Best Interview Questions to Ask Marketing Candidates
There are many great questions that you can ask a person in an interview that help you to dive deeper into their psyche. Whether these questions are to help you determine their knowledge base in a specific industry, or to find out what drives them to perform under pressure. Below we have put together what, in our opinion, are some of the best interview questions to ask marketing candidates.
What motivates you?
This might just be my favorite question that you can ask a candidate during an interview. We are all motivated by different things. Perhaps it is appreciation that motivates them, independence in the workplace, crushing goals, or just that overall sense of success after a project is completed. Or hey, maybe they are motivated by money. The response you get can help in determining if this individual is going to be a good fit within your company culture. Second, it can help you to better understand if this position aligns with their professional goals. Is the role going to be a stepping stone in helping this individual work their way towards another position in the future? Is this a goal that your company is realistically going to be able to assist with? It is important to think of the long term goals for this candidate, rather than just how they can fill an immediate need.
What are skills that you would like the opportunity to develop in the future?
Another question that I love, and I think this one is important. It is a spinoff of asking the candidate what they think their weaknesses are. Marketing professionals, as much as we try, are not going to be versed in every little aspect of marketing. This can help you to gauge where the candidate feels they could use some additional training and education. It will get you thinking about ways that you can assist them with their professional development if they were to be a part of your team. It also helps you figure out what more this candidate is striving for and where they think their shortcomings are. Tuck that information away so you can use it to your company’s advantage, all while allowing them to flourish within this role!
How familiar are you with our company’s target market?
Although this is a question that is to be expected when interviewing a potential candidate, it is a necessary one to ask. This can help you in assessing whether this individual has the experience in marketing to your target audiences. If their previous experience is not within your market, this can also help you to better gauge if they have done their research on various strategies on targeting your specific market. Marketing involves regular research, so not only will this help you to learn how much they have invested into educating themselves on your company. It will also give you a clear indication as to how they prepare and educate themselves on various topics and data.
How do you stay up-to-date with the latest marketing trends and techniques?
Here is a great way to better understand how invested this candidate is in their career. There are a variety of ways in which marketing professionals can stay current on the latest marketing trends and techniques that are out there. The three major ways this is done include attending marketing related conferences and workshops, attending training courses and seminars, reading publications and blogs related to the industry, or watching relevant industry videos. For example, if your candidate takes online courses relating to various areas of marketing, they are showing you that they are invested in educating themselves on various trends and strategies.
Give me your 30 second elevator pitch.
Okay, this one might really catch the candidate off guard. You might first be wondering what a 30 second elevator pitch is? Imagine you are on an elevator and the person standing next to you happens to be the CEO of the company that you are about to interview with. What would you say to them when you know your time is limited to about 30 seconds? This is a great substitute to the typical “tell me more about yourself”. It allows the individual to show their creative side and forces them to think quickly on their feet.
We finish this interview and you step outside the office and find a lottery ticket that ends up winning 10 million dollars. What would you do?
We just had to end this with a fun one. This would be a completed unexpected question to ask a potential candidate and honestly, it will help you again in figuring out what motivates them about this position. Ideally, the candidate is going to provide you with an answer that shows they care about more than just money. Perhaps they tell you that they would invest some, donate some to charity, pay off their house or their parents’ house, etc. But you are also hoping that they will make mention of how the money would not change their career aspirations. The last thing you want to hear is that they would take the money and never be seen again. On the positive side, you could end up with some very funny or unexpected answers here!
No matter the interview questions that you ask a potential marketing candidate we do hope that you find the perfect person to fill the position. With marketing being such an important aspect of your business, finding a candidate that will bring forth your vision is a must!
