Courtney Burns & Margaret Morales Break Down Huge’s Reputation, Creative Culture, & Talent Hiring Approach
Interview by Mike O'Donnell / Editor
The reputation of Huge, a global experience agency, doesn’t just attract highly skilled creatives; it also draws top hiring talent. When I spoke with Courtney Burns, VP of Global Recruiting, and Margaret Morales, Recruiter, both cited Huge’s standing as a place of elevated design and innovative work in what lured them away from jobs they weren’t even necessarily looking to leave. It’s clear Huge’s hiring chain is operating on an entirely different level.
Margaret’s focus as a recruiter is primarily on hiring freelancers, a fast-moving challenge that requires existing relationships, efficient platforms (like Working Not Working), and quick yet informed decisions on creatives with very specific skillsets, needed in as little as a day’s notice. The true barometer of success for these freelance hires is if they’re a natural fit and ultimately become a full-time addition to the Huge team.
Courtney’s purview is all of Huge’s recruiting, both full-time and freelance, across all of its global markets, from the US and Singapore to London and Toronto. With such an expansive scope, it’s all about meeting and discovering new talent, if not for an immediate role then down the road when the need arises. It’s about having her finger on the pulse of the creative industry and keeping connections for the foreseeable future. Inherently, these future hires can both shape and solidify Huge’s culture.
Below, the New York-based recruiting duo discuss how Huge’s multi-arm creative department manages to surprise and delight clients both big and small, how that translates to their hiring process, and why jealousy is the best barometer for judging creative work.
Mike: Could you share a little bit about the path that led you to Huge?
Courtney: It's funny, I wasn’t actually looking for a new job at all. I was very happy at my last agency; I probably wouldn't have taken the call about the position for VP of Recruiting had I not been so familiar with and excited by the work Huge was doing. The agency’s reputation precedes it. It was one of those moments where I said I'm really happy where I am, but because it’s Huge, I'll take this call. When you work in the industries of advertising, design, product design, and innovation, Huge stands out and it seemed like a really exciting opportunity to be able to join that whole movement. Subsequently, all the people I met along my interview process really sealed the deal for me. Even though I was very happy where I was, this opportunity was presented and the brand itself sold me.
Margaret: I had been working at a boutique creative recruiting firm for about five years, where I got my start in recruiting and learned everything up to that point. I was really happy, but I wanted to go in-house and work for an agency to really understand how things work internally, and what leads up to making a hire. I wanted to feel a little bit more authentic as a creative recruiter and put a polish on my creative eye when looking at books. I was ecstatic to be contacted by Huge. I wanted to make sure I was going to the right place to set myself up for success. Huge was it. And now I’ve been here for a little over a year, and I have learned so much and am constantly surrounded by cool people pushing the boundaries of creativity.
Mike: Both of you mention the reputation that precedes Huge. Can you share a little bit about what that reputation is and the ways it's both met and exceeded that reputation for you?
Courtney: For me, Huge meant a place of extremely elevated design. But I also love that it wasn't design for design's sake. It could be, because it's that beautiful, but it's also about functionality. And that goes into every single thing we make. The output is what sold me; it has a stamp of excellence on it and that really drives the hiring. It drives everything here. But what else is really unique about Huge is the fact that our company's built on innovation. Huge's ability to change, adapt, push boundaries, and work harder and farther than anyone else is tantamount to our success.
Everyone comes in knowing it's an innovation company. So when you suggest something new, something that might take other companies months to achieve, everyone here is like, “Let's give it a try. Let's try that before we dispute that it doesn't work.” Quite often, that approach results in a completely new output.
Margaret: And from a branding perspective, if you follow our Instagram or follow how we brand our company, that itself has told the story of how much we care about the things we make and how much we curate, as well as the fact that we make usable products. That’s what attracted me as well.
Agency Reel 2018
“For me, Huge meant a place of extremely elevated design. But I also love that it wasn’t design for design’s sake. It could be, because it’s that beautiful. But it’s also about functionality. And that goes into every single thing we make. The output is what sold me; it has a stamp of excellence on it and that really drives the hiring.”
Mike: Are there specific projects that best speak to what you are describing?
Courtney: That would be impossible to say because the work that we do for every client is very innovative. I know that sounds like a blanket statement, but I truly mean that. Clients that you would have never predicted to do something wild and unexpected come to us to show them what's possible and the end result is something we all love. That’s the surprise and delight of each project. I honestly think they're all cool.
