POWERSHiFTER

Application

I applied online. The process took 1+ week. I interviewed at POWERSHiFTER (Vancouver, BC) in March 2018.

Interview

Things progressed fairly quickly - applied online and got an invitation for a phone screen a few days later. Their Director of Talent and People was incredibly genial and was quite forthright about the role’s nature. Which is to say, because of the way the agency is structured the role itself would have less to do with project delivery (and day-to-day) and more with managing actual client relationships while helping with expanding existing business. Being the client’s voice/POV in internal meetings, stuff like that.

Either way, a few days later was called in for an in-person interview with their VP Account Strategy. He was accommodating as well, although was keen to stress the nature of the role as less of a traditional account. Asked a lot of questions about my approach to handling clients, how do I prioritize etc., fairly standard questions.

One thing he did mention was that they would be conducting initial interviews over the next two weeks and that they would keep me updated, so I didn’t expect any updates to come over the next week. I interviewed on a Wednesday but by the following Monday I got an email saying I wasn’t chosen to move forward.

Wasn’t a negative experience per se, although I was a bit surprised that I was turned down quickly even though it looked like they were willing to take their time to find the right fit. If anything, I would say that they place great importance on “cultural fit” over everything else. Not necessarily a bad thing but sometimes you can’t help but feel it’s a bit of a cop out. More than anything, they are looking for a person who is willing to work with their somewhat unorthodox processes.