Prepping for your Agency Interview
It doesn’t take as much as you think to stand out. I’m a firm believer that the difference between average and great is a willingness to try just a bit harder. That bit of extra effort may reap huge rewards.
As eROI has grown over the years, I’ve had the chance to interview and hire several talented people. I’ve seen countless candidates from both sides of the “effort spectrum.” The agency job market is competitive and as Portland continues to be a hotbed of opportunity, drawing top talent from around the country, the competition will only intensify.
The good news is, there are some basic things you can do leading up to, during and after your interview to better position yourself amongst the job-seeking competition. Here are some obvious, some not-so-obvious and some I-can’t-believe-people-don’t-know-this tips to land your coveted spot at an agency.
LANDING YOUR INTERVIEW
KNOW YOUR STRENGTHS, CHOOSE YOUR PATH
More so applicable to those early in their careers, it is critical as you explore job opportunities to know where your specific education, experience and skillset best fit into the agency model. Too often, those seeking entry to mid-level agency jobs do so with the idea that they’ll take any available job, as long as it gets them hired. It’s important to understand the multitude of disciplines and departments that exist within agencies and intentionally choose the right path for you. Whether that be in Strategy, Accounts, Performance, or the several Creative disciplines, you need to understand your own skills and the area in which you can add the most value to the agency. Once you choose that path, explore, research and pursue that path with intention.
USE YOUR NETWORK
The job market is competitive, has been, and will continue to be. For open agency positions, you are often an email and resumé amongst a sea of emails and resumés, where the struggle to be noticed is very real. Because of this, the importance of building and utilizing a professional network is as important as ever, not just for landing a job, but simply landing an interview. A surefire way to get yourself to the top of an applicant pool is to utilize a connection within your network to recommend you to a hiring manager. Don’t underestimate someone in your network who might be connected with the people in the agencies you’re seeking employment with. For that reason, I believe LinkedIn is an excellent tool to utilize. As a hiring manager, references about potential candidates from people I trust go a long, long way.
BE INTENTIONAL IN YOUR COMMUNICATION
When applying for a job, do not send generic, boilerplate emails and cover letters. That is worth repeating. When applying for a job, do not send generic, boilerplate emails and cover letters.
When applying, your email should be specific and personalized to the opportunity. It should be directed personally to the hiring manager, when possible. Your cover letter needs to be written in regards to that specific position. Explain why you are a great fit. Avoid “My name is Matt and I’m applying for the position available at your company.” If you submit the same cover letter for every job, expect your search to take longer than anticipated.
PREPARING FOR YOUR INTERVIEW
So you’ve landed an interview. Time for the actual work to start. Believe it or not, there’s a lot more you can do than print out your resumé and cross your fingers as you prep for your agency interview. It doesn’t take much to stand out from competing candidates.
ASK HOW TO PREPARE
Always ask the person who set up the interview how you can best prepare. It’s perfectly acceptable and a smart move to get clarification around what you’ll be expected to speak to and topics you should be prepared to cover. You may not get specific questions to focus on, but a good hiring manager should provide insight into the experience and skills they’re hoping you possess. Just this small bit of insight and preparation can have a huge impact on your interview.
KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE
Sometimes you’ll be meeting one-on-one with a hiring manager. Other times it may be a small group and sometimes you may be getting interviewed by an entire department. To help mentally prepare, it’s always a good idea to know exactly what type of interview you’re walking into and who you’ll be meeting with. Ask ‘Who can I expect to meet with?’ and do a bit of research, either on the agency website or on LinkedIn to get a sense of who they are and what they do. You’ll feel more confident entering the interview and your interviewers will get a sense that you’ve done your homework.
DO YOUR HOMEWORK
Speaking of homework, do some. Read about your prospective agency/employer wherever and however you can. Pour over their websiteand familiarize yourself with some of their current clients and projects. Look at their social channels, new campaign launches, recent awards… anything relevant and topical that you may be able to speak to in your interview. An agency worth their salt will expect you to know a lot about them before you can expect to join them.
