Are you interested in working for Gragg Advertising?  Have you applied for a job and now preparing for a job interview with Gragg Advertising?

if so….

Then you should continue reading further…..

In my career search for an opportunity to work in SEO (search engine optimization) and online marketing, I had what I thought to be a wonderful opportunity to interview for Gragg Advertising. Allow me to toot my own horn, but I am the baddest and the coldest sista in the Kansas City area when it comes to Search Engine Optimization and I make no apologies about it. So it was an opportunity for Gragg Advertising, inasmuch, an opportunity for me and my career.

I didn’t get the job and by the end of the second interview, I didn’t want the job. So I want to share with you my experience so that you can be prepared and/or decide if this is the right company for you.

It started while researching for SEO jobs in the Kansas City area. In several places, I saw that Gragg Advertising had a job posting for an SEO Specialist. But the job posting had recently expired. Well, I applied anyway. And after a few hours, I was surprised to see a response from Mr. Gragg, the owner of Gragg Advertising. He attached a questionaire that I responded to and sent back within a few hours. And subsequently, I had an interview scheduled! Woohoo! Boy oh boy, was I excited because based on the job description and the questionnaire, I knew I was the one! And not to mention, I really needed to leave the company I was working for because I was making much less than what I expected and was getting personally attacked by the Vice President and knew that it was time to start looking because my dead Moma was going to come out in me and I was going to crush that little bitty man.
So back to Gragg Advertising….
I went to the interview, an exausting feat, because Gragg Advertising is located in the City Market area. From where I dwell, it was a 40 minute drive, not including the additional time of getting lost! Mapquest sent me on the wrong streets. And it took me a little over an hour to arrive.

Upon arrival, their air conditioning had gone out. Now, at the time of writing this post, it would not be a big deal, but my interview was in July! And it was hot! So they had big fans everywhere and the building looked horrible. But oh well, I was willing to overlook it. I guess that you tend to overlook things if you feel that the situation you are leaving is worse than having no air conditioning in July! So I met with the owner and two women. I don’t remember who they are at this point. But I can tell that they were surprised that I was Kimberly Kimbrough. Yeah, I get that a lot. Living in Missouri and Kansas, I am so used to it and certainly old enough to know my experiences and I am very good at reading people especially their initial response that someone like me could have a resume like me!

Well, I thought the interview went well. I was very nicely dressed in my lime green suit. And I answered their questions honestly. But now in retrospect, I believe that they did not believe some of my answers and thought I was “selling” them. I really want to tell them that they should know that I personally could not imagine driving through traffic all morning to get to their office and come back home, but wanted to show my expertise in SEO and was willing to make the sacrifice. Had they been more obvious with their haterism, then I would have never come back. But the owner seemed to be impressed and so did one lady. But there was one lady who by reading her based on her age and experience, I could tell that she was doubtful of my experience.

So the owner asked me back for a second interview and I came back. Naive I suppose for not truly listening to my inner voice and what I was reading from the first interview.

I was to meet with the Technical Director. I actually was excited to meet with this person. I had an expectation that he would be slightly cool…because I am cool! I expected that we could speak the lingo and he could understand. I sure did not expect what happened next…

So I went into the interview, this time with the owner, the Technical Director, and another woman. And the Technical Director spent the entire interview attempting to disprove my resume. (You can read my original post here: Clashing With the Technical Director At A Job Interview. That was pissing me off. But I was cool with it. He asked me to reveal my trade secrets. In my mind, I said “hell to the naw!” But I verbally replied, “I cannot give away my tactics. Once you hire me, I am willing to use all of my skills to make Gragg Advertising the best in SEO.” He then replied that he would not find this “favorable.” In my mind, I am thinking “and your point is….? Like I care?” But I verbally replied, “If this is a deal breaker, then I am sorry.” I was looking at the door because by now I was ready to go.

I expected much more from the owner. I thought he would have stood up for his decision to bring me in but he wound up being offended that I would not divulge my business secrets stating that he has nothing to hide. Okay, so why don’t you tell me every little secret and strategy? Uh, that did not happen. So I had built this owner up in my mind to be an outside of the box thinker, to be accepting, and to be a bit more deep than what he showed me. The Technical Director was a huge disappointment and showed me that he didn’t know diddly. I should have just answered by saying “Cracker Jack SEO” or some other ridiculous answer, because he would not know the difference anyway.

I then came home and wrote the owner an email explaining to him the type of men like his Technical Director that I have grown up around. I then told him what I was and what I was not and that they should not treat people like dirt. I then told him my story of growing up as a black child in Springfield and the experiences that I have seen and I expected more and not the same backwards mentality from what I believed to be an urban advertising firm.

In the end, I must say that I was glad for that experience and it was not all a waste of time. It taught me that I was not going to get tricked to tell them my SEO stuff. Pay me a consulting fee and I will tell you until the fee the runs out. It taught me that I was not desperate. It taught me that I am good at reading people and I should control the decision making process. And ultimately, I have nothing prove except for the fact that I will come up in the search engines for Gragg Advertising, Kansas City, Missouri.

Because if Gragg Advertising did not take my search engine optimization experience seriously before, then they can see my experience and still wonder how I can be so good at it.

I hope my honesty about my experience is helpful to anyone who is researching job opportunities and preparing for an interview with Gragg Advertising, Kansas City, Missouri.

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