Margaret: They're equally loved. As for our company as a whole, it's really amazing to see what we can do for our clients in an end-to-end perspective, because our creative is split into four different departments. We have Experience Design, Integrated, Branding and Experiential. So we're really able to offer our services across all of our departments and create something amazing for them. So it's really hard to pinpoint a specific project when they're all pretty uniquely awesome. However, one pretty cool thing we did was create Hooha, the first ever smart tampon machine. It was inspired by the broken and outdated tampon dispensers at advertising and tech conferences. Our social marketing manager in DC assembled a team to build a new tech savvy dispenser that dispenses a tampon by using your phone number. It was first debuted at SXSW and created a lot of buzz.
Mike: How does that idea of surprise and delight in Huge’s projects translate to the recruiting process? What are the kinds of things that you look for in creative profiles? How do you know that someone might be the right fit for Huge?
Courtney: It’s based on so many different factors. But a lot of it starts with two core things: a creative's aesthetic and the range of their work. If you look at a portfolio and and every project has the same look and feel, I know they don't have the range to work at Huge. Even with a great portfolio, I like to see their creativity outside of client work, like photography, typography, sculpture… I love to see that because when you're a creative, you're truly a creative at heart. And that comes to life in different formats beyond just the portfolio you create to showcase your professional work.
It’s important that we also see the process. Ultimately, when I go into a portfolio, I want to look at a project from the perspective of “would I use this product?” Is it user-centric? Did they put enough thought and effort into the user flows and the user journeys? Is this something that I want to engage and interact with? So functionality is pretty core and key.
And lastly, it has to look beautiful and have that really high level aesthetic appeal. A lot of different things go into that, whether it's color, contrast, their process, the hierarchy. Also, was there some data science behind it? Did you look into why people are using a certain color or how that makes somebody feel? Does it feel like a holistic approach?
Margaret: I agree. Whether it comes down to UX or environmental designers, it’s really about understanding the foundation, and we want to see that range and what you can do with your skillset and how you can push your skills and your creativity. Because ultimately we're hiring every creative for Huge. So we really want to have the ability for them to hone in on other skillsets or to be able to flex across different types of projects.
Mike: How do you tend to land on a person’s portfolio site? And does a portfolio site tend to be the most effective way of having a conversation with someone's work and perspective?
Courtney: The portfolio is key. I love checking out all the mediums they use in their work. But I love to see the layout of their portfolio, because it also shows me whether or not they can become a curator of their own work. Knowing what to and what not to put in their portfolios is going to give them that best chance of showing their range and innovation. In terms of finding people, I also think that we've got a great system in place... of course, we're using Working Not Working. We're using you guys tremendously for freelance.
Margaret: All the time.
Mike: Love to hear it.
Courtney: We also have an amazing network of people who work at Huge. So we get a lot of great talent through referrals. And because the Huge name really resonates in the industry we get a ton of traffic through our Careers page. We get approximately 88,000 applications every year! We're also good at showing up and making sure we're engaging with the community at industry events and conferences.
When we have a really hard search, I'll ask my network if they know anybody else in this space who might be looking to make a move. And sure enough you get responses like, “Yes, my friend is leaving LA and wants to move to New York and is looking for new opportunities. I would love to put you guys in touch.”
Because we're at so many events and we're always networking, a lot of these are warm introductions from people in our own network.
Margaret: From a freelance perspective, referrals are everything if I'm not using a platform and maintaining that pipeline. Just as the nature of the beast, freelance is constantly changing. People can be booked. It can depend even on seasons, on how hot the market is or not. For me personally, from a freelance perspective, platforms and referrals are the two key things that I need in order to find talent. Working Not Working is a lifesaver for me.
Mike: Our readers would love to hear “the one thing you have to do…” But it sounds like it’s a combination of so many things, whether it's curating your portfolio carefully, using Instagram to drive traffic back to your portfolio, or even going a step further and actually attending events and staying engaged within your field.
Courtney: We try and create a culture that supports all those things, where people have a forum to talk about their side hustles or ask the company to engage with them. If it's something they really believe in, quite often, Huge will support them. We have all sorts of different social clubs, affinity groups, and other ways for people to participate actively with their peers and with people from the outside. We host a ton of events that we open up externally, and that drives a lot of really great traffic through our space and gives us a chance to engage with people that are interested in our brand.
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Mike: As helpful as these events are for creatives, do you feel that they’re equally helpful for you as recruiters in developing an even keener critical eye?
Courtney: First, my absolute favorite meeting of the entire week is called Crit. It's our design critique and anyone who wants to join can participate. You don’t have to be a designer. We go over the work that's in process, some of the briefs that we have, and sometimes we'll actually sit down and do a workshop. We also have global work shares, where we feature a particular office and the work they’ve been doing. Every recruiter who works at Huge sees the work day in and day out; we eat, sleep, breathe the work. There really is no excuse not to know what our design aesthetic is and what we consider successful.
Seeing the work every day is really helpful in terms of narrowing down portfolios.
