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Topic: WATCH OUT FOR MCMURRY CAMPUS IN PHOENIX, ARIZONA

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Telling It Like It Is Posted – 1/19/2008 2:07:02 AM | show profile | email poster
They will string you on about a job for over a year.
Phone interview.
In person team interview.
When will the position be filled?
They don't know because it is about fit for you and them. That is so kind.
Then if you are deemed somewhat worthy: more interview.
Then testing if you are worthy.
Then.......the job could be open going on two years. How do they know the applicants will still be interested? Because it is not California or New York.
Then......here is the kicker.....THEY HIRE INTERNALLY AND DON'T TELL YOU...NOT AN E-MAIL OR COURIER PIGEON. You are an oversight, not worth the time, they got what they wanted....it happened to be right under their noses.
Don't feel bad as they don't live in the Real World, their world is made up of a Campus that they all belong to, kind of like Stepford Wives only more like a cult.
Be prepared for oddity, unprofessionalism and tons of grey hair if you apply to "One of the best places to work for in Phoenix." Loco
ConfidentDesigner Posted – 1/19/2008 11:24:48 AM | show profile
Wow! Really?
I've sent them stuff several times and never heard back from them. I have 25+ years as an award-winning AD for tons of mags and wondered why they never contacted me. They sound pretty flaky and wierd. Thanks for the "heads up". on them. I won't apply anymore. Couldn't stand to live in Phoenix anyway! UGH! Polluted, overpopulated and hot as hades! No thanks.
Telling It Like It Is Posted – 1/19/2008 5:55:26 PM | show profile
Smart to not move to Phoenix.............
As a designer, editor, publishing exec., production manager getting the not brilliant idea to move to Phoenix to attain ad, pr, event, design, editorial, etc. work would be akin to stating: "I know I can make it big in Mississippi." No offense at all to Miss... , but there are certain places that are more cosmopolitan and others such as Phoenix that excel in being old money and cowboy towns. With your 25 years of expertise you would be toooooo expensive to hire round these woods. Just take a look at Craigslist. There were several designers throwing fits about being offered $10. an hour after paying for a degree and over 10 years experience. What they LOVE to do in AZ is project an image of prosperity--that is good PR, but they actually want to hire interns w/ NO PAY. I've interviewed for two jobs where one told me they were going to give the college students a little more time to blow off steam to hire them for free and I went to interview at a restaurant chain where the person they were looking to replace cheerfully told me: "Remember to dress to impress." Sweet advice, but if an applicant doesn't know that on their own that is sad, plus it showed her college learning pass along advice. When I interviewed I learned it was to replace an intern. AN INTERN WHO DID NOT GET PAID. They wanted to keep the budget L O W. If AZ companies could get away w/out paying their people, they would do it. Seriously, scroll down Craigslist if you have nothing better to do in the design section and from a week or so ago, you will see rants on "How am I supposed to survive on $10. an hr.?," and "I bet the employer doesn't earn just $10. and hr." Major rants.
As far as McMurry, I had heard things since I live hear, but there are always two sides 2 a story & I thought it was gossip, but then I experienced first hand & found out it was true.
Good luck & really check out the place your planning on moving to: housing, climate, people, things to do & violence before you make the leap.
ConfidentDesigner Posted – 1/20/2008 1:24:22 PM | show profile
Dont worry. No danger of my moving there! LA or So Cal perhaps but not Phoenix!
InformedIdeas Posted – 1/23/2008 5:58:13 PM | show profile | email poster
In Defense of Phoenix, Not McMurry
As a freelancer living in Phoenix, I feel like I should defend my chosen home town, and I DO love living here, I just don't work for many/any local companies. Phoenix, at least since 2001, has not been a very artist-friendly town, before then, it was actually ok. The last 6-7 years have seen a significant drop in pay rates as well as the number of jobs (permanent, contract or freelance) available. The only bright spot might be that if the rest of the country goes into a recession, it will hardly be noticeable around here.

