Working at an agency or in-house – Which is right for you?

Julie joined DEPT® in 2019. Julie provides legal counsel to company leadership and manages the agency’s legal and HR departments. While Julie is invaluable to our organization, her hard work goes beyond DEPT® – she was recently recognized by the American Lung Association with the Outstanding Mother Award!

Between you, Laura, and Ellen, you’re the most recent addition to DEPT®. Why did you choose to work here?
I chose to work here for many reasons, predominantly because of the opportunity to join a company that truly delivers its solutions and serves clients. We embrace change and constantly encourage everyone to think of ways to improve how we currently do things, and that aspect of the culture spoke to me.

What advice would you give someone deciding between working for an agency or working in-house?
As someone who has worked both “in-house” (working for one company) and “agency” in the sense of working for multiple clients (as a private practice attorney), there are several aspects to think about. When in-house, you can be a part of building the company and the products/services. However, the opportunities to learn and have stretch assignments and opportunities to impact change are frequently harder to come by. In an agency environment, learning opportunities are plentiful: you can choose different clients, industries, and even practice areas and skill sets to explore much more easily.

Agency life also tends to move faster and allows you to have many opportunities to get in, make an impact, then move on to the next project or client. So if you’re someone who might need to “switch it up” more frequently or likes variety, agency can be a really fantastic home (while also offering more focused work, if that’s your cup of tea). An agency gives you more flexibility in where and how you want to work, which is a major draw for our employees.

What do you think DEPT® has to offer that you can’t find anywhere else (in-house or another agency)?
Goodness, where to start! The benefits are amazing (from flexible scheduling to health care benefits, to remote working flexibility), and the ability to make an impact every day is incredibly rewarding. But the thing I feel that makes working here special is the focus and emphasis we put on “people first.” We truly care about our employees, and the policies and actions implemented by leadership empowers people to have a real life-work balance. I’ve been able to spend more time with my family and have gotten to be a part of more special moments in my kids’ lives than I have working for any other employer in the past – all while being able to bring my best self to work each day and collaborate with other Depsters to deliver top-notch service for our clients.

As Chief Revenue Officer, Ellen leads Business Development and Marketing. Ellen has decades of experience in digital marketing, working in various verticals from B2B to eCommerce, and started practicing ashtanga yoga over 15 years ago to find moments of mindfulness in a hectic schedule.

What would you say is the most important benefit of working for an agency?
I started my career off on the client-side, and when I wanted to gain deep expertise in digital media buying, I moved to an agency. One of the biggest differences in working at an agency is that you have so many people to lean on for strategies and best practices, learn what’s happening in the digital landscape, and brainstorm new and creative ideas. When I was in-house, I was really on my own when it came to solving problems. In an agency, you also get to work with multiple clients, which gives you a broader perspective of what works and what doesn’t.

What has been the biggest challenge for the digital marketing industry, and how can agencies respond to attract more talent?
The lack of diversity has been a huge issue in the digital marketing industry for years, and it will be up to agencies to help change this trajectory. This starts by hiring and training more diverse talent and setting up training programs to help change the industry from the ground up. This starts by creating more opportunities for individuals to develop their digital marketing skills, whether that’s through internship programs or on-the-job training, like the 90-day onboarding program we offer for entry-level digital marketers.

DEPT® has committed to sharing its diversity numbers and doing better in that area, and the whole industry needs to make this effort. We recently launched ERGs to help every employee have a forum to share different cultures, beliefs, and lifestyles. We also go to great lengths to ensure all new hires are a good match for DEPT®, including our Predictive Index assessment and having an interview during the hiring process solely focused on aligning with our core values.

What do you think DEPT® has to offer that you can’t find anywhere else (in-house or another agency)?
I’ve worked at larger agencies, and in those environments, there are so many barriers and politics, and it can be challenging to be agile and move quickly. DEPT® is the opposite – we do not over-engineer our processes to the point where you can’t test, learn, and innovate. We have an entire department focused on this area called Growth Labs. Also, the effort to ensure that new hires will be a good fit ensures that we maintain our culture even as we grow quickly. We want to have a growth marketing mindset and drive innovation, teamwork, and big ideas to improve internal operations and improve client outcomes.

Whether you want to be immersed in one company by working in-house or are seeking opportunities to learn and grow quickly at an agency, we hope this advice from our leadership team helps guide you to the decision that’s right for your future!