What Do You Think About A Company Who Does This?

[mituozo]

Doing this for the interviews I'm currently running. Tell each applicant I want them to put together an analysis of a website's marketing, and give them a specific "good" site (on the surface) which I know has problems to analyse.

I then see what they comment on, and what they miss. You get a good idea of what kind of person they are: detail or overview; seo or cro; copy or design; "does the minimum" or goes out of their way to please etc, etc. It's far more useful to me than an interview, CV or anything else in the process.

If someone tells me they don't have the time or that they don't know how to put together such a report, I tell them to be on their way. If they don't have the intuition to try to put something together, they're not someone I want to employ. Even for junior positions where the person doesn't need any experience, you can ask them to do a basic analysis and send them a load of reading material to give them ideas, to see how they think and approach problems.

As an employer you only want to hire the best, and as an employee, being set such tasks pre-interview is a good sign that the company you are going to be working for isn't a shit show that hires anyone off the street. It's good for everyone involved. The best companies want the best employees, and if you want to be seen as in that "best" category, you have to be willing to go out of your way to please every step of the journey.

 

[onlinemoniez]

I've been asked to do a site analysis. The site they gave me was a total shit-show. It took hours to do, and then I had to wrap it in a nice powerpoint. The thing was fucking spot-on.

I presented it to a room full of introverted dorks, who I did not get a good vibe from and probably would not have worked well with. I didn't get the job.

I've also been asked to do an excel quiz for reporting-heavy jobs. Basic stuff like vlookups, pivots , sumIF etc.

In one interview, they sat me in front of a computer and I had to answer about 50 basic questions.

It makes sense to pre-screen people like this, but it's a pain in the ass.

The fact is that most people in this industry don't know shit about shit. It's easy to put something like "technical site audits" on your resume, but do you really know fuck-all about doing a proper site audit?

 

[profitmotive]

I would tell them you want a retainer... If they hire you, they can take it out of your first pay check. If they don't, you keep it.

You have to approach the deal like you are worth it and make sure they know that you are confident enough to do a great job, but not naive enough to open yourself up to undue risk.

If you're going to be a "manager", that should make them want you even more.

People with strong technical skills and good business skills are hard to find.

This was the best advice and would have really made you look like a professional while increasing their interest in you.

You blew it.