I applied through other source. I interviewed at Askonas Holt
Interview
I recently completed a first-round interview with Askonas Holt for the Artist-Manager position in Berlin. The conversation went very well: it was conducted in both English and German, the atmosphere was positive, and I left with the impression that my profile matched their expectations. Given my extensive experience in leading artistic institutions and artist-management companies, I was confident I would advance to the second round.
I was told to expect news within a week. However, two weeks have now passed without any update — not even a rejection email. After the first week, I sent a polite reminder to the HR contact who initially reached out to me, but my message was ignored.
I find this lack of communication highly disrespectful. Preparing an application and an interview requires significant time and energy, and it is discouraging when a candidate’s efforts are not acknowledged. A simple message, even a standard rejection, would have shown basic professional courtesy.
I was also struck by the salary proposed for the role, which I found to be far below what one would reasonably expect to live on in Berlin. It seemed at odds with the company’s public image of supporting its employees and upholding workers’ rights.
Altogether, I was left disappointed by my experience with such a well-known artist-management company. Unfortunately, I have never felt so disregarded as a professional candidate.
Was given many extra tasks to complete outside of the actual interviews. After getting to final interview stage, was rejected with a generic email that didn’t even contain my name. When I asked for feedback multiple times, was ignored.
I applied online. The process took 1 day. I interviewed at Askonas Holt (London, England) in May 2024
Interview
Whilst the actual interviews were lovely and the team made me feel comfortable and were friendly, the tasks for the interviews were really inaccessible. For example, having to rearrange documents, waiting around for the task to be sent to you, and the tasks being timed but then sent late. When I wasn't successful, they sent a generic email with no feedback as to why, and didn't even include my name at the top of the email. This was after getting through to the 2nd round interviews and meeting the team in person. I asked for feedback as to why I wasn't successful but never heard back.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
A time I have had to deal with a difficult client/ company, and what I did to manage it.