Q&A with Honest London Founder: Red Flags when finding a job at an agency
Founder Lauren has over 10 years experience when it comes to digital marketing, celebrity management, comms and PR. After experiencing working in-house and client side for a variety of agencies, Lauren set the goal of creating a friendly, honest agency with the overall goal of having not only a fun work environment and never experiencing ‘the dread’ again for herself, dog and colleagues but working with brands/people that truly interest her especially if they’re considered taboo/troublesome.
1. How much do you know about the agency?
L:It can be very easy to look on LinkedIn, see a job with “easy apply” and think ‘cracking.’
Applying for a job is a big deal, it’s where you spend up to 40 hours a week. That’s a really long time to be in the wrong place.. Let me tell you, agency experiences really vary.
I’d suggest checking out the website and experience as this gives you an idea what the agency is and stands for… Are the clients all luxury? This could suggest the agency is… Professionally speaking “Snobby”.. I enjoy a McDonalds and don’t want to work somewhere I feel ashamed enjoying a nugg.
With the experience you can tell if the agency is on the junior side (great for new careers out of University) or very experienced with international/national experiences (great for those who have had 4+ years experience). Never rush into a role without researching.
2. Don’t always fall for what they tell you at the interview - press to find out about the people and who your team will be.
L:A job interview at an agency is a really key way to see how the agency treats its potential clients in the initial meetings. This is important, I’ve stopped a job interview with the rudeness of the founder of a SEO/PPC agency once as it was a waste of mine and his time. If he was this rude to me (passive aggressive, belittling me, comments I’m female doing SEO/PPC) when trying to impress me, what on earth is he like to clients and staff? Never forget a job interview is a two way street, it’s just as much for you to judge the the agency.
I had a role at a PR agency to simply gain more experience… Being transparent.. Hated it and it was my fault. It wasn’t suitable for me at all, I ignored the red flags at the interview (interview in the co-working area not in office/attitude of founders in the interview). The clients were very fancy and established and the team was very young who enjoyed working the luxury events, which is great and I get it but I’ve experienced this and ‘retired’ from it myself. In hindsight, I should have asked for the team dynamics and a tour of the office.. I would never have accepted it having seen the office.
Insist on a tour of the office or to meet the people of the agency, again going back to Q.1 … 40 HOURS A WEEK! Not only this, it’s important to find out the structure of the team to find out crucial information such as growth opportunities.
3. Challenge with some questions e.g what are the down sides about working there or what could be improved?
L: This is a key thing to ask in any job interview. For me, a red flag is any mention of workload and overtime and they try to turn it into a positive “But we all get on with it.”
This one comment would make me decline the role.. It’s not down to laziness on my part, it’s an indicator that the agency isn’t hiring enough to cover client work. This would mean you’re overworked and the clients aren’t getting the attention they deserve and are paying for… This potentially puts you in a rather shit position with the client and makes you look unprofessional at the fault of the founders. No way am I going to have a bad professional relationship with a brand because the agency wants more profit.
I might be judgemental but any answer like “we have too much fun” makes my skin crawl… Yes I’ve had that as a reply.
For me a good answer would be an honest one with a solution for example “our office set up isn’t good at the moment, we’re planning on getting a bigger one.”
4. How involved will you be with actual client work - try to understand your role with clarity so you’re not disappointed
L: This is a big one, especially if you’re looking at intern roles. Being transparent, as an intern you’ll have very limited contact with clients and most likely working on reach out/new business and basic social media actions. Many agencies will try and sell this big exciting experience to leave you incredibly disappointed.
If you’re looking at a more senior role.. In your interview, make sure to ask what clients they see you working with and what involvement you’ll have. You might have a look at the clients on the website, eye up the ones you want, get the job and instead of working on that nice hotel chain you love, you’re working with serious B2B business client.
One tip: If an agency refers to any client as “key”, for me… HUGE red flag. Every client of any size is key, it’s not good practice. One agency I worked with had a white board of their clients in the office, fine… But RANKED IN ORDER of importance.. I kid you not, if top of board client had jobs needed the other clients below would have to wait.
5. Expectations - agencies are long hours, but we don’t find that at Honest. Balance of life is key. If there’s a project, we all collaborate but you shouldn’t be expected to be working 15 hours a day
L: One thing that we don’t push at Honest is long hours or unnecessary stress to team members. If you want a day at home, do it. Got a dog? Bring the pooch in, we insist. Easier for you to start early and leave early? Sure.
We strongly believe in making staff members happy and believe every agency (all jobs in fact) should encourage a good work life balance. Not only does this benefit your wellbeing, it selfishly benefits us. If you’re happy at your job, you’ll do a better job.
We believe in being organised, transparent and open with each other, if a deadline is tough, the team will help with no judgement. No one should be nervous to tell their manager they’re finding something tough. The last thing we want is a stressed out team, our best results come from happy people.
In your interview, make sure to ask about expectations because you have every right to know what contract you’re really signing. An example: One agency I used as a client had me very concerned when I was receiving emails from the junior team gone 9pm which made it hard for me to not judge and be concerned about the agency set up.
