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Role guide

Prepare for Your Interior Design Interview

Updated 11 September 2026

For its Sheffield junior-to-middleweight interior designer vacancy, 93FT set out an ideal process: an internal CV review, a possible screening call, an informal onsite interview with the Head of Interior, a design task, and a meeting with the Managing Director, Head of Interior and wider team. The employer said it might change the process, so use this as one example rather than a standard UK interview sequence. This guide will help you prepare for those stages. Check that your examples match your Interior Design CV. If your experience is mainly architectural, see the architect interview guide.

01

Interview process examples

These are two employer-specific examples, not a standard UK interview sequence. 93FT also said it might change the process described for its Sheffield junior-to-middleweight interior designer vacancy.

  1. CV review at 93FT

    Application review

    Depends on the employer

    For its Sheffield junior-to-middleweight interior designer vacancy, 93FT began its ideal process with an internal CV review.

    How to prepare

    • Check that the dates, projects and responsibilities on your CV are accurate.
    • Choose truthful examples that you can explain in your own words.

  2. Possible screening call at 93FT

    Screening call

    Possible

    For selected applicants to the same 93FT vacancy, a screening call might follow the CV review and lead to an informal onsite interview.

    How to prepare

    • Keep the vacancy details and your CV nearby.
    • Prepare a short, truthful explanation of why you applied.
    • Ask the named contact if any arrangements are unclear.

  3. Informal onsite interview at 93FT

    Informal onsite interview

    Depends on the employer

    For its Sheffield junior-to-middleweight interior designer vacancy, 93FT described an informal onsite interview with the Head of Interior to discuss the applicant's experience and explain the company and role.

    How to prepare

    • Re-read the job description and choose relevant examples from your experience.
    • Practise explaining what you did, why you did it and what happened.
    • Confirm the address, arrival instructions and anything you need to bring.

  4. Design task at 93FT

    Design task

    After interviews have taken place

    Depends on the employer

    93FT placed a design task after the interviews in its ideal process for the Sheffield junior-to-middleweight interior designer vacancy.

    How to prepare

    • Read every instruction before starting.
    • Ask a concise question if an important part of the brief is unclear.
    • State your assumptions and check your response against the instructions before submitting it.

  5. Later meeting at 93FT

    Meeting

    Depends on the employer

    In its ideal process for the Sheffield junior-to-middleweight interior designer vacancy, 93FT described a later meeting with the Managing Director, Head of Interior and wider team.

    How to prepare

    • Prepare concise questions about the vacancy and working arrangements.
    • Keep your account of your experience accurate and consistent with your application.
    • Note any practical points that remain unclear and ask the appropriate person.

Junior interior designer candidates in the National Design Academy's cited employer example

A named interior-design leader described an initial interview followed by another meeting. The account does not state the participants, timing or assessment criteria, and it is not a universal process.

02

Your preparation plan

Start with the vacancy. Mark the responsibilities it names, then match each one to a truthful project, placement, freelance brief or academic example. For each example, note the context, your own actions and reasoning, the result and what you learnt. Use these notes as prompts rather than a script.

For UK interior designers, relevant experience may include understanding a client's ideas and advising on space, colour schemes, fabrics, fittings or furniture. The work can also include preparing detailed 2D and 3D plans, drawings, designs and models for spatial planning and presenting design concepts to clients. Choose only examples that reflect what you actually did.

Interior designers may estimate materials and timescales, source products and suppliers, coordinate contractors or manage a project through delivery, although the extent of project-management responsibility varies by role. Review any genuine examples that show design knowledge, creative problem-solving or space-planning skills. You may also have work that involved knowledge of building and construction, interior systems, materials, equipment or furnishings.

Interior designers may use design software for detailed 2D and 3D plans, schematics, drawings and design documents, but the specific software depends on the employer and role. Be precise about the tools you used, what you produced and your level of responsibility. Prepare an example of communicating or collaborating with a client, colleague or project partner if you have one.

Compare your notes with your Interior Design CV so that dates, scope and ownership remain consistent. Practise aloud without memorising complete answers. If your interview is remote, test your connection, camera and microphone beforehand and keep any permitted notes close by.

The week before

  • Read the job description and mark each responsibility or skill you can support with a truthful example.
  • Choose an example of understanding a client's ideas or advising on a design choice, if you have one.
  • Review relevant 2D or 3D plans, drawings, designs or models and note your exact contribution.
  • Identify any genuine example involving estimates, timescales, suppliers, contractors or delivery without overstating your responsibility.
  • Select a project that shows your design reasoning or response to a spatial problem.

