Mars United Commerce Interview Questions
& Process

Interviews went well, but the last one was tough. The interviewer just talked for the whole time and didn't let me speak. Every time I tried to interject, she seemed annoyed. She seemed nice, but if there's a strict 30-minute limit, you shouldn't spend 3-5 minutes talking about how casual it is and then not give the candidate a chance to talk. I feel like I only spoke for about 10 minutes in the whole interview. She just talked about herself and gave really long answers. While interviews are a time for the interviewer to learn about the company, you should learn about the candidate first.

I sent in my application and after about a week, I had a 30-minute phone screen. I thought it would be a professional call since it was with a senior leader from the company, but it was quite the opposite. The interviewer's tone was a bit condescending, especially when they discussed the agency, its clients, and how much it's grown since joining Publicis. When I asked about salary, I mentioned I was okay with the range in the job description. The senior leader then said my range was too high and that the actual offer would be $50K lower. My calculation shows this agency offers one of the lowest salaries, about 20% less than market rate. It's surprising they expect 'world class' experience for their 'global brands' with such low offers. It makes me wonder why they'd low-ball a candidate before even an official interview with the hiring team. What kind of culture is this? Did they misrepresent the salary in the job description? I could show a screenshot of the LinkedIn job posting if needed! Anyway, I was invited to the next round, though I don't have high expectations for this agency. Plus, the next interviewer is also new. I'm just hoping the candidate experience improves from the initial phone screen.

Applied online with a referral helping out. I had one interview with another creative director, which was pretty chill. They talked a lot about the account and the agency's vibe. It sounded good and was similar to my current job. They asked about my leadership strengths but nothing about my past work or clients. We talked for the whole 30 minutes, but no portfolio talk. After that, crickets. No follow-up or rejection. I messaged the recruiter on LinkedIn after two weeks and got no response. Clearly, I wasn't the one, but who knows why. Just another ghosting story in this industry. What a waste of time.

The whole interview process, from the initial HR email to the offer, was completed in just one week. The vibes were really great with everyone I spoke with. They had all progressed within the company and had a positive outlook on the company and their colleagues, which made me feel very comfortable and accepted. A big thank you to the HR hiring team for being so responsive – they were transparent about salary, replied within an hour, and clearly explained benefits, making me feel confident in accepting their offer. Here's the timeline: I applied online on Monday of week one and got an email from HR to schedule an interview within minutes. The interview was the next day, Tuesday. It went well, and they wanted me to meet more of the team, so HR scheduled two more interviews for Wednesday and Thursday. Both went smoothly. Within a couple of hours after the third interview, HR contacted me to set up the final interview with the hiring manager for Monday of week two. The hiring manager interview was short but positive, and he hinted at an offer during the call. A couple of hours later, HR called with a verbal offer. I made a counter-offer, and they accepted most of it within about 30 minutes. The offer letter was sent an hour after that.