Interviews from Heaven, Hell, and Comedy Central -- Series #5, On Spec
Doing spec work is a slippery slope for those interviewing. If requested early in the process, that can be a red flag. Some companies are simply looking for fresh ideas and free labor. Being handed a document and told, "Give it an edit. Let's see what you can do," not only mistrusts your past experience but suggests the company doesn't want to pay for the service. That's a far cry from being advised, late in the selection process, that as a finalist, you will be sent a corporate scenario or creative brief to see how you would approach a challenge.
I've encountered two such situations that landed me the job -- mostly, I think, because I did more than what was asked, faster than expected.
The first instance occurred early in my career, as I applied for a copywriter role at a newspaper. After several conversations and meetings, I was asked to develop two campaigns using research data. One was to sell newspaper advertising to the national travel industry. The other, I don't remember.
The situation was somewhat preposterous. I had just moved to San Francisco. Half my things were still packed or in transit. I didn't know my way around the city. Didn't know the market. Didn't know the industry. I did have a sense of imagination and was fearless in my thinking, being too naive to play it safe. I figured anything that made a data book less boring couldn't be all bad. I also figured it would be easier to show than tell. So, I combined my love of poetry with the remnants of a psychedelic culture and invited travel advertisers to visit Xanadu.
As I recall, I positioned the newspaper as part of this remarkable realm... able to reach an elusive audience endowed with income, education, home ownership, high-end cars, and credit card holdings. I discovered these people were travelers, so I aligned national stats with reader profiles. I wasn't sure what I was doing, but it seemed logical.
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This was at a time before personal computers, so the process was slow and labor intensive. I remember buying press type to create visually appealing headlines and using my own photo prints to illustrate. I went to a quick-copy shop and had it bound into a nice folder, turned it in before deadline, and waited. I got the job.
Years later, I applied for a Promotion Manager position and survived the winnowing process. The hiring executive said they would send me a hypothetical company overview with competitive information and expected a promotional plan on very fast turnaround. “Sounds great,” I said confidently, not realizing a FedEx would arrive the next day. (Here's the humor and perhaps, consolation for new parents.) When the packet arrived, I had an infant in one arm and was stirring something for dinner, with the other. I opened the packet on the kitchen counter using my elbow to hold the pages. Just then, the phone rang. The caller wanted to make sure I had received their information and could get it back to them in 48 hours. “No problem,” I answered – after which, I near-panicked. I was still working full time, had pressing deadlines, and two young children who needed care. But, hey, sleep is over-rated.
Luckily, I noticed an anniversary date in the corporate profile and built a year-long campaign around it. The following week, I was asked to present it, which I did to a group of managers. But here comes the irony: One of the people in the room was introduced as a “Consultant,” who I assumed, supported Sales. I purposely established eye contact with him, giving him a knowing nod from time to time when I mentioned rates or revenue. It wasn’t until I had worked at the company for more than a year that I learned who the person was. He was a shrink, and I was being psycho-analyzed during the presentation. My reaction bounced between anger and amusement – irked in that I hadn’t been told but finding it funny because it never crossed my mind.
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