Waggener Edstrom Worldwide Interview Questions & Reviews in Portland, OR Area

Interviewed Dec 2009 in Lake Oswego, OR (took 2 months)

If you are planning to interview with Waggener Edstrom, be prepared to be in it for the long haul. It is common for this agency to make canidates go through multiple rounds of interviews before ever making a hiring decision. Sure, there might be exceptions, but the odds are you will need to go through a ton of meetings before ever getting that elusive offer.

Getting the HR screening call - The first step in the door is simply getting their recruiting team to call you. If you want the best chances, find someone who works there and have them submit the resume on your behalf.

Phone screener - This will be a standard interview where HR tries to decide if you have a good PR background and determines what level of a position you'd be a fit for. You really have to sell yourself strongly throughout the process. Wagged is notorious for hiring people below their actual job grade.

Hiring manager phone interview - You may have to go through a few of these before a team expresses interest in bringing you in for an in person meeting. Don't get discouraged, as this is the typical process.

In person interview - For the in person meeting, you'll typically meet with the hiring manager and some of the immediate team members. You then will have another interview with a manager or director (whatever level is one step above what your boss would be). If you are a good canidate, they may introduce you to the team's head executive for the final sign off. Interviews often happen across multiple days, so you may have to visit the office several times.

Waggener will check your references before makig an offer. If they start calling your list, expect an offer shortly.

When you get an offer - Then you're almost in the homestretch. You'll get a call from the recruiter (and sometimes the hiring manager will be on the line) and they will spell it all out for you. See my notes for the salary negotiation process below.

Skills Assessment - Waggener asks all account people to take a writing proficiency test before hiring. This is a 60 minute timed test where you are asked to write a fake press release about your experience interviewing with the agency. Study the AP style guide, watch your typos, and read a few recent Microsoft releases for inspiration.