for common behavioral questions.

• Updated LinkedIn and portfolio links that are easy to navigate.

• References who are briefed and ready to respond.

Candidates who arrive with this level of preparation signal that they are serious, organized and ready to contribute from day one.

7. Negotiate like a founder

Negotiation today goes well beyond base salary. Think about your whole package: stock options, learning budget, remote or hybrid setup, working hours, scope and growth path. A slightly lower salary with excellent learning support and flexibility can sometimes be a better long-term move.

So when you reach the offer stage, negotiation isn’t a surprise for the company, it’s something they’re already planning for. Employers usually expect strong candidates to ask questions, compare options and shape the offer so they can actually do their best work. If you only talk about base pay, you limit yourself and miss many of the levers that influence your day‑to‑day reality.

Research shows that people who negotiate often end up with meaningfully better offers, while a large share of professionals still accept the first number without pushing back. At the same time, many hiring managers are open to paying more for candidates with in‑demand skills, especially in areas like fintech, AI‑assisted workflows or design leadership in complex domains, which gives you even more room to negotiate if you can clearly show your value.

What else you can discuss besides salary:

• Learning and development budgets and conference support.

• Flexible or remote working arrangements.

• Bonuses, equity and stock options (including vesting details).

• Clear growth and promotion paths.

• Health, wellness and time-off policies.

A few practical tactics help a lot:

• Do your homework on market ranges for your level and location.

• Lead with your impact, not with a vague sense of “feeling underpaid”.

• Prepare several levers to discuss beyond salary so you are not stuck on one number.

• Aim high but support your ask with data and outcomes.

• Think in terms of total compensation and overall quality of life, not just monthly pay.

Negotiation is the norm, not the exception. Companies plan for it. Coming to the table prepared, confident and focused on a fair outcome helps ensure your value is recognized and sets you up for healthier long-term growth in your career.

Conclusion - My POV:

I’ve ran searches in 2025 for some genuinely world class organisations. Here’s what I see they often want in designers and leaders:

• Default to IC mode - Everyone is judged on product impact. Leaders are still hands-on, design, prototype, write, or code. The “handoff era” is gone. People management is still part of the job, just not the whole job.

• AI fluency is baseline - Designers who use AI to prototype, validate ideas, speed up exploration, or analyze data stand out immediately. I got asked last week for designers specifically working with Cursor for implementation.

• The designer role is shifting to being a curator - AI handles the execution.
  What companies want to see is taste, craft , decision-making, systems thinking, first principles and technical depth.

• You MUST be prepared - you can never be over prepared. You should have Loom videos, Figma decks, screens, case studies ready to go. Different companies will want to see just screens and see how you walk through “raw” work, some will want polished case studies and some will want a mix of all of it.

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The “bar” is just different, you need to adapt.

If you want to get hired in 2026, stop interviewing like it’s 2020.

Until next time!

Thanks Eugene for your time. To check more of his work out, please do look into this course he is running on designing your portfolio.

You can check out 30+ articles written this year on all things design hiring, insights, talent here.