The day before

  • Prepare to explain the design software you have genuinely used and what you produced with it.
  • Practise concise answers that cover context, your actions and reasoning, the result and what you learnt.
  • Confirm the time, location or remote joining details and ask the named contact about anything unclear.
  • Set out requested materials and test your equipment if the interview is remote.

On the day

  • Review short prompts instead of memorising complete answers.
  • Arrive or join early enough to deal with routine access problems.
  • Listen to the full question, ask for clarification when needed and keep your answer tied to your own work.
03

What interviewers look for

Client briefing and design advice

Interior designers may work with clients to understand their ideas and advise on space, colour schemes, fabrics, fittings and furniture.

Evidence to prepare

  • Choose a project where you clarified what a client wanted before developing your response.
  • Recall a time when your advice changed or sharpened a design direction.
  • Prepare to explain what you heard, what you recommended and what happened next.

Design thinking and space planning

Interior design work draws on design knowledge, creative problem-solving and space-planning skills.

Evidence to prepare

  • Pick a project with a clear spatial problem and explain how you worked through it.
  • Identify the constraints that shaped your choices and the reasoning behind the final design.
  • Be ready to discuss what you would keep or change if you tackled the project again.

Plans, drawings and visual communication

Interior design work can include preparing detailed 2D and 3D plans, drawings, designs and models for spatial planning and presenting design concepts to clients.

Evidence to prepare

  • Choose one piece of work that helped another person understand your design clearly.
  • Prepare to describe the purpose of the visual material and how you developed it.
  • Note any feedback you received and how the design changed afterwards.

Materials and construction knowledge

Interior designers use knowledge of building and construction, interior systems, materials, equipment and furnishings when developing spaces.

Evidence to prepare

  • Select a project where your knowledge influenced a design choice.
  • Explain the information you considered without overstating your personal responsibility.
  • Recall how you checked an assumption or dealt with something you did not initially know.

Project coordination and delivery

Interior designers may estimate materials and timescales, source products and suppliers, coordinate contractors, and manage a project through delivery, although the extent of project-management responsibility varies by role.

Evidence to prepare

  • Choose an example that accurately reflects your own level of responsibility.
  • Map out the sequence of events, the people you dealt with and the actions you personally took.
  • Prepare to explain a change or obstacle and how you kept others informed.

Client and project-team communication

Interior design roles can require customer-service, collaboration and communication skills for working with clients, colleagues and project partners.

Evidence to prepare

  • Pick one client example and one team example so you can discuss different working relationships.
  • Recall a disagreement, unclear request or difficult conversation that you handled constructively.
  • Separate what the group achieved from what you personally said or did.

Design software and documentation

Interior designers may use design software to prepare detailed 2D and 3D plans, alongside schematics, drawings and design documents; the specific software depends on the employer and role.

Evidence to prepare

  • List only the tools you have genuinely used and choose work that supports each claim.
  • Prepare to explain what you produced, why you chose that approach and how the output was used.
  • If your experience does not match the employer's tools, identify a truthful example of learning a new tool.
04

Questions you should be ready for

Use the answer plans as prompts, not scripts. Your examples should sound like you.

Motivation and fit

Prepare personal reasons for your choices and application, backed by examples rather than broad claims about design.

Why do you want to work in interior design?

What they want to learn: The interviewer wants to understand your motivation through a clear and truthful account.

Answer plan

  • State your main reason plainly.
  • Connect it to a specific experience or decision from your background.
  • Explain what you learnt from that experience.
  • Relate your motivation to the vacancy.

Evidence to use: Which real project, course, job or personal decision best explains why you chose this work?

Avoid

  • Giving an answer that could apply to any creative role.
  • Inventing a dramatic origin story instead of using honest evidence.
  • Talking at length without connecting your motivation to the vacancy.
What are your main strengths as an interior designer?

What they want to learn: The interviewer wants a supported account of the strengths you would bring.

Answer plan

  • Choose one or two strengths relevant to the vacancy.
  • Give a specific example for each one.
  • Describe your actions and the result.
  • Say how you continue to develop.

Evidence to use: What recent piece of work gives the clearest proof of each strength you plan to name?

Avoid

  • Listing adjectives without evidence.
  • Claiming responsibility for someone else's work.
  • Naming too many strengths to explain properly.
Why are you interested in this employer?

What they want to learn: The interviewer wants to hear a specific and truthful reason for your application.

Answer plan

  • Identify something concrete in the vacancy or information supplied by the employer.
  • Explain why it matters to you.
  • Connect it to experience or an aim you can support honestly.
  • State what you hope to contribute in the role.

Evidence to use: Which detail from the job description or employer material genuinely influenced your decision to apply?

