Local Marketing Interview Questions
& Process

The entire hiring journey spanned about a month. Initially, I had an in-person meeting that seemed to go well. After a couple of weeks, they sent me a skills test to check my ability to create content for their clients. A few days later, I met with the CEO for a second interview, during which we discussed my work history and salary expectations. The very next day, I got the job offer. Overall, it was a pretty straightforward experience.

I was contacted shortly after applying online and went through one phone interview, followed by two separate in-person meetings. The initial interactions were okay until the meeting with the CEO. My gut told me something was off during the first meeting with him, though he stuck to the job description. Shortly after, the recruiter who did my phone screen called to offer me the position. She seemed junior and didn't know much about extending an offer (benefits, salary, PTO, etc.). She mentioned the CEO wanted one last meeting to discuss my offer in more detail. During this second meeting, he completely changed the role to be more sales-oriented and said he was giving me 'the opportunity of a lifetime'. The most uncomfortable part was when he said the one thing his competitors have that he doesn't in building relationships with car dealership clients is 'attractive women who can close deals.' He also said I 'need to be comfortable with aggressive men' in this role. I was in shock and just wanted to end the meeting. He's a total sleezeball and no one should tolerate that behavior. I hope my experience serves as a warning to steer clear of LMI.

The first 2 interviews were presented as being for a CEO position. However, it quickly became apparent that the owners were not actually looking to hire a CEO. Instead, they revealed they were seeking a sales manager for a "trial position." They stated that if I could triple their business within 6 months, they might consider handing over the company. One owner mentioned a retention issue, while another denied it. One owner explicitly said they trust no one and not to waste their time. It seems they are unclear about what they want and are not seriously hiring for a CEO. The role described is essentially a "CEO" for an outside sales position with extremely short performance expectations, and failure to double their business within 2-3 months would result in termination. The hiring ad was dishonest.

The interview process was pretty standard, involving three separate phone calls with three different co-owners. The scheduler was super responsive and sent updates when I asked, and the whole thing took about three weeks. The first two interviews were mostly fine, though there was some confusion around how they presented the offer, which made me think I had the job before the second interview. It wasn't a major issue, but it was a bit of a red flag. My third interview was with the main CEO, who was hard to get a hold of. He actually missed the initial meeting time and had to be reminded. When we finally connected, he was driving in a remote area and had connection issues. More weird flags. He kept focusing on my copywriting background, even though I wasn't applying for that role, but he thought the automotive experience was relevant. He went on a rant about copywriters not wanting to advance and lacking ambition, which felt like he hadn't really read my resume. It was strange, considering I had a successful career as a copywriter. I was a bit desperate for a job change at the time, so I overlooked these issues. The experience mirrored my employment there: nice and responsive people, but a lack of genuine care for me as a person or my career growth. They mentioned LMI is co-owned by a woman in response to comments about the CEO, but his misogyny isn't excused by that; a company's strength comes from acknowledging and learning from mistakes.