IN YOUR INTERVIEW
There are some no-brainers; speak confidently and articulately, make consistent eye contact, be personable yet professional, and dress for the opportunity you’re interviewing for. Here are some less obvious (or just as obvious) insights to help when it comes to the interview itself.
TELL STORIES
Telling interviewers you have a certain skillset is one tactic. Telling a story that illustrates those skills in action is an entirely different and dramatically more effective tactic. Don’t ask me, ask science. The fact is, our brains become much more active when telling or hearing a story and there’s no better way to engage your interviewers and get them interested than to have stories about positive experiences in your career that illustrate what you’re capable of and how you’ve been successful. Try to think of, practice, and keep in your back pocket a small handful of stories that you can draw on in any interview.
TAKE NOTES
This is tricky because, while you want to be actively engaged, maintaining eye contact, and participating in the conversation, you also want to capture in writing any important insights that may be helpful later. If meeting with more than one person, try to capture a specific thing you learned about them or something they said. You don’t need to write War and Peace, you just need to jot down a word or two that will help you recall the things that were said. This will come into play after you interview.
HAVE QUESTIONS PREPARED
I cannot explain how many interviews I’ve seen where the interview offers up, “Do you have any questions for me/us?” and the candidate’s response is, “No, I think you guys answered everything.” or “No, I think I’m good.”
It’s a death sentence. You are not getting hired. Always come to an interview with thoughtful questions prepared in advance. This is where your upfront research can come into play as you ask questions around specific clients, projects or news you read about the agency. For example, “I noticed you recently launched a loyalty campaign for (insert client). What was the process of creating that campaign like and how does this role fit into that process?”
ASK FOR BUSINESS CARDS
It’s more than likely that, in whatever order or format, you met with more than one person. In each instance, ask for the business cards of whomever you met or are meeting with. This is easier and cleaner than asking everyone for their names and email addresses during or after the interview and will have you prepared for the important next step: the follow up.
POST INTERVIEW
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, FOLLOW UP
There are varying schools of thought on how much time should pass before you follow up via email. You shouldn’t think too much about this as your best bet is to follow up while you’re still near top-of-mind, ideally within 1–2 days of your interview. Don’t wait beyond that. If your interview was on a Friday, follow up at the end of that day rather than waiting until Monday. In terms of how to follow up, handwritten notes may be have been the norm in the olden days, but personally I find a thoughtful email to be sufficient.
DON’T OVERDO IT
Don’t be overeager. Don’t stalk. Don’t over communicate. It’s perfectly normal if you don’t hear back right away.Send your follow-up thank you and chill out. You could easily annoy your way right out of a job.
REACH OUT INDIVIDUALLY
Avoid simply thanking the main hiring manager and then copying and pasting the same email to each person you met with. The people you’re following up with each took time from their day to meet with you, so you should send each of them an individual and personalized thank you email. It doesn’t have to be tremendously long, just a short note that thanks them for the opportunity, reinforces your excitement about the role and includes something specific about them. Which brings us to…
USE YOUR NOTES AND BE SPECIFIC
Remember the notes you took during your interview that probably looked more like random scribbles than carefully cultivated notes? Now is the time to use what you learned or heard from the individuals you met with to craft a brief and personalized follow-up.
HIRED OR NOT, DON’T QUIT
KEEP IN CONTACT
Did you get an offer? Fan-freakin-tastic!
Did this opportunity not work out? Don’t fret. Agencies are constantly growing and evolving, with new opportunities available across several layers of talent and experience all the time. If you are not selected for a particular agency opportunity, indicate that you would like to be considered for future opportunities. Periodically, keep in touch with the hiring manager via email or social networks (especially LinkedIn). I’ve seen candidates be turned down for a job and, just a few short weeks later, be offered a different job that just became available; one that better fits their experience and skill set. It can take winning just one new client to require an agency to quickly add a variety of new members. If you made a good impression and kept in consistent contact, you should be high on the list when the time comes.