Perkins & Will interview process & guide 2026
Everything we know about interviewing at Perkins & Will: the process stage by stage, what each round tests, compensation by level, and reports from candidates who interviewed.
- 1Initial HR screening and outreach
- 2Initial assessment and culture fit
- 3Interviews with supervisors and/or senior leaders
- 4Practical or tool assessment (optional in some locations)
- 5On-site and final panel interviews
- 6Feedback and decision
Interviewing at Perkins & Will
You should expect an interview process that mixes HR conversations, formal panel discussions, and role-specific technical validation. The prominence of Portfolio Presentation and Communication Skills suggests you are expected to explain your work clearly, not just complete tasks.
Across the extracted topic data, the loop tests Portfolio Presentation (including UX/UI and general portfolio work), Systems Engineering, Marketing Analytics, and CAD and Revit. It also tests Project Management Fundamentals, stakeholder management, design thinking or rationale explanation, and project experience summarization, which aligns with interview questions that assess how you communicate decisions and reasoning.
Your timeline can vary. Reports indicate you may get feedback and offers within days, or you may experience a longer process that can take several weeks, and some locations include practical CAD or Revit assessments.
Portfolio Presentation is the single most prominent topic area (percentile 100 for UX/UI portfolio presentation), and it also shows up again at high prominence for portfolio work in general. That means your ability to present your thinking and outcomes is a core scoring dimension, alongside communication and rationale explanation.
How hard is the Perkins & Will interview?
Aggregated from 174 interview experiencesAbout 1 in 2 candidates with a known outcome convert.
The interview process, end to end
6 rounds · based on 174 candidate reports- 1Initial HR screening and outreach
You likely start with an HR manager or recruiter conversation to discuss your background, career goals, basic qualifications, and in some cases salary expectations. Some reports also describe an initial outreach as a video call or phone conversation with an HR business partner or recruiter.
- 2Initial assessment and culture fit
Reports describe an initial assessment to evaluate your technical background and fit for the role. One role reports a culture fit assessment focused on technical competency and alignment with a collaborative studio-based environment.
- 3Interviews with supervisors and/or senior leaders
You may have a first round conversational interview with your direct supervisor and possibly an office manager, centered on your resume and past experiences. Reports also describe formal panel interviews by senior leaders where you present your portfolio and discuss your management philosophy.
- 4Practical or tool assessment (optional in some locations)
Some locations include a practical CAD or Revit assessment to verify technical skills. This aligns with CAD (percentile 100) and Revit (percentile 91) appearing as prominent technical topics in the extracted question data.
- 5On-site and final panel interviews
Reports include on-site interviews at the local studio, plus on-site tours and meetings with additional project managers and team members. There may also be second round panel interviews with additional team members and department leads, including behavioral questions and scenario-based problem-solving, and one to three rounds overall with managing directors and design principals.
- 6Feedback and decision
After the interviews, reports indicate you may receive feedback and offers within days, or experience a longer process that takes several weeks. The aggregated candidate data shows an offer rate of 0.0%, so plan your timeline accordingly.
What Perkins & Will actually tests for
How prominent each skill is across reported loopsFind the guide for your role
This is your next step: open the guide for the role you are interviewing for. Each one carries the questions Perkins & Will interviewers actually ask that position, the loop structure, and pay by level.
Real interview experiences
What candidates said about the loop, difficulty, and outcomes, straight from recent reports for these roles.
What Perkins & Will pays, by level
Estimated total compensation: base salary plus stock and annual cash bonus.
What separates offers from rejections
Patterns from candidates who got offers, and the mistakes that most often sink a loop.
Do this
- Prepare a portfolio narrative that connects your decisions to outcomes, because design thinking or rationale explanation and project experience summarization are highly prominent topics. Practice explaining tradeoffs and what you would do differently.
- Be ready for technical walkthroughs around CAD and Revit if your role touches those areas, since CAD and Revit each appear at very high prominence in the topic data. If there is a practical assessment, align your prep to CAD/Revit workflows.
- For project or stakeholder-heavy roles, rehearse scenario-based answers that demonstrate project management fundamentals plus stakeholder management. Use clear communication of scope, risks, and next steps.
- Treat communication as part of the technical evaluation, because Communication Skills and Executive/Leadership Communication are prominent and paired with portfolio and rationale discussions. Speak in a structured way, then confirm understanding and align on the next question.
Avoid this
- Do not assume the process is only behavioral or only technical. The topic data shows a heavy mix of portfolio presentation, technical domains like systems engineering and analytics, and soft-skill areas like communication and leadership.
- Do not focus on showing work without explaining reasoning. Design thinking or rationale explanation and project experience summarization are prominent, so listeners will expect you to articulate why you chose a particular approach.
- Do not go in without a plan for CAD/Revit if the role connects to those tools. CAD (percentile 100) and Revit (percentile 91) also suggest they may test tool-specific competence through interview questions and sometimes practical assessments.
- Do not expect offers to be fast or guaranteed. Candidate report offer rate is 0.0%, and feedback and offers are described as variable, ranging from within days to several weeks.
Perkins & Will interview FAQ
Answered from real candidate and workplace dataHow hard are interviews here?
Based on 174 candidate reports, most reported difficulty is medium (62.0%) or easy (31.6%). Hard is 5.8% and very hard is 0.6%.
What is the offer rate?
In the provided candidate reports, the offer rate is 0.0%. Separately, positive sentiment is 61.8%, and reports mention that feedback and offers can happen within days or take several weeks.
What should I prioritize in my prep?
Prioritize Portfolio Presentation because it is the most prominent topic area at percentile 100 for UX/UI portfolio presentation and also high for portfolio presentation overall. Also prioritize communication and rationale explanation, since those appear at very high prominence.
Is there a practical assessment?
In some locations, reports indicate you may complete a CAD or Revit assessment to verify technical skills. Separately, CAD and Revit are both listed among the highest prominence technical topics.
How long does the process take?
Feedback and offers may come within days, or the process may take several weeks. The process includes multiple steps that can include initial HR screening, assessment, interviews, and potentially on-site or practical components.
Do people get feedback even if they do not get an offer?
Reports explicitly mention that you may receive feedback and offers. Since offer rate is 0.0% in the aggregated data, you should still expect feedback could be part of the experience, but you should not count on an offer.
What people say about Perkins & Will
Verbatim snippets from employee and candidate reviews“The management team creates a toxic environment, treating employees poorly and prioritizing profits over people, leading to frequent layoffs.”
“While the projects are beautiful and colleagues are amazing, the negative aspects of management overshadow these positives.”
“To genuinely support employees, management should demonstrate their commitment through actions rather than words and move away from a hire-and-fire culture.”
“Despite its strong reputation and talented workforce, there is a troubling disconnect between the company's promoted values and the actual employee experience.”
“Employees are expected to be deeply committed to the firm, yet that commitment is not always reciprocated, leading to inconsistent recognition and unclear career advancement.”
“Management should focus on genuinely improving the firm’s culture by listening to employees, increasing transparency, and ensuring that the values presented externally are reflected internally.”
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