The scenario
Imagine a search where no firm has been targeted yet. The AI interviewer asks what nearly any interior design loop opens with no matter the specialty: why this field over architecture or another spatial discipline, how you handle a project where the client's taste and the budget don't line up, and a behavioral question about a decision you'd approach differently with what you know now.
None of it needs a real floor plan or a specific building type in front of you, which is exactly why it fits before a target firm exists.
What gets covered
Expect background and motivation questions about why this field specifically, a work-style question about balancing a client's vision against a hard budget number, and at least one behavioral scenario about a project decision you'd revisit knowing what you know now.
A coordination question rounds it out, how you work with contractors and other trades without losing the design intent, since that relationship shapes whether a project actually gets built the way it was drawn. A specific floor plan walkthrough or code question isn't part of this session, since those live in the resume-based and comprehensive practice types instead.
Scoring
How scoring applies here
Every dimension gets scored, but skipping the closing question is a specific, avoidable mistake worth watching for in this session. Firms hiring for this role tend to expect a candidate to ask something about how the studio actually splits client-facing and drafting work, and staying silent at the end reads as a lack of curiosity about the day-to-day reality of the job.
That deduction sits under the same penalty system used across every Intervieux interview. Communication and Technical carry real weight too, since a budget-tradeoff answer that stays abstract scores lower than one naming a real number or a specific material swap.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a specific firm in mind before I start this session?
No. This type is built to run with no posting or resume supplied, so it fits naturally before a firm has entered the picture at all.
Will this ask me to walk through a real space plan?
No. A space planning walkthrough belongs to the resume-based practice type, which reads your own past projects directly.
What's a smart question to leave the interviewer with?
Something about how client-facing work and drafting actually split between roles at the firm, since finishing with nothing to ask counts against the score.
How is this different from practicing against one specific listing?
This session stays general across almost any firm, while the job-description type reads one actual posting and questions its own stated requirements.
Will it ask about code compliance in any real depth?
No. Code and egress math with a checkable right answer belongs to the technical practice type, which grounds the question in a specific occupancy load and floor plan.
Related pages
Start a general interior designer interview
Work through motivation, budget tradeoffs, and contractor coordination, before you've settled on a specific firm to target.