Being Asked for Strategic Insight before 1st interview
I spoke to a recruiter who is hiring on behalf of an interesting FinTech startup. I have SOLELY spoken to the recruiter who gave me a high level overview of the role and the company. He said before I speak with the first real interviewer, they want a two page strategy brief and my 30/60/90 day plan. Recruiter didn’t even tell me the client’s official website (it’s a marketing role); I had to find it myself and there were a handful of companies with similar names. Doesn’t this seem a bit premature? I don’t even know your pain points, areas of focus, direction the company wants to head in, etc. I have no baseline info to create this strategy with. Is this a normal ask without having an initial convo with the hiring leader?
Pass. Looks like they don’t have strategic insight even on hiring.
And they wanted it by today and I only spoke to the recruiter on Friday. I told them Monday is more feasible.
May as well slap something together for practice, but I wouldn't stress over it. Treat them the way they treat you: very vaguely.
My #1 rule in any relationship is to never be the first one to invest.
Perhaps the company wants free advice and is using the hiring opportunity to receive free strategic insight.
This is the only thing that makes sense to me right now. Presentations are common, but usually further along in the process. I can’t intelligently speak to what I have no idea about. I create strategy roadmaps in my current role, but AFTER gleaning initial insight. Imagine putting in all this work and being told nope - never mind before even speaking to one person in the company.