Breaking into the Design Scene Without a Portfolio

I joined Quizizz back in 2021 when we were a small team of about 60 folks looking to create an impact in the lives of students around the world.

I was tasked with the responsibility of being the gatekeeper of all things talent at Quizizz, and with it came some interesting problem statements over the years. But arguably the most interesting and frankly humbling experience was hiring for our product design team.

Who knew hiring top-notch designers would feel like trying to find a unicorn in a maze while blindfolded?

WHY?

Our usual playbook of cold outreach, personalised InMails on LinkedIn, and catchy subject lines was just not hitting the mark. The response rate was low, momentum was missing, and I was feeling not too confident about finding the right talent out there.

Luckily, Prakhar — my then hiring manager and design function leader — was a solid partner in the talent search process and gave me space to experiment.

More than anything, it felt like I was trying to connect with a community that I didn’t fully understand, and this was something that had to change, ASAP.

I needed to understand their world, their motivations, and even their frustrations. This meant a drastic step outside my comfort zone as a recruiter.

PATH I TOOK

Since the traditional method of outreach was not working, my approach to understanding the community had to be different. Hence the gatecrashing, where I began attending design events and mixers for the design community.

But my biggest breakthrough was through my friend Hardik Unadkat. He helped me get into a massive design convention through his network, and this simple act was the game-changer in my journey of understanding designers better.

It was all new and fascinating for me — being in those rooms, listening to designers share their work, talk about design systems, jam on typography, and joke about Figma.

I wasn’t there to pitch. I was there to learn.

And somewhere along the way, I started getting curious about doing more than just attending events. I wanted to contribute.

At most of these events, I was the only recruiter in the room.

I started with small design mixers — casual hangouts with no agenda. Just conversations.

It felt a bit awkward at first. I remember one designer looking at me and asking, “What are you doing here, bro?” Fair question. I told him that I wasn’t there to hire but to simply observe and learn how designers think, work, and build.

Shubham Bhatt, a good friend and former designer at Quizizz, nudged me to check out DesignUp — one of the biggest design conferences in India. So I signed up, and that’s where things really clicked.

I had some meaningful discussions with designers — not about roles, but about the work they cared about. I remember one conversation over coffee where we spoke about Quizizz’s accessibility efforts and how we were building accommodations for differently-abled learners. It was the first time I talked about our product like that — not as a recruiter, but just someone genuinely excited about what we were building.

BEYOND THE BUZZ

We brought together some of the best product designers in Bangalore for real, unfiltered conversations about design. No slides. No company pitches. Just a room full of people talking shop.

Putting it together wasn’t easy. Hosting an event for designers, as a recruiter, came with its own challenges. I didn’t want it to feel like just another meetup. I wanted it to be fun, thoughtful, and worth everyone’s time.

And in the end, it worked. Not because it was flashy, but because it felt real.

MY LEARNINGS

By getting involved in the design community, I wasn’t just trying to fill roles — I was trying to understand the people behind the work. Over time, designers who would’ve ignored a cold message started reaching out, curious about Quizizz, the team, and what we were building. Some ended up joining us. Others referred folks or stayed in touch.

More than anything, it changed the way I think about recruiting. It’s not just about sourcing — it’s about showing up, being part of the space, and building real relationships.

It also taught me that hiring doesn’t start with a job description or a cold message — it starts with context. With understanding how people work, what they care about, and why they do what they do.

So if you’re a recruiter struggling to hire for a function you don’t fully understand, here’s my two cents:

“Get in the room. Be awkward. Ask questions. And most importantly, just listen”

Because when you stop trying to recruit and start connecting, everything changes.