Questines for interview with young agency
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- TheGreatGlorpo
If you were interviewing for a new opportunity with a small but growing design agency roughly 3 years into their existence, what questions would you be sure to ask of them?
Thinking:
- Revenue forecasts and growth
- What’s the new business development process like?
- Avg $ per project
- Stability of existing clients
- industries they target
- What made them leave great agencies to start something newThis is all before standard stuff about PTO, health care plans, retirement investment, etc.
What other questions would you ask of them to help you decide whether it’s a good, safe, promising opportunity?
- shapesalad-3
What's their ultimate goal/exit strategy?
Ideally they want to make amazing work and charge a vast fee for it, allowing after several years everyone in the company to retire on a $1m+ bonus.
- Also they might want to build up the agency to then sell to WPP in a couple years time = your job there goes down the toilet.shapesalad
- why the down votes? Why else start a business!shapesalad
- Maaku4
I love interview questions, it brings out the jargon bs no one uses on a daily basis, makes everyone seem so smart and intelectual... And then you start working with them.
- Maaku0
With that being said.
- Industry they target (yes)
- Stability of existing clients, but also how often do they search for and/or accept new clients.
- Ask about planning and execution. How do they organize themselves and what tool do they use for managing?
- How do they deal with drama and rockstars?
- Kind of environment? Is it a bunch of workaholics that never go back to their homes, or the typical creative millennials that drink everyday?
- Benefits, and what do they bring to the table to compensate for the lack of.
- You want to skip the bullshit and see how they really are, so ask anything and everything that comes up.
- monospaced0
I've never asked what a company's profits are, or what they charge clients during an interview. I would think those things are sort of off limits for interviewees, or not transparent to all employees.
- agreed.utopian
- Don't you want to know if an employer is in a financial mess or not?shapesalad
- I've joined a company and left after 3m, but had I stayed 2 more months I'd have had to deal with no pay check - a they got into a financial mess.shapesalad
- They'll never tell you if they are... come on.ben_
- ben_0
/\ I don't think he asked companies profits or billings... Did I read wrong or not read something?
Forcasting and growth, imo are fair game as the answer doesn't have to be incredibly transparent.
i.e.
"We've got three clients who are signed on for 18months worth of work, one is a retainer relationship and the other two are large project based. You're going to be supporting all three...
As far as growth, we want to get to 2m in revenue by next year and 10 in year five, but we're more interested in sustainable, scaleable growth than we are in growing too fast with the wrong partners. "
"oh, you meant you want to see our books? fuck off."
- your'e right, I must've read wrong ... I took "revenue forecast" as if it meant "how much money are you making"monospaced
- jtb260
Ask them how many employees they expect to have in 1, 3, 5 and 10 years.
If they waffle then they have no idea what they are doing.
- i_monk2
Don't come at them with questions that spell out your doubts or reservations, one. They aren't looking to reassure you, they're looking to hire you, and as far as they're concerned they have the upper hand in that interaction. You don't want them leaving the interview thinking you're unimpressed by their operation or worried it'll collapse.
Instead, ask about prospects for promotion within the company. That shows you're thinking long-ish term, and can see yourself sticking around. E.g. is there a defined hierarchy, does the position lead to higher rungs in the organization, that sort of thing.
Ask if it's a new position. This will tell you either they're growing (yes), if the previous person was promoted (good), or the circumstances for why there is a vacancy (could be good or bad).
- This is good advice, but if they're that new many of these questions will be hard, if not impossible to answer.ben_