So I received a job offer from a marketing agency. The role was described to me as project management for a small team of web/graphic designers. I currently serve a dual role as a project manager and graphic designer, so I had asked if it would be possible to still do some creative work for this new team, even if their hiring need is for a project manager. I was told that he would absolutely carve that into the job description and “have Adobe CS4 ready on your laptop.”
The next interview, which was with my potential manager again, the CFO of the company, and the Creative Director was entirely focused on the project management part of the job. I was not once asked about my creative background, and I sensed that the CFO was especially interested in it being a 100% Project Management role.
Well I just received a voice mail and it was from the CFO-it’s likely that it is a job offer. Given that my economic situation is not dire or anything, how would you approach communicating your needs from a job responsibilities standpoint to the CFO and possibly the manager who interviewed me?
I also was told by the manager in my first interview that working from home one or two days a week would be possible-is it critical to try to carve that into the offer at this point?
I think that being a manager would be great on your resume, and plus, if you are managing it, couldn’t you have some creative control on the direction of things, and steer things into a directed path?
If I am off, then nevermind though. I wouldn’t pass up trying to work from home too, especially after you prove yourself to the company and all that crap.
Most likely the job is 100% managerial. The CFO/hiring manager and the Creative Directory had your resume right in front of you and didn’t even ask about your creative background as a nice-to-have/icebreaker. It’s possible that you could carve something out for yourself once you got there, but probably not something you can bank on. Even if they come back and say "Design work? Sure, you can do design work … " I would put more stock in the questions they asked in the interview. And again, if someone with some influence told you that you’d have Adobe on your laptop then that may be a cue in the other direction.
Based on what you’ve said I’d assume for now that it is 100% managerial, then decide if you would take the job under that assumption, then decide where to go from there. If you would take it either way then personally I would just take it and worry about carving a niche a few months in, but I’m not a huge go-getter. If you only want the job if it has a design element then you have nothing to loose, you may as well go back and inquire after what you were told originally.
Yes, the only reason I am considering this role is because the person who would be my manager assured me that if the job needs to have creative as part of my job responsibilities then he will make it part of my job description and make sure I have all of the tools on my computer…so I can’t not help but want to try to seal this in the offer discussion.
Okay if you’re willing to walk over this then I would go back and tell them it’s a must-have. Remember this discussion should be for their benefit as well, if they’re thinking long-term then they don’t want you to quit in 6 months because the job didn’t match the description. I would probably just say that you left the 2nd interview with the impression that they were hiring a manager only, but design work is one of your top criteria and you wanted to clarify. “Of course we both want to make sure this is a match”, etc. I would also ask for some specifics of what type of design work you would be doing on your first few projects, to get some (but not perfect) assurance that they’re serious about what they say. If you walk remember to leave the door open, they hire designers and you made a good impression, there’s no reason they wouldn’t give you a call when something else comes up.
and ditto the congrats on your successful interview!
Thanks sugar-I remember the first manager basically saying that I would be determining who does the work on my team, so I could decide to keep some of it for myself…I just want it to be a little more stated than that
update: So I emailed the person who interviewed me first to see if it was still on the table that I would being doing some creative in addition to the management, and asking if this was something his boss (the one giving me the offer) knows about and is cool with. I told him I wanted this to be the best choice for both sides.
update: I was given the offer, and the CFO and hiring manager assured me that my “wings will not be clipped.” That means if I want to do creative/development work and it helps get the job done as a leader they’re cool with it and want it!
The position sounds more like a program manager than a project manager.
My heart sinks when I have a good candidate in front of me and one of the first few questions from him is “can I work from home?”
Yes it’s a nice benefit that many employers offer (me included), but it sets off the lazy bells in my head. There are indirect ways to ask about that. Ask if they provide VPN capability in case you want to do a little extra work remotely after hours or on weekends. Makes you sound more like an aggressive go-getter rather than a lazy work-at-home wannabe.
Well, as a manager one of the things you would do is distribute work. You distribute it as you see fit.
If the project is so large that you don’t have time for creative work, you don’t do it except in a very limited fashion. If it isn’t, or if other characteristics of the project, yourself and your team make it the best option, you handle some of the creative work yourself.
By not having the creative part be a requirement of your employment, they’re actually making the position more flexible.
Well, there is some background-the manager hiring me told me about that flexibility and knows that I was freelance before, with that ability to work from home
Yeah, that is a good point actually I think they were a bit surprised that someone would ask for more responsibility so it worked out. I think my team will appreciate that I can do some of the work too.