Regarding McMurry: their lacksidaisical attitude is something of an open secret around town and has been for some time. I actually have a friend who did get hired and took the job but left within 6 months to move back east saying she couldn't take the chaos and pathos of the job. Given that she came from a software company in the throes of being acquired, that's saying something!

Anyway, Phoenix is not the place for creative types who want/need a "real job" but if you can make it as a freelancer or telecommuter, it has a lot to offer. I like it, for whatever that's worth.
jkellaw Posted – 1/25/2008 12:44:57 PM | show profile | email poster
I have lived outside Phoenix for 11 yrs
I moved here from DC to help take care of my mother. I can never get a response from McMurry--even though I do what they do, health. I gave up on them years ago. As for local clients, I have had a few, but mostly concentrate on the East Coast--I keep East Coast hours and quit around 3 PM. Come visit our writer's humor site, if you can still find humor in this--http://writerscatablog.com. Star Lawrence
Telling It Like It Is Posted – 2/8/2008 2:38:57 AM | show profile
Wasn't in on the SECRET............
Thank you Informed and Jekllaws for your responses. I have heard some stuff about other Arizona full service ad agencies, but McMurry wasn't one of them. Now I know better. What do they do to the employees to keep getting them to fill out those surveys as "ONE OF THE BEST PLACES TO WORK IN PHOENIX?" Actually there really is no such thing as a bad interview 'cause we all learn something from every interview we go on. Now the wasting my time part is totally a different bottle of beer.
Sweet Pea Posted – 2/13/2008 4:23:10 PM | show profile
In response
I live in Phoenix and have had luck finding editorial positions. I've been lucky, as there aren't a lot, but Phoenix is a beautiful 77 degrees today and there is a lot to do. Plus, it's not as expensive as other cities. I make a good income doing editorial work.

However, I have interviewed at McMurry and found the same problem. They take a very, very long time. I had a phone interview, then an in-person screening interview in which they told me it could be a year before they actually hire for the position. I hear this about them a lot. I'm not sure why they advertise their positions, which they do often.
lee.vikre Posted – 4/30/2008 9:29:35 PM | show profile | email poster
I am Lee Vikre, the primary hiring manager for McMurry, and I would like to respond to these comments.

McMurry receives more than 10,000 resumes a year. On average, 1 in 285 candidates gets a job with us. Yes, our hiring process is long and arduous.

Here?s how our process goes. If a resume is submitted, it is passed on to the person hiring for that specific position. That person contacts the candidate and a one-on-one phone interview and/or a one-on-one, in-person interview occurs. If the candidate seems to be a ?fit,? they take a workstyle assessment online. A third party distributor returns the results with an outcome of either ?not matched,? ?not quite matched,? ?matched with reservations,? or ?matched? to the position the candidate is interested in. 60-70% of our current staff are ?matched with reservations? to their positions. The other 30%-40% are ?matched.? The assessments exist to give McMurry a better sense of the candidate?s work style and personality because we?re looking for teammates who complement each other?s strengths and weaknesses, and want to be sure we?re putting the right person in the right job. Once the results come in and the candidate seems to be even more of a fit, he or she will return for five one-on-one interviews. If the position calls for it, the candidate will prepare and present to the hiring team (everyone they have interviewed with) after those five interviews. The candidate has then completed the interview process, and the hiring team holds a meeting to make the final decision.

Yes, this process can take months, and I realize that the job search can often be demoralizing and frustrating. But, each and every one of the 166 current McMurry staff members has undergone this process, and I am happy to say that we do have a great track record of success once someone is hired. In fact, when we survey our staff, ?the people I work with? is one of the top things they like best about McMurry.

Obviously, we do not take hiring lightly. Unlike some employers who decide quickly to ?give someone a try,? it?s very important to us that anyone we hire has a very high probability of success. Thus, we strive to ensure that a particular candidate is the best fit for McMurry, while also making sure that McMurry is the best fit for the candidate. We understand that McMurry isn?t for everyone.