Margaret: To add to that, and this comes down to the culture, everyone acts on a flat level, where I can go up to a Group Design Director and be like “explain this to me” if I'm having a hard time finding a certain type of talent, and they'll pull out the work. They'll go over things with me and specifically point out what we're trying to seek or what we're doing. And it's really amazing to have those resources and being able to work with people at that type of design and creative leadership level who are willing to sit down and work with me, to make sure my eye is looking at the right type of design as well. It's been really inspiring.
Huge New York
Mike: Are there certain steps that Huge takes to incorporate diversity and better the landscape, or particular initiatives that you're focused on?
Courtney: Definitely. We have five affinity groups at Huge, which tackles more of the inclusion piece rather than the hiring piece, but equally as important. And within those groups, we have LGBTQ+, Huge Women, Huge Immigrants, RBG, and Parents. And each of these groups are set up so they are hosting events that both include the workforce that we have at Huge and also open it up to others to come see our space. They're dedicated to diversity and inclusion. We recently hosted a diverse panel in partnership with Ladies, Wine & Design and invited some of the boldest women we know to dive into the topic of risk-taking. It was an inclusive event that gave women the floor to ask questions about how our panelists changed the trajectory of their careers.
In addition to our inclusion efforts, the Recruiting team is expanding the industries and locations that we source from to ensure hiring managers have diverse pipelines for our open requisitions. And we're showing up, getting involved, and learning at conferences known for having greater race and gender parity.
We still have a lot of work to do; everybody in the industry does, but we’re making progress by implementing L&D programs like unconscious bias and interview training to make people aware of factors that they might not be considering. We're also making sure we use inclusive language in our job descriptions and everything we put into the world.
Margaret: It's really great that we're making that such a priority. Huge really values our company culture and how we build it and our interests as well. We have a rock climbing club. We have the cycling and soccer club. We have the wine club. We have a book club. We have arts and crafts clubs. I think we even have a Dungeons & Dragons club.
Courtney: And the high intensity interval training and yoga. The company sponsors them. We get to actually have fun with one another outside of work or inside of work, depending on what you're signing up for; we get to really enjoy each other's presence.
Margaret: I'm personally involved with the rock climbing club, and it was the first time I was introduced to it. And I have not only met more people within the company and created friendships—I get to learn to rock climb. It's pretty amazing. It's really cool that Huge will set aside a budget for these kinds of things that help make their employees happy and create a community.
Mike: What advice do you have for prospective creatives hoping to work with Huge?
Margaret: With every creative, I want to tell them to take the time to master their craft. Your portfolio, that's your baby. It's something that you want to use to show your range of work. When I'm looking at your portfolio, I also want to see if I am looking at a visual designer or a copywriter. I want it to be pretty apparent, but I also want to see what else you can do. Are you a visual designer that can illustrate? Are you a copywriter that not only concepts, but can write editorial pieces? Show me that range.
We set a high bar at Huge. We have a high standard and we don't ever break that, whether with freelance or full-time employees. It's the same level across offices. So we're constantly looking at the same bar and standard of talent. Your portfolio is probably the first thing I would tell any candidate to focus on building out.
Courtney: I agree. Your portfolio should show that you're proud of the work that you've done. Like I tell everyone, getting into Huge as a designer is like getting into an Ivy League university. I want to be able to look at your portfolio and see things I want to use. Or I want to be like “damn, I wish we made that.”
Margaret: Keeping your Working Not Working profile updated is very, very important. We are constantly, as recruiters, looking at these platforms. So having your availability updated on WNW matters. If you updated it two months ago, then I'm probably going to assume you're not interested. Being aware of your presence on the internet is really important if you want to catch our attention as well.
And going back to the topic of events, follow Huge. Follow the brands or companies that you're interested in, and go to their events. Interact. Mingle with these people. We have recruiters at every single one of our events, so there's someone there that you can network with and make an introduction to get a foot in the door.
“Keeping your Working Not Working profile updated is very, very important. We are constantly, as recruiters, looking at these platforms. So having your availability updated on WNW matters...Being aware of your presence on the internet is really important if you want to catch our attention.”
Mike: Once you're at Huge, what does it take to succeed?
Courtney: We really value innovation. You always need to have an entrepreneurial spirit. It is never about what's been done in the past. It is always what we do next. So the ability to remain constantly curious is very important. Also the ability to pivot. There's no one way to do something at Huge. Our client range is vast, and the things we do, from Experience Design to Experiential, is tantamount to that. If you're always expecting to do the same work on one account, that's not us. We are looking for people who want to explore and who want to build the next big thing.
Margaret: Being able to embrace change is essential. The industry is constantly evolving, and we really want to be at the forefront of it. So that is a really good characteristic to have: embrace it, invent it, go with it. Always put your ideas out there. We want to see what you can come up with. Ask for forgiveness.
Courtney: Not permission. Never permission.