Adidas · Primly Community

Went through the Adidas Brand Design loop last fall, here's what actually mattered

qa_quinn · 4 replies

Applied for a senior brand designer role in Portland. Here's the honest breakdown.

Round 1: Recruiter screen, 30 min. Very standard. They asked why Adidas specifically, which I fumbled the first time because I gave the generic "love the brand" answer. They want to hear you've thought about where the company is trying to go, not just where it's been.

Round 2: Hiring manager, 45 min. More behavioral than I expected. She asked me to walk through a project where I had to get buy-in from stakeholders who had strong opinions about the design direction. Not "what was the design" but "how did you navigate the people part." That was the signal.

Round 3: Panel with 3 people including someone from the marketing side and someone from product. Portfolio presentation, 20 min, then Q&A for 40. They asked specifically about how my work connected to business outcomes. Not just "did it look good" but "did it sell anything" or "did it change behavior."

What surprised me: they genuinely cared about sustainability in the portfolio. I had one project that touched sustainable materials and they spent like 10 minutes on it. The others got less time.

I got the offer. The process took about 6 weeks start to finish, which is longer than I wanted but not unusual for a brand this size.

4 replies

marketer_mei

the stakeholder buy-in question is everywhere at consumer brands. adidas isn't unique in that, but the sustainability angle is real. i interviewed there for a PMM role in 2024 and at least two people asked how i'd communicated sustainability positioning to a skeptical audience. they're not just checking a box, they're hiring for the public commitments they've made.

brand_ben

yeah exactly. and i think if you can't articulate the business case FOR sustainability (vs just 'it's the right thing') you won't land as well. they want people who can sell it internally too.

laidoff_lena

6 weeks is fast for Adidas honestly. i know someone who waited 10 weeks between the panel and the offer because the req got put on hold mid-process. did they give you any signal about timeline during the process or did you just have to wait?

returner_ren

really helpful breakdown. the 'how did you navigate the people part' framing is something i need to practice more. easy to default to describing the work instead of the dynamic.