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My fiancé got approached for a Sales Executive Role at Instacart. Anyone have any insight into the company, job security, culture etc? They mentioned 100k base, 40-60% variable comp and an undisclosed equity grant. She’s already making 130k in a very secure job, so we are thinking no, but want to do our homework first.
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Congratulations!!! I just went through the same, a seemingly hopeless process until I just found the perfect fit on the brand side. For everyone reading, don’t give up, your day will come.
Congrats to you! I agree. I felt hopeless sometimes but knew I’d get there. If you want to make the jump, keep trying!
Than you for sharing. It gives hope to those of us stuck in the agency world.
I almost caved and went for one more agency, but I stuck it out and am happy I did :) you can do it!
How did you start? And how did you course correct along the way?
As far as course correcting, I left a comment above about what led me to redo my resume and online portfolio partway through.
For where to start, I knew that to work on one brand only, I’d have to have some kind of connection to it. I created a list of those brands and the benefits that they offered. I then looked for roles at those brands. (Had to expand that list along the way.)
Congrats, sounds exhausting. Tell us more
I do think my direct manager and other leaders understand my space well enough, but I also think I was hired to be a more specialized expert in what I do / lead the charge / educate others.
Congrats! What made it a long process? What kind of company? Was it a shift in role for you?
Sure! I am a strategist. My new role will sit in the marketing team. Wanted to think about skills that ended up being important:
- Being able to navigate complex organizations (teams / stakeholders)
- Being able to oversee the work of another team (agency, vendor, third party), rather than just doing the work yourself
- Understanding the bigger picture / how all pieces of a campaign fit together
- Understanding the financial impact / outcome of a campaign (held closer to ROI)
- Helping the brand understand that your skills are transferable across verticals. Even if you have mostly tech clients, for example, you can still be great at retail.
I will add any more that I think of!
Did you land interviews through referrals, networking (in person or digitally), email, snail mail or just applying via website? Combination? Congrats btw!
Thank you! Combo of all of them, but mostly referrals from friends and applying to roles on LinkedIn. The role I got was from a LinkedIn application. I tried to follow up with a human being (referral or HR) after applying to a job online.
Did you have to take a lower title than you originally expected?
I found that the titles aren’t apples to apples on the two sides. I am going from Director to Senior Manager. I don’t know that Senior Manager is used at most agencies, so I’m happy with this transition. Feels “lateral” to me.
Congratulations OP! I’m still living in my 2018/19 hell. Like you, down to the final round twice and came up empty. Lately I’ve been doing a lot of freelance work so I’m not going totally crazy. Thanks for sharing your story
Thank you! Isn’t “almost” terrible? While it shows that you have what it takes, it stings to be close and come up short. Let me know if you have other specific questions. I think that brands are starting to see the value of those from agency, but it’s not quite there. It takes trial and error to get there as a candidate.
How many interviews was that???
“Countless” was my lazy way of not counting. I had anywhere from 3-6 rounds with 8 brands. For 2 of those, I was the runner up 😣🤪
Congrats!! I’ve been put through the ringer 2018-2019, in a very similar scenario (down to being front runner for 2 spots). I hope your change in luck is a sign of good things to come :)
Thank you! Sending positive thoughts your way. It really is a frustrating process. 🤞🏻
So should I be thinking about jumping from agency to in-house?
Good to hear, D1! Hoping that I also see a positive change
This is one of the more helpful threads I have read on here, thank you for sharing. How did you find the salary comparison? Higher / lower / same?
I appreciate that! And am happy that my trial and error will help those who also want to make the jump. I found that across the brands I interviewed with, salary was pretty lateral (in strategy / marketing). HOWEVER, benefits are far better across the board. I took a lateral base with a double-digit annual bonus.
How many with the brand who ultimately hired you? And what industry (you don’t have to say brand if you don’t want)?
Five rounds with this last brand. It’s a retail brand. In this process, I interviewed mostly with tech and retail brands.
Congrats! Interested in hearing about the experience, aiming for the same
Thank you! Sharing more in these comments. Feel free to add a question in.
Congrats first of all! You've achieved what I think a lot of strats are striving to do, including myself. I find I'm usually too much of a 'generalist' for brand side, in that they want someone specialized to a marketing skill e.g. performance, paid media, retail etc. Besides what you wrote above about translating skills which was super helpful, what else do you think would be a competitive advantage coming from agency side that brand side would value?
Congratulations!!!