Beyond a Good Portfolio: How to Evaluate Creative Candidates

Agree on the criteria before reviewing applications

Start with the actual responsibilities of the role. A designer creating a new visual identity needs a different evaluation from someone adapting an established brand across weekly campaign assets.

Choose a few criteria that directly relate to the work:

• Relevant craft: Does the work demonstrate the technical skills required?

• Brief understanding: Can the candidate explain the audience and communication goal?

• Creative judgement: Can they explain their choices and trade-offs?

• Collaboration: How do they respond to feedback and clarify uncertainty?

• Delivery process: How do they plan, organise and hand over work?

Decide which criteria carry the most weight. This makes it easier to distinguish a real capability gap from a difference in visual taste.

Review the candidate’s contribution

Creative projects often involve multiple people. Ask what the candidate personally owned, what was supplied and who else contributed.

For a video, separate filming, scripting, editing, sound and motion graphics. For a campaign, clarify whether the candidate developed the concept, created the visual system or adapted existing designs.

You are looking for an accurate understanding of their ability. A clearly explained supporting contribution can be valuable, especially for a junior role.

Use one project to explore their thinking

Choose a relevant portfolio piece and discuss it in detail. Ask what the brief required, what constraints existed and why the candidate chose that approach.

Useful questions include:

• What did you want the audience to understand or do?

• Which part of the project was hardest to solve?

• What changed after feedback?

• What would you improve if you revisited it?

Listen for concrete explanations. A candidate who can discuss an imperfect decision thoughtfully may give you more useful evidence than someone who describes every project as a success.

Keep any assessment relevant and proportionate

First decide whether the portfolio and conversation already provide enough evidence. If a specific uncertainty remains, design a short assessment around it.

For example, an editing exercise might assess how someone structures supplied footage. A design exercise might assess hierarchy within an existing brand system.

Explain the time limit, deliverable, evaluation criteria, payment and intended use before the candidate begins. Use a fictional or retired brief, keep the scope small and pay for substantial work. Avoid collecting usable campaign work through an open-ended hiring assignment.

Compare evidence and check practical fit

Record a short note against each criterion. “Explained how feedback changed the opening sequence” is more useful than “Good attitude.” Mark anything you have not assessed as unknown.

Before making an offer, discuss availability, compensation, reporting lines, workload and feedback expectations. Explain what support the person will receive and what success in the first few months would look like.

The goal is a hiring decision both sides understand: what the candidate can contribute and what the team will ask of them.

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