Avoid

  • Offering praise without a specific reason.
  • Repeating the employer's wording without explaining your interest.
  • Focusing only on what you hope to gain.

Projects and development

Choose projects that make your actions, reasoning and learning easy to follow.

Tell me about a challenging interior design project.

What they want to learn: The interviewer wants a truthful example with enough context to follow your actions, reasoning and learning.

Answer plan

  • Describe the project and your responsibility briefly.
  • Explain the difficulty without exaggerating it.
  • Set out what you personally did and why.
  • Give the outcome and what you learnt.

Evidence to use: Which project involved a genuine difficulty that lets you discuss both your response and your learning?

Avoid

  • Spending most of the answer describing the project rather than your actions.
  • Blaming a client or colleague for the difficulty.
  • Leaving out the result or lesson.
How have you collaborated with a client on a design project?

What they want to learn: The interviewer wants a concrete account of your involvement in a client interaction.

Answer plan

  • Explain the project context and your role.
  • Describe what the client communicated.
  • Set out how you responded and why.
  • Finish with the outcome and any lesson you took forward.

Evidence to use: When did a conversation with a client affect what you did next?

Avoid

  • Speaking only about the team and never identifying your contribution.
  • Presenting the client as an obstacle.
  • Claiming an outcome you cannot support.
What is your interior design specialism?

What they want to learn: The interviewer wants a clear, honest account of the area in which you have relevant experience or interest.

Answer plan

  • Name the area accurately without overstating your level.
  • Explain how you developed that focus.
  • Use one example to support your answer.
  • Mention what you are still learning where relevant.

Evidence to use: Which completed piece of work best supports the specialism you plan to discuss?

Avoid

  • Using a label that you cannot explain with evidence.
  • Treating an interest as extensive professional experience.
  • Giving a narrow answer without relating it to the vacancy.
What have you learnt from a recent interior design project?

What they want to learn: The interviewer wants a specific reflection grounded in something you actually did.

Answer plan

  • Choose one recent project and give only the necessary context.
  • Identify the decision, difficulty or feedback that prompted the learning.
  • Explain how your thinking or practice changed.
  • Mention a later example if you have applied the lesson.

Evidence to use: What lesson changed how you approach your work rather than merely confirming what you already knew?

Avoid

  • Offering a vague lesson with no project context.
  • Pretending the project went perfectly.
  • Describing feedback without saying what you did with it.

Space, function and lighting

Practise explaining a design response in a logical order while keeping your answer tied to the information provided.

How would you approach designing a small or multifunctional space?

What they want to learn: The interviewer wants to follow your reasoning through a hypothetical design situation.

Answer plan

  • Begin with the information you would want to clarify.
  • Explain how you would think through the scenario based on the information given.
  • Describe your proposed actions in a logical order.
  • Finish by explaining how you would respond if the situation changed.

Evidence to use: Which real project could support part of your answer without pretending it is identical to the scenario?

Avoid

  • Jumping to a finished response before explaining your reasoning.
  • Adding details that the question does not provide.
  • Giving an idea without explaining how you reached it.
How do you balance aesthetics with function in an interior?

What they want to learn: The interviewer wants a clear explanation supported by a truthful example or carefully reasoned scenario.

Answer plan

  • Define the project or situation you will discuss.
  • Explain the information you considered.
  • Describe the choice you made or would make and your reasoning.
  • Give the result or explain how you would review the response.

Evidence to use: When did a design preference need reconsideration because of how the space would be used?

Avoid

  • Treating aesthetics and function as slogans rather than explaining a decision.
  • Claiming there is one answer for every project.
  • Using an example in which your contribution is unclear.
How would you approach lighting for an interior design brief?

What they want to learn: The interviewer wants to understand how you structure your thinking when answering a scenario question.

Answer plan

  • Begin with the questions you would ask about the brief.
  • Explain how the information provided would shape your response.
  • Describe your proposed actions in a clear sequence.
  • Finish by explaining how you would check your response.

Evidence to use: Which project lets you discuss your own lighting-related reasoning accurately, even if your responsibility was limited?

Avoid

  • Adding details that the question does not provide.
  • Using technical language you cannot explain.
  • Overstating your authority or involvement.

Clients, pressure and teamwork

Select examples that make your conduct and personal contribution clear.

How would you respond to a dissatisfied client?

What they want to learn: The interviewer wants to follow your reasoning and proposed actions in a difficult scenario.

Answer plan

  • Explain what you would clarify before responding.
  • Describe how you would listen and establish what happened.
  • Set out your next actions and reasons.
  • Explain how you would confirm the next step.

