Applied because I’m a digital marketing manager, only to find out that they’re trying to hire one person to do 2-3 people’s jobs. The interview process was with both owners and a sales person. The owners really didn’t seem to grasp the purpose of WHY they wanted someone in this job, but the account exec did, as she was younger (likely had a better grasp on the power of digital marketing from a sales standpoint). They were really seeking an experiential marketing designer, and didn’t seem to understand the difference between that type of role and a “standard” digital marketing manager. I was asked what kind of experiential marketing I could suggest to clients, and told them that each account would differ by what said account’s company did, what industry they were in, and what they were trying to sell. You might want a mini pond for people to walk through wearing a rain boot company’s shoes. You wouldn’t offer that experience to an ice cream company-it is based on relevance. They seemed to be under the impression that “experiential marketing” is a one size fits all category. The interview kept going in this direction, and it was clear they need a digital marketing manager AND an experiential marketing manager.
I think they ultimately know they need to go digital and add tech/experiential offerings in order to stay competitive, but it felt like they didn’t really grasp what digital marketing is, what social media can do, or why it is helpful. The actual process was unorganized-I don’t think they were prepared to interview, as the questions generally didn’t have anything to do with digital marketing, and I kept getting interrupted by new questions that veered off on multiple directions. At one point, I was asked what promotional products I’d get for the company, and at that point, I knew the owners really didn’t understand what they were doing or looking for. Physical promotional products are somewhat outdated, and have nothing to do with the digital marketing space. Was pretty much a mess.
I left knowing I wouldn’t take a job if it were offered, because you’d be in a role that the heads of the company didn’t feel they needed, but that they had to hire. Ultimately, I never even got a rejection email, which falls in line with feedback I’d gotten from people who know the company, and had told me it was unorganized and somewhat unprofessional from an operating standpoint. Shouldn’t have taken the interview in the first place knowing this, but it definitely helped me snag the job I have now, as it taught me how to handle an unorganized interview where nobody seems to know what’s going on.