EP 212 . 25 Aug 21

Hiring design leaders

With Vasudha Chandak

In the episode

You seem to be the right person to ask this question. What is the state of design talent in India, leadership level? Good, bad or ugly? Is it quantity or quality?
It is said that “if you are in a traffic, you are the traffic”. I guess you soon understood this at an abstract level and changed gears. Why did you become a design recruiter. What does this person do?
How does your day look like and where do you scout talent from?
Do you believe in referrals? How effective are those in today’s day and age?
What are the top 5 expectations form designers? How valid, logical and rational are those?
What kind of designers companies prefer, a generalist versus specialist?
What are some of the skills you think the design leaders are missing in India? Which they need to develop.
How important it is for you to have a steady source of designers with gender parity?
Whom would you mainly hold responsible for the design talent in India? Design schools or Alumni? Why?
What according to you is the biggest incentive for a designer to be retained in a company? Does being good paymasters retain talent? How critical is money in retaining? How good or bad is it as a culture? How do you ensure 1 out of 5 designer gets hired?

About Vasudha Chandak

Vasudha Chandak is a well known name in the design community. She helps us find design talent. A designer turned design recruiter helping designers and startups to find the right match. On average, 1 out of the 5 designers, she sends to any company gets hired and her clients include Filpkart, Ola, Swiggy, Housing, Cleartax and more…

Abhinit Tiwari is a co-host for this series. He works at Gojek.

This is part of a series Where are the designers with IVM Podcast? It is a 12 part series featuring few of the top influential Design leaders in India, talking about their process of hiring, challenges in finding and retaining talent and some tips for young designers to make a cut after they apply.