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Danny Martinez

What Danny Martinez thinks about hiring

@danny-martinez · 19 positions · 0 changes of mind

Co-founder and CEO of Decimals, the scout network for hiring designers that powers the Dive Talent Network.

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Danny Martinez did not write this page.

We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.

15 dated positions, 2026, in their own words. Our reading of what Danny Martinez has said — not written or endorsed by them.

  1. Our readingHiring managers can ask for a "design engineer" and mean two very different people: a designer who knows how to use Claude Code, or someone trained as an engineer who can design for themselves.

    Anthropicdesignmanagement

    Their wordsThe way I kind of simplified my mind is like do you want a designer that knows how to use claw code because there's plenty of those or you want somebody who trained as an engineer, has background as an engineer that can design for themselves. Those are two very different profiles, but the same nomenclature gets used to like identify them.

    ↗Danny Martinez - Thriving in today’s design job marketyoutube.com 1st of 19 in this recording

  3. Our readingThe general theme from hiring managers is that they want a tinkerer who uses the latest tools and is reimagining what it means to be a designer.

    designmanagement

    Their wordsI think the the general theme that comes back is I want someone that is a tinkerer, you know, is using the latest tools, is reimagining what it means to be a designer.

    ↗Danny Martinez - Thriving in today’s design job marketyoutube.com 2nd of 19 in this recording

  5. Our readingBeing ex-FAANG used to carry a lot more weight; it is still some signal that you can interview well.

    Their wordsI think there was a world before where you know being exfang being it had a lot more weight to it. I'm not saying it's not important at all anymore because it's I guess still some signal that you can interview well

    ↗Danny Martinez - Thriving in today’s design job marketyoutube.com 5th of 19 in this recording

  7. Our readingHiring managers' bias is to doubt that someone who spent five to ten years at FAANG has really been at the forefront, pushing and tinkering.

    management

    Their wordsI think people's biases go towards like hey you know if they've been at fang for like 5 10 years then have they really been at the forefront have they really been pushing have they really been tinkering

    ↗Danny Martinez - Thriving in today’s design job marketyoutube.com 6th of 19 in this recording

  9. Our readingIn hiring, credentials and the resume used to matter more, and their weight is now far below where it has ever been.

    Their wordsI think kind of what's happening is that in this old world, it was more about the credentials and the resume. And I'm not saying that stuff has completely gone away or it doesn't matter at all, but the waiting of it is way below where it where it ever has been.

    ↗Danny Martinez - Thriving in today’s design job marketyoutube.com 7th of 19 in this recording

  11. Our readingIf you apply cold, you had better have something to prove, such as writing or work that shows rather than tells.

    Their wordsif you're applying for a jobs, if you're doing it cold, you better have something to prove. You better have some writing out there or something that you've done that shows rather than tells

    ↗Danny Martinez - Thriving in today’s design job marketyoutube.com 8th of 19 in this recording

  13. Our readingBeing able to put your thinking into writing that does not read as written by Claude is a green flag in a design candidate.

    Anthropicdesign

    Their wordsFor me, it's such a green flag. If you can put your thinking into writing and I can get through it and not think that it was written by Claude, that is green flag.

    ↗Danny Martinez - Thriving in today’s design job marketyoutube.com 9th of 19 in this recording

  15. Our readingThe most valuable thing you can do as a hiring manager is understand how someone thinks.

    Their wordsthat I think is the most valuable thing that you can do as a hiring manager is understand how someone thinks.

    ↗Danny Martinez - Thriving in today’s design job marketyoutube.com 10th of 19 in this recording

  17. Our readingA Figma, slides or Dribble link as a portfolio does not necessarily rule you out, but with one chance at a first impression you start by overcoming the impression it creates.

    design

    Their wordsMy take on it is I don't think it necessarily rules you out as a good designer, but I think I and I stick to this. You have one chance to create a first impression. You don't get a second chance to create a first impression. And if you're one of 50 and somebody's scrolling through quickly and the first thing that they get is a Figma link or a dribble, even if it's amazing work, you're already having to overcome that like initial impression that it's created.

    ↗Danny Martinez - Thriving in today’s design job marketyoutube.com 11th of 19 in this recording

  19. Our readingA portfolio that could be one-shotted, or that looks very familiar next to someone else's, is going to put hiring managers off.

    management

    Their wordsif you feel like your portfolio can be oneshotted or that it looks very familiar to someone else's portfolio that's going to put hiring managers off.

    ↗Danny Martinez - Thriving in today’s design job marketyoutube.com 12th of 19 in this recording

  21. Our readingHiring managers need to snap out of the old way of hiring and realize they are competing for a good designer, who will probably have their pick of offers.

    designmanagement

    Their wordsyou kind of need to snap out of that and you need to realize that you're competing for this person. If they're good, they're probably going to have their pick of offers.

    ↗Danny Martinez - Thriving in today’s design job marketyoutube.com 14th of 19 in this recording

  23. Our readingEight or nine interviews of 45 minutes, with different people asking variations of the same question, give nothing valuable.

    Their wordsThere is nothing valuable that you get from giving me 8 n 45 minute interviews with different people that are all asking me different variations of the same question.

    ↗Danny Martinez - Thriving in today’s design job marketyoutube.com 15th of 19 in this recording

  25. Our readingHaving a recruiter, who is not a designer, do the first screen for a design job is not the right way to do it.

    design

    Their wordsMost companies do the recruiter screen first, but I don't I just don't think that's the right way of doing it because you are putting somebody who is not a designer and you're getting them to do a screen for a design job.

    ↗Danny Martinez - Thriving in today’s design job marketyoutube.com 16th of 19 in this recording

  27. Our readingA company hiring a designer is not hiring a politician or spokesperson, so it should just get into the design work.

    design

    Their wordsYou're not hiring me to be a politician. You're not hiring me to be a spokesperson. You are hiring a designer. And so just get into the design work.

    ↗Danny Martinez - Thriving in today’s design job marketyoutube.com 17th of 19 in this recording

  29. Our readingA resume and a job description are really not worth the paper they are written on as a way to match people to jobs.

    Their wordshey we need to create the perfect algorithm that finds a match between a resume and a job description. A year into this what I have actually realized is that those two artifacts are really really not worth the paper that they've written on.

    ↗Danny Martinez - Thriving in today’s design job marketyoutube.com 19th of 19 in this recording