As an ever growing digital marketing agency, Croud are always looking to recruit. As a relative ‘newby’ to the Croud team I can hand on heart say that the move from client to agency, and specifically Croud, has literally been life-changing.
Prior roles have always been in-house and the move to working within an agency is a big change. Before making the move I thought perhaps it was “better the devil you know” however for those considering taking the step-up to working with an agency I’d like to outline some of my experiences.
Pace
The pace of an agency certainly isn’t for the faint-hearted. You often feel at the end of a Monday that it must already be time to have a Friday beer. But as a result there has never been a day when I’ve arrived home to a familiar voice asking ‘How was your day?’ when I’ve been able to respond with ‘You know, same old’.
I’ve always got a story to tell over dinner, and at the end of the day I feel genuinely fulfilled.
Since I’ve worked at Croud I’ve never once looked at the clock and thought ‘WOW, today is dragging’, which I’m sure most find themselves doing regularly. That is the result of the fast-paced environment of Croud and it makes a big difference to how I feel at work.
Office Environment
I can categorically say I’ve never been surrounded by such hard working, happy and motivated people. This is despite (and perhaps counterintuitively) being given the most freedom and respect out of any position I’ve been in throughout my career
Our work hours and lunch breaks aren’t monitored. There is even a beer fridge for Christ sake along with a completely stocked kitchen to keep us happy.
But because everyone strives to be a better, more rounded marketer, and perhaps because of the level of respect and responsibility given to us as professionals, nobody takes advantage of it.
There are no office politics, cliques or “bitchiness”, because again everyone has the same end goal; to offer the best they possibly can to their clients whilst learning along the way. Everyone appreciates that’s not achieved in siloes, but with team effort.
A Diverse Portfolio
We’ve all worked in that one company who go on ‘gut feelings’ not hard facts. Those companies who do the same marketing year after year because it worked in the 80’s…so it will work now, regardless of the latest performance figures. *ahem* newspaper adverts *ahem*.
You quite simply don’t get that in a digital agency. The agency and the client want to be pioneers in their fields by trying new, forward thinking digital marketing, and work is driven by tracking, statistics and facts.
Moving to an agency also allows you to diversify your experience of industries and marketing approaches, which benefits not only your own knowledge, but the service you’re able to offer to each client.
My client’s businesses range from car registration plates to high end designer shoes, and many equally diverse businesses in between. I can’t use the same practises for all companies, yet I love working with every single one of them.
My day is never repetitive, and variety is the spice of life after all.
Creativity
Working as an in-house marketer is often just an administrative role managing external agencies who get the fun and creative work. Working within the agency on the other hand I find is more fun and allows for more creativity.
So should you join an agency?
Well I could go on forever comparing the two, and there are benefits and drawbacks to each. Overwhelmingly in my experience Croud has been a fantastic move, but you’ll just have to see for yourself!
So, if I have persuaded you to rush your CV down to Croud with the mention of a beer fridge (oh, and a “pizza table”) why not check out our current vacancies.