It is unfortunate to see that some of you feel this way. I take these comments very seriously, and I will be sure to share them with my team so that we can improve.
Thank you.
ConfidentDesigner Posted – 5/2/2008 2:56:35 PM | show profile
Dear McMurry HR person-
I wonder how many ultra-qualified candidates you actually end up with after going through that ridiculously unnecessary process. Are they the best and brightest? I doubt it since the best and brightest are usually snatched up by the best employers who pay the most and have the most to offer. Most applicants have no intention of waiting a year to be hired anywhere!

If this system works for you, then so be it but I would imagine it's also hurting your reputation in the editorial publishing market. Pretty soon the word will get out (apparently it already has) and then no one but the desperate will apply to your company.
reporterwriter Posted – 5/3/2008 12:01:03 AM | show profile
>>no one but the desperate will apply to your company<<

I doubt this would ever be true. I don't work for McMurry, never have and don't aspire to it, but I have worked for and applied to companies with arduous application processes.

The key is not to apply when you're desperate; apply when you're seeking a company that's right for you where you can work for a long time and be happy. Then you appreciate a long process, which gives you time to get to know the place that's interested in you.

I was in that position after getting laid off by the largest publisher in Phoenix. Not only was it a liberating experience, but I also turned down a few jobs because the companies' cracks began to show through the long process. I don't think I'd have been able to make a choice so careful if the process had gone like speed dating. Later, when I was in a position to do the hiring, I took several months to choose the right person, because hiring the wrong person does more than send you on the hunt again; it affects the product and can wreck the entire team's momentum and morale.

A long process isn't for everyone, but it also has rewards, and I suspect people who've kicked around awhile -- or who've been kicked -- will recognize them.
muserella Posted – 5/4/2008 10:51:28 AM | show profile
Ridiculous
That explanation of the hiring process communicated one thing loud and clear -- forget about trying for a marketing job at McMurry -- go for HR instead. Those folks have hoodwinked their Executive team into believing a lengthy and convoluted approach is superior to an efficient, targeted search for qualified candidates. Great job security for anyone involved in their arduous hiring process! Seriously, it shouldn't take a village to bring on good people.
ConfidentDesigner Posted – 5/4/2008 12:18:51 PM | show profile
muse-Agree wholeheartedly!
reporterwriter Posted – 5/4/2008 5:36:32 PM | show profile
That's very true about advertising and screening. Networking is absolutely the most efficient way I know to hire -- calling other recruiters to ask who they've seen and liked that would be a good fit for you. Then you invite those people to apply for the opening on your staff.

The second-best way is to know your industry well enough to track people whose work you admire at other companies and recruit those people when you have openings.

Advertising is the worst way to find people, just as it's the worst way for job seekers to find jobs. Not only do you wind up with hundreds of irrelevant applications, but also the people who applied early don't understand that you have to wait for the application period to close before narrowing down the pool of realistic candidates. Then comes screening, then interviewing, then finally hiring.

The whole thing's a bite in the butt for everyone involved. Damn it all, and EEO and labor law, too. It was easier to pick out my new cat at the shelter, plus I could bring him back within 30 days if it didn't work out. Too bad it doesn't work the same way with hires.
WordyBird Posted – 5/8/2008 12:08:53 PM | show profile
My hunch is that after a year-long process, one might end up with an employee that no one else wanted to hire. Even in a really bad economy, it's not going to take someone with a lot of talent and a decent amount of experience to find a job if he or she really wants a new one.

Perhaps this process results in low turnover for the company. I'm in NY so it's not relevant to me and I don't know. But one would think that experienced managers and experienced job seekers would get to a point in their careers where it shouldn't take more than two or three interviews spread out over two months or so to determine if there is a fit.

Of course, we all make mistakes. Sometimes we hire someone who doesn't work out, or we take a job and find out that what was presented and what actually is are two very different things. And sometimes we ignore our guts. I think that in the end, if everyone went by their guts, there would be a lot less turnover in the industry as a whole. (Hint: If you're still hemming and hawing after two interviews, you're not "wowwed," and you should be knocked wowwed by a candidate, not lukewarm, methinks.) Then we learn a six-month lesson.

But overall, I would put the onus on the hiring managers to be able to detect appropriate candidates after two interviews. I certainly wouldn't rely on any computerized matrix to help me decide.
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