The short version
Evaluation happens in three passes: the reel filters taste, the call filters thinking, and the first week filters reliability. Most hires fail on the third.
What is really going on
Taste is the cheapest thing to verify and the least predictive of a smooth project.
Thinking shows up in how someone describes a project that went badly — vague answers usually mean they were downstream of every decision.
Reliability is invisible until a deadline moves, which is why references from producers matter more than references from other designers.
How to handle it
Watch reels with sound off. If the work still reads, the pacing and hierarchy are genuinely designed.
Ask for one project explained end to end: brief, constraint, decision, result.
Confirm the working rhythm before the contract — review cadence, file naming, where versions live and who is allowed to give feedback.
The takeaway
A great evaluation is mostly a rehearsal of the working relationship, not a review of finished films.