Evidence to use: What real experience shows how you handled dissatisfaction or difficult feedback without overstating its similarity to this scenario?

Avoid

  • Becoming defensive in the hypothetical response.
  • Deciding what happened before clarifying the situation.
  • Promising an outcome outside your control.
Tell me about a time you worked under pressure.

What they want to learn: The interviewer wants a specific example that makes your actions, reasoning, result and learning clear.

Answer plan

  • Choose one situation with a clear source of pressure.
  • Explain your responsibility and the relevant context.
  • Describe what you personally did and why.
  • State the result and what you would repeat or change.

Evidence to use: Which example shows your choices without relying on vague claims about being calm or organised?

Avoid

  • Equating pressure with being constantly overworked.
  • Describing the team's actions but not your own.
  • Leaving out the result.
Do you prefer working independently or as part of a team?

What they want to learn: The interviewer wants an honest explanation of how you work in situations you have experienced.

Answer plan

  • Answer directly without forcing an absolute preference.
  • Give one relevant example.
  • Explain your actions and how you responded to the circumstances.
  • Mention what you learnt about your working style.

Evidence to use: Which example shows you taking responsibility while communicating appropriately with other people?

Avoid

  • Claiming to work equally well in every setting without evidence.
  • Suggesting that independent work means avoiding communication.
  • Giving a team example in which your contribution is unclear.

Tools and working methods

Describe your genuine experience accurately and explain how you deal with unfamiliar tools without bluffing.

What tools do you use in your interior design work?

What they want to learn: The interviewer wants a clear account of tools you have genuinely used and the work you completed with them.

Answer plan

  • Name only tools you have used.
  • Choose one relevant example and explain what you produced.
  • Clarify your level of involvement.
  • If useful, explain how you learnt or adapted your approach.

Evidence to use: For every tool you name, what piece of work could you discuss if the interviewer asks a follow-up question?

Avoid

  • Listing tools you cannot discuss confidently.
  • Giving proficiency labels without examples.
  • Assuming the employer uses the same tools.
05

Questions to ask them

“What types of projects would I work on in this role?”

This helps you compare the work on offer with your interests and experience.

“What would you expect the successful candidate to focus on during their first few months?”

The answer can clarify the employer's immediate priorities.

“How does the team review design decisions and revisions?”

This helps you understand how this team handles feedback and approval.

“Which design software would I use in this position?”

The software interior designers use depends on the employer and role, so the answer may reveal something you need to learn.

“How do designers here work with clients, colleagues and project partners?”

Interior design roles can involve communication and collaboration with these groups, so the answer can clarify the working relationships in this position.

“What would strong performance in this role look like?”

This asks the interviewer to make their expectations more concrete.

“What are the remaining stages in the selection process?”

The available employer examples do not establish one standard UK interview sequence, so ask what this employer has planned.

06

On the day

In person

  • Check the address, journey and arrival instructions before leaving.
  • Bring requested materials and any permitted notes in a format you can navigate quickly.
  • Follow the employer's arrival instructions and allow time for routine travel delays.
  • Listen to the whole question and ask for clarification if its meaning is unclear.
  • Use truthful project examples and distinguish your own work from the team's contribution.

Remote

  • If your interview is remote, test your camera, microphone, internet connection and meeting link beforehand.
  • Keep requested materials and permitted notes ready, then close unrelated applications and notifications.
  • Choose a quiet, well-lit setting and check what the camera shows behind you.
  • Join a few minutes early and keep the named contact's details available in case the connection fails.
  • When sharing visual work, confirm that the interviewer can see the correct page or screen before you continue.
07

Preparation pitfalls

Showing polished final images without explaining your design decisions, revisions or personal contribution.

Choose projects that let you describe what you decided, what changed and which parts were yours.

Reciting a generic design process that is disconnected from a real project.

Anchor your answer in a truthful example and explain your actions, reasoning, result and learning.

Claiming expertise with design tools you have not used.

Describe your actual experience accurately. If relevant, explain how you previously learnt an unfamiliar tool.

Describing a team project without identifying what you personally did.

State your responsibility clearly and separate your actions from the team's shared work.

08

After the interview

Send a brief thank-you message after the interview. Refer to one specific point from the conversation, confirm your interest if it remains genuine and attach anything the interviewer requested.

If the employer gave you a timescale, wait until it has passed before asking for an update. Keep the message concise and send it to the named contact.

09

Frequently asked questions

From guide to application

Make your CV and your answers tell the same story.

Use cvlift to tailor your CV to the role and bring the most relevant experience forward. Then use this guide to practise the examples behind it.

Tailor my CV