RAPP Interview Questions & Reviews

Interview Details – I had a personal recruiting connection, which is what started the process for me. I thought it was a little odd that no one wanted to phone-screen me first. Anyway, my contact told me the hiring manager(s) thought my resume looked interesting and could make a fit, and I was invited for an in-person.

I showed up and was informed that the recruiter I had been talking with was out that day due to an emergency. I was asked who I was interviewing with - those people were contacted by reception, and I was told one of them would be with me shortly.

A half-hour late, the hiring manager shows up, visibly in a bit of a frantic, distracted state. This person brings me into a conference room, asks a couple of high-level questions, but I saw that the interview was not fruitful at all. The manager apologized for their distraction. I suggested that we meet another time, and that was agreed upon as a good idea.

I showed up for the rescheduled interview. Most of the called-upon panel was not there. A person on the peer level of the role in question interviewed me first. Pleasant, very polite, but obviously unprepared, probably through no fault of their own. They were probably thrown into the room last-minute. They also asked asked an inappropriate question (something not exactly fair-play for job interviews) and said a couple of things that I found to be a little odd.

The senior-level hiring manager then showed up. What followed was the oddest interviewing experience I've ever had. This person (in no particular order): spent a good deal of the time with their face in their iPad, essentially acted like this was the first time they had seen my resume, commented on one of my questions and insinuated that it wasn't relevant (remember that for later...), and, it seemed to me, deliberately twisted questions towards convoluted and inaccurate outcomes. The "Most Difficult or Unexpected Question" is a true gem.

There are two types of interviews. Those led by skilled interviewers there to assess a candidate for the role and company and those led by people either don't know or don't care to assess candidates in a relevant way. There are two types of outcomes - positive (advancing rounds, getting an offer) and negative (the process ends for you).

This didn't go any further - and really, I'm OK with that. No sour grapes here because after this experience, I wouldn't touch the opportunity even if I had been deemed a successful candidate. The lack of preparedness, the somewhat bizarre line of questioning, my disagreement with the outlook on the work, and the rudeness of the lateness, scheduling debacles, and inconsiderate behavior were reasons enough to find a silver lining in the opportunity to keep a distance. My rejection letter even said I was thought to be inexperienced in the very topic that I had asked a question about (which was deemed irrelevant to the position).

Large agencies can be great places to work but it all depends on the people you're interacting with. If you get a bad feeling about the team, probably better to move on.

Interview Details – After sending an application I was called in for an interview. I was told the position was part-time and there would be duties like emptying the dishwasher and counting broken light bulbs. This is fine.

I interviewed with the Office Manager and told her I have experience filing, faxing, using Microsoft Office, and etc.

Then I interviewed again with Human Resources. Gave the same spiel. I asked about a timeline and when they would make a decision and he said next week. It's been a week and no response so far.

I sent my thank you and follow up letters. No response to those either.

Interview Details – Very laid back and conversational interviews with HR and three senior executives. The office environment felt a bit quiet, if not sleepy - perhaps because it was the morning. Typical interview questions revolved around discussing background, why the company, and why the position, and well as some case study-type questions to test how one thinks. Overall, interviewers were very friendly individuals who were nice to meet and gave a good impression of the company.

Interview Details – My first interview consisted of a random group of people (who I would not wind up working with) asking me specific technical questions that had nothing at all to do with the job. By the end of the interview, the group admitted that none of them knew what kind of position I was applying for. This didn't seem to bother them, particularly. My second interview consisted of several sessions, two with people who would be reporting to me in the position. These two were basically complaint sessions where I just listened to them talk about everything they disliked about their job and the company. Another session was with a random employee who asked me generic "how do you work with people" questions and seemed fairly unpleasant.

Negotiation Details – When I countered their salary offer with my salary requirements, they demanded to see a W2 from my previous employer before they would discuss it. The hiring process was so painfully slow that I didn't negotiate anything else. In the two months following their initial offer, one recruiter quit and another was fired. Nobody picked up their workload, and their phones and voicemail were left active. My frequent calls wound up in voicemail boxes that were unmonitored. At six weeks, I wasn't sure whether the job would actually materialize, but through the company switchboard I was able to follow up with the hiring manager who assured me that the hiring process was moving forward (which, for the majority of the time, it wasn't because HR had totally forgotten about the offer they extended to me).

Interview Details – RAPP came to my college to recruit, they brought an alum as well as the VP of hiring services. Initially they asked us to come with a presentation prepared about a brand that we had worked on. After this presentation, they asked me some questions about the brands that I had done work with and some technical aspects of the job.

Post this, I had 2 phone interviews with senior management - one VP and another Director. The HR person was great at keeping me in the loop, however, as soon as these 2 interviews were over, she fell off the planet and refused to keep in touch with me. I had no idea what had happened, if the job was still on the plate or not. A month later I let it go.

The experience was largely a negative one for me, since all the interviews went well, however HR didnt keep me in the loop about their plans. Additionally, they didnt give me any idea about how long the process would be, the number and kind of people involved, or any steps in the selection process.

Interview Details – I have to say that Rapp isn't geared towards online media. This was repeated during the interviews. I came across as someone who had many years experience working with other ad agencies and this is not what they 'really' wanted. They have their own ways of doing things at the Irving office. User-experience is not exactly a great career ladder at Rapp as was seen that the UX director who had initially phone screened had left the company before I even got a chance to interview.

The interview consisted of an account manager who had 'her own idea' as to how the user-experience architect should work on. Outdated processes, unrealistic expectations was pretty much status quo from everything she was talking about. That's the problem with ad agencies... lots of ego, little real world experience.

The Creative Director was cool and told me I'd be running into problems with the creative team if I hired on as an IA, as they rarely saw eye to eye with the UX team.

So if you really want a career where your going to have to fight for your existence every day in an ad agency more geared towards junk mail than website creative work, feel free to take the job. I wouldn't be happy there.

Interview Details – Though the recruiters and the manager I interviewed with were very friendly, they were very slow to get back to me at every stage. Perhaps this was because I was applying from a different state but it was more difficult to stay on their radar screen throughout the process.

Interview Details – My interview experience at RAPP was fairly easy. Overall it felt more like the people I met with were more interested in meeting me and getting a feel for what I would be like as an employee / co-worker than a serious assessment of my skills. I assume this had a lot to do with the way the recruiter represented me and the strength of my resume.

The recruiter arranged an initial interview. I met first with the Creative team manager who introduced me to the Creative V.P. The conversations were short and professional, yet I also got a feel for the down-to-earth, "work hard / play hard" atmosphere that is a big part of the RAPP culture. I also met briefly with the manager over the digital technology team (web developers).

I was asked questions about my work history and a few probing questions meant to probe my knowledge and skill set. I was offered ample opportunity to ask my own questions, which I took advantage of, turning these meetings into good conversations.

Unfortunately, the senior I.A. -- the person whom this position reports to directly -- was out of the office that day. This was an unforeseen absence, not any kind of oversight or scheduling error. It did require that I return a few days later for a second interview directly with this person, but I didn't mind. Again, the conversation seemed brief - I think about 15 minutes - and done. From this conversation I got a better understanding of the day-to-day realities of the position and left with a good feeling. Which turned out to be correct, as I received an offer just a few days later.

Negotiation Details – There was no real negotiating -- I discussed my needs with the recruiter prior to the interview. He presented them to the company and all conditions were met. Nice and easy. :)

Interview Details – First there was a phone call, calling me in to have the interview. I met with six or eight employees, all of which were from different departments. Most of them gave advice versus asking questions. It was very relaxed, didn't feel like an interview.