What does Acceleration Partners look for in candidates?
There are many qualities and characteristics that we look for in our candidates.
Most importantly, we look for a cultural fit, which we define as a candidate who shares our core values and someone who we believe can be successful working in our autonomous, remote, and fast paced environment.
Secondly, we look at job fit, which we define as the ability to succeed in the top five job responsibilities of the role they are applying for as well as having the confidence needed for the role.
I see that all AP positions are remote, but do I need to live in a certain city?
All of our positions are remote positions, which is central to our culture and our vision to change the work/life paradigm. We make a conscious effort to hire candidates who live approximately two hours from one of our main "hub" cities: Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Chicago, Denver, Seattle, and LA/Santa Barbara.
This allows us the opportunity to organize local team events, work together days, and in-person training opportunities for new hires.
With that said, there is some flexibility with the "hub" city requirement, especially for individuals whom reside outside of our geographically targeted cities and are applying for account manager positions or higher. We handle those applications on a case-by-case basis.
How does your team stay connected in the virtual environment? Will I be working on a team?
Yes, you will be part of a team and connect with them virtually on a consistent basis – most likely on a daily basis. While you'll work from home alone, it's unlikely that you'll be lonely. Our team members talk business and chat socially on Zoom, Slack, phone, and email all day long, except when they are waist deep in client deliverables!
In addition to individual team meetings, we host all company video calls every week. These calls keep everyone connected with AP's Operations team. We also host an annual all-company summit, bringing the whole company together in-person for learning, social, and team building activities.
Will I like working from home?
Only you can answer this question. Most of our team members do, but it's not for everyone and can certainly come with its own sets of challenges. We find that individuals who have a desire or need to work from home and who like the autonomy really excel here.
If you are unsure or question your desire to work from home, read this post for helpful tips and important questions to ask yourself. It's also helpful to know that, while we all work from home at AP, we are still a part of a fast-paced digital agency. This means the workload, requirements, and client deliverable standards are all the same as they would be in a traditional in-office agency; we just don't have the commute.
What is it like working for such a fast growing agency?
It is a lot of fun and also a little crazy at times. We like to say that there are days that feel "normal" and others that feel like you are drinking from a fire hose. This is probably what it feels like at most high-caliber agencies. What is unique about AP is our transparency, our very clear vision is shared company-wide. So, while the ride might be a little fast and bumpy at times, we know what our destination looks like.
Our clients and our leadership team push us to be better every day and push outside our comfort zone—and our teams are always up for the challenge! If you like the status quo or very predictable work weeks, AP might not be right for you. Our teams thrive in change and know how to work through ambiguity as we tackle new challenges.
Do you offer training to your new employees if you are remote?
Yes! We have an extensive list of on boarding training for our new hires which we conduct remotely or in-person. In addition, we offer a lot of continued learning for personal and professional development. One of our core values is excel and improve; learning and growing is a huge part of that.
What about career progression?
We have a few core philosophies here at AP. The first is hire for day one and the second is promote when ready. Hire for day one is the premise that we want everyone we hire to be successful. In particular, we want to ensure that within the first 90 days of being hired, all new employees are going to be able to grasp their job responsibilities and hit the ground running. They don't need to be experts, just proficient. For this reason, we ALWAYS hire for the job someone can do on day one. For us, it's not about the job title, it's about what you can contribute to your team so that you are on par with your peers.
The second part to our core philosophy is promote when ready. We do not have any timelines to promotion. You can be in your role for one month or five years. When you are ready and it's well-recognized, we happily promote you. To date, most of our manager and senior roles are internal promotions and we want to maintain that momentum throughout our growth. To help make this happen, we commit to the ongoing professional development of our employees.
What is it really like to work at AP?
This question is best answered by our employees themselves. Visit our Glassdoor page for the most accurate and current reviews our employees have left us. This "In Their Words" post is also insightful.
What is your interview process like?
Typically, there are four steps to our interview process for all manager-level and above positions on our client services team. These are the positions we hire for the most.
STEP 1
A phone screen with a member of our talent team. We want to learn more about you, your career history, what you are looking for in your next role, and check off some of the basic boxes.
STEP 2
A do-at-home homework round. The goal of this step is to see if you can do the work. We will send you some sample client questions and a data analysis. You will have 2 days to complete it and send back to us. Helpful Tip: Don't rush this step. We can tell!
STEP 3
A Manager skills interview. During this step of the process, you will video interview with two of our senior leaders on our client services team. They will dig a bit more into your skills and knowledge.
Helpful Tip: Give clear examples, not generic answers!
STEP 4
Giving a presentation. We're not going to lie, this is the hardest round for most people; it's also one of the most important. In advance of your presentation, we provide you with a simulated client case study and schedule a date and time for you to prepare a presentation of what your client strategy would be. You'll give your presentation via video conference to a few select team members.
This presentation is also a role play. The team members you present to will act as the client and ask you tough questions, just like our real clients ask us. There are many reasons we include a presentation requirement as a part of our interview process. It helps us evaluate:
- How you convey your confidence and knowledge
- How you handle yourself in a challenging client situation
- Your strategy
- How you ask and answer questions
Helpful Tip: Come mentally prepared for us to ask you tough questions and prepare questions to ask us – just like you'd ask a client. Our team will push you in this process to test your knowledge and abilities.
Once you've made it through each of these steps we start checking references and invite you to an in-person meeting with one of our local team members. This is a great opportunity to pick their brain about what it is like to work at AP and to ask any additional lingering questions you may have.
Do you have any other tips on how I can best present myself during the interview process?
Of course! Read this blog post on some of our thoughts on how to nail your video interviews!
How can I make my application stand out?
We get A LOT of applications so please be patient with us. On your part, we simply ask that you answer our questions and have a clear and concise resume where we can see your qualifications for the job. If you can find a way to impress us during your resume submission – especially in your cover letter – that can very well lead to a phone screen.
I want to work for AP but I don't have any affiliate experience, now what?
If you are looking to apply for one of our client services positions and don't have any affiliate experience, you have a couple of options.
If you are a junior-level candidate, with approximately 2-4 years of work experience and at least 1 year of digital marketing exposure, you can apply for one of our associate-level roles.
If you already have a lot of client service experience and digital marketing expertise, just not in the affiliate channel, check out our Affiliate Academy.
Our Affiliate Academy is a program designed to take smart digital marketers with good client services skills and train them on the Affiliate Marketing Channel.
What if I don't get the job?
This is always tough because there are so many great candidates out there and, for one reason or another, it's not always the right time or the right fit for them to work at AP. With that said, we're big believers in staying in touch because you just never know when it will be the right time or the right fit.
We have had candidates that we haven't offered jobs to but they made a good impression. Months later, when there was a better fit for their skills and experience, we've called them back and offered them a job.
There are also candidates who, for one reason or another, didn't quite make it through the entire interview process the first time they applied, but then come back for another interview 1-2 years later after they've gained more experience.
We never burn bridges. We understand that we're all learning and growing. Our advice is, stay in touch. Join our talent newsletter and when you see the "right" job come back around, give us a shout!
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