I had a bizarre experience interviewing with VML. I typically don’t review these sorts of things but the experience was so unprofessional and off-putting I feel I need to warn other potential interviewers. I was contacted by an internal recruiter in VML’s NY office regarding a position in their Memphis office. We had a customary phone screening and then she set up an interview with someone in the creative department at their headquarters in Kansas. This interview also seemed to go well and I was quickly invited to another phone interview with the same person in the Kansas office and another in the Memphis office (thought it was kind of odd they didn’t just ask me to interview in the Memphis office in person but that’s neither here nor there). Prepared a good deal for the interview and the scheduled time for the call rolls around. No one calls. Ok, weird, I give them another 15 minutes thinking they got caught up. No call. I email the recruiter to confirm that we *are* interviewing today. No response. 30 minutes goes by. No call. I call her thinking I just have gotten the time mixed up. Goes to voicemail. I leave a polite voicemail. No call back. Then one of the guys I was supposed to interview with looks at my LinkedIn profile. Ok... I’ve worked for family businesses, start ups, and global corporations and have never experienced anything like this. I completely understand things come up. Urgent meetings, illnesses, hiring freezes, or even a better candidate. But this doesn’t excuse standing someone up for an interview and dodging phone calls. The whole experience left a bad taste in my mouth and changed my attitude towards WPP, which is a shame because I’ve always admired their work! Knowing a lot of copywriters and marketing folks in the area, I will tell them to steer clear of VML. If this is how they treat candidates they’ve sourced, I can’t imagine how they treat you once you’re on their payroll.

It was very laid back. I talked to the creative director by phone and we talked about what makes an agency great. We aligned on what I'd be doing at the agency and then we just shot the shiz for a while. It was a super easy process and I accepted the job.