Negotiating responsibilitiesSure! During the second interview just ask what sort of responsibilities the job will include! If the interviewer isn' t clear about the job, ask the question another way. Ask if he/she can give you a general idea of what sort of projects you' ll be doing. You could also say something like, "I' m very excited about this opportunity, but it would really help me make a more informed decision if you could give me some sense of what the day-to-day responsibilities will be like," or words to that effect. Zat help?
"I' m very excited about this opportunity, but it would really help me make a more informed decision..."
Yeah, my versatility has been pretty good to me. It's somewhat of a pain sometimes too, people place you in where they need you as opposed to where you are most comfortable. It's funny that you mentioned creativity being devalued. I don't blame the tool, it's the really comes down to people running the show. I am sure before there was adobe creative suite, designers were making ugly designs with stencils too. It's the managers that approve or disapprove it. I feel your pain though. My boss had me pm our marketing department and I came up with a direct marketing tracker that shows them in plain numbers why their cluttered ads don't work and simple/cleaner designs do. Then I finally got everything on brand and some efficient workflows in place. As soon as I was pulled back to engineering, they were back to making the whack ass ads :) Well, I' m sorta in the ad business. I' m a marketing communications specialist--writer, project manager, production coordinator, sometimes conceptualizor and creative director.... But I' m not a graphic designer, web person, etc. I admire people with your skills, ' cuz it takes someone who is both technically savvy and creative--not always a combination that' s easy to find. I' ve worked with extremely talented designers who simply could not transition into computer design, let alone web design, and with very technically oriented web people who can' t design. So if you can do "front-end" website design, as well as the mechanics of making it all ' work," you should be in a good position. Problem is, though, and I' ve seen it with my end of the business, too, is that with all the whiz-bang software out there, creativity has been devalued. People think only of the technical end of things and lose sight of the fact that good design and good copy are still products of human beings' creative thought processes.... Once employers started letting admin and product managers "design" and "write" newsletters, product data sheets, etc., what became acceptable is a far cry from what is excellent. I could go on and on, but I can tell you, I can look at a web site or a printed promo piece and know whether or not it was professionally done, or done by someone who told his/her employer, "Oh, I can write and/or design things." Then you get 20 fonts in one piece, line lengths too long for point size, widows, orphans, type wrapped badly around photos, poor photos, bad grammar & spelling, lots of graphic elements that don' t make sense together, too much copy, copy laden with jargon and cliches... And people think this "good." My bank put out a brochure last year--musta cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars just in printing. Beautifully designed, looked great, but the copy stunk--sucked raw eggs. Had a glaring grammar error (the wrong "its/it' s" usage--inexcusable for a huge banking institution) and just awful, cliche-riddled copy that said nothing. I was appalled. Does nobody hire editors & proofreaders any longer; even if they won' t pay for a professional copywriter, at least have your copy looked at by somebody who knows the technical English skills... Well, off my soapbox!!! Let us know what happens with the job; hope it turns out to be a position that will excite you.... Yeah it is pretty exciting, but I gotta keep my eyes on the prize. I mean I could come in as a janitor and thats cool, but not what I want. Say, it sounds like you' re in the ad business too, what do you do? Among other things, I do web/graphic design and Flash development. Trying to shift to front end Flash stuff, but keep on getting called for back end stuff. Pays well, but yawwwnnnn....
I was contacted directly by an Ad Agency for a position within the company. The interviewer liked me and will schedule a second interview. My problem is they don't have a clear list of responsibilities. It sounds like they don't really have it nailed down what they want. I really like the company and think I have a lot to offer but if they're throwing unrealistic projects at me, then its doomed for failure. My plan is to wait for an offer and ask for some sample projects they would expect of me. The interviewer has more a casual approach so I highly doubt I can get a list of responsibilities spelled out. Any tips? Have you asked yet "What do you see as a typical day for someone in this position? What sort of projects will he or she be working on?" A second interview would be a perfect time/place to ask this. It may force or at least encourage them to flesh the position out more thoroughly, even if they don' t have a written job description. I asked this at my 2nd interview (based on the excellent posts I read here), and I think the question not only impressed them, but gave them a chance to think about it, too. Turns out my responsibilities will be so varied, there isn' t a "typical" day, but there are, of course, a few hard & fast things I' ll be doing. In my case, it was an advantage--both for me and for them--that the job is a potpourri of things. However, I can certainly understand your need to know more! I would not wait till the offer was made; it almost seems as if that is putting the horse after the cart....
You're right. Usually I would figure this out before even scheduling an interview. Yeah for the most part, every position I interviewed for that didn't really know what they wanted gave that answer: "there is no typical day". Guess I want my foot in the door bad enough this time that I'm letting it slide. "Guess I want my foot in the door bad enough this time that I' m letting it slide." Well, I hope you get an offer--it' s exciting to really want a specific job! So, if you want "in" at this company badly enough, does it matter what they want you to do? Could it be looked at as one big adventure? A chance to learn new things, or use old skills, or both? Sounds like it could be a challenging, and rewarding, position. Go for it! | |
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