AKQA Interview Questions & Reviews

Interview Details – One phone interview and onsite interview. Awful experience in both. Phone interview : recruiter was disengaged, created awkward silences, and didn't know specifics about the position.

Onsite interview: HR interviewer was delightful and fun. Recruiter was unprofessional, plopped into the chair and asked me if I had any questions for her. Whether she instantly knew I wasn't the one or not, creating a good interview experience is important.

Let them know I wasn't interested.

Interview Details – Communication was fast. The interviews were actually pleasant. The offer was unreasonably low, however. The people I met were very genuine and intelligent. Interviewed with managers, and senior developers. Went over some architecture concepts, work history, hobbies and interests, etc. They offered to answer all of my questions also.

The building seemed ok. They made me an offer the same day following the interview. The recruiter seemed dishonest about salary bracketing, since it was in the bottom 10%.

Reason for Declining – Salary was much too low.

Interview Details – My experience might be a bit different from a lot of people applying to AKQA. I was referred in by a friend who submitted my resume straight to the director/hiring manager of the position. She immediately told recruiters to bring me in. I had a short phone conversation with the recruiter and was brought in the week after.

I was told that I was going to be interviewed by four people, Director of Search, Sr Campaign Mgr, Account Exec, and Account Director.

I ended up only meeting with everyone but the Acct Director, who was not in the office. Most of the questions weren't very hard and mainly had me describe my experience. At the end of the interview, I was given a soft offer.

Negotiation Details – They have a set range for salaries for each position. Not uncommon but it is a very strict range that doesn't take into pass experience or industry standard for salary negotiation. I was lucky enough to get 10% more than the maximum offered but initially was looking for at least 20%-30% more. This is pretty much a decision by the finance team as I was told by the recruiter.

Interview Details – Ridiculous. Four interviews back to back of 30 minutes.
You answer the same questions over and over again.
Interviewers had not reviewed resume or experience in advance.
It felt like four, first round, interviews as none of the feedback was fedback or reviewed before the next interview approached, so the interviews could dig any deeper than surface questions in 30 minutes.

Interview Details – Phone screening then in person interview. Interview was 2 hours long and met with five different people.

Interview Details – Everyone was completely wonderful. I met with 3 or 4 people, had a nice chat in their cafe - very casual. They'd already seen my book so I walked them through a couple pieces and talked about work in this industry in general. They got back to me pretty quickly and made an offer. Such a great agency.

Interview Details – The interview process was fairly easy. I got referred by a friend within the same day I got a call to be invited for an interview. I then was sent a train ticket to come down. At the interview I was just sat in a room and drilled on questions about my portfolio, what I thought about the company, and if I was truly interested in the position for the client they were currently servicing. Shortly after the interview I was notified that I'll get an email the next day.

The next day I was emailed an offer letter indicating salary, benefits, etc. I was only given about 2 weeks to find a place and come down so that was awkward but things worked out.

Negotiation Details – I wasn't able to negotiate my offer but if there were someone trying to go in for this role I'd definitely tell them to negotiate as much as possible because AKQA do not give bonuses or raises very often that will increase your salary in a reasonable way.

Interview Details – Communication was easy with their creative recruiting manager. He was very straight forward in his talks with me. He knew he wanted me and made every effort to get me there. Set me up with the right folks to speak to about culture, talent, work/life balance, etc. etc. Salary negotiation was effortless. It's worth mentioning that the recruiting manager I worked with is no longer with the company.

Negotiation Details – Extra 2k in salary. Moving stipend of 1k.

Interview Details – I met a recruiter at a social event. She took my information and set up the interview with the director and key staff. I came in for a 1 hour group interview and then spent an hour with the director. I walked through my portfolio and answered questions. The team was interested in my client-facing skills and ability to bring visual design touches to traditional IA documentation. Once the interview was set up it was a very comfortable experience. It was not very structured, and was very conversational in nature. There were no design challenges or requests to show my process. The UX team is a part of the Creative department, but the UX Director makes the final decision on all new-hires. Since arriving I have interviewed one candidate, and also found that experience to be very casual. Prospective employees may be well-served by preparing a list of questions relating to the work, team structure and reporting. They should be prepared to walk through their portfolio and talk about the decision-making process for designs. This is an important aspect on which candidates are judged.

Negotiation Details – AKQA is notorious for making low initial offers and hiring people at a position one level lower than the job they are leaving. They will negotiate, and it is helpful to be able to express what problems you will be able to solve for them in the role you are taking. If you are multi-disciplined, you may be able to command a higher salary. I was able to get them to come up by almost 10% from their initial offer, but could not get additional days off or perks. I was able to negotiate a sign-on bonus, but if I left within 12 months I had to pay it back (prorated by month).