Are you a marketer who is about to go for an interview? Do you know that there are certain things you need to know as a marketer before going for a marketing interview?
We are glad to have you on this web page. From our experiences and research over the years, we will discuss in detail how to prepare for a marketing interview, regardless of the position you are seeking for.
Obtaining a degree in marketing is quite good but besides that, you need to know some basic things that companies, clients, or organizations where you may have applied for a marketing job expect you to know, in addition to your degree, resume, and all that.
You should know that repairing yourself for a marketing interview can be categorized as preparing yourself for an exam in a higher institution.
This can be hectic for you because you need to work hard when it comes to gaining some useful knowledge that will scale you through.
When comparing marketing with other fields, you should know that a marketing interview requires a bit more work than most other positions.
Since there are thousands of people that are going for the same marketing interview that you are preparing for, you need to stand out to ensure that you secure the job you are seeking after the interview.
Keep reading as we take you through all you need to know when preparing for a marketing interview.
Top 10 things you need to know when preparing for a marketing interview
If you can be able to follow these 10 things that we elucidated in this section, you will scale through in any marketing interview that you find yourself.
#1. You should get involved in a thorough research
For you to be able to know the basic things that every marketing interview will likely ask people seeking marketing jobs during their interview, you need to engage yourself in thorough research always.
Still on the basics of research, as a marketer, before stepping out for any job interview, you need to take out time to study the company you are applying for the job.
Know how the company started, how it operates, and other basic things that an external individual who is not staff in the company is meant to know.
This will make you more outstanding than other people that came for the same interview you came for.
Just by knowing something about the company that you are going for an interview, the employee will see you as someone that can effectively work with them; because you already know basic things about the company while you are not yet their staff.
Some of the basic company info you are meant to know includes the company’s revenues, annual data reports, target audience, competitors, new product releases, role in the industry, and all recent news coverage.
This will help you to easily answer questions that the interviewer will ask you about what you can do to help their current marketing strategy.
#2. You should be a creative marketer
Knowing some marketing terms and how to go about marketing is not enough for a marketer. You need to get to the point where you will be seen as an innovative thinker.
This means that you are willing to brainstorm an idea and bring it into the real-world marketing strategy, just to solve problems that people usually encounter in their marketing career.
In this scenario, we recommend that when you are in a marketing interview, try your best to show your creative ability.
Tell the interviewer (not just with words alone, but with actions) that you have what it takes to solve problems in their company.
If you have some previous samples of your works, it is the best time to display them to the interviewer, to let him know that you are an asset to their company.
For instance, if you are a web developer, it’s time to show the interviewer your previous jobs and do everything possible to defend everything that is in your previous work sample to prove that you are the one that did the job and that you have knowledge in that field.
#3. Have an online presence
In this digital age, before going for any job interview most especially in marketing, you need to have an online presence.
You know that one of the jobs of marketers is to drive traffic to their company which will in turn help the company’s visibility and also creates awareness for the company.
As a marketer who is going for an interview, your online presence will be a witness that you are a guru in your field, even without the interview trying to collect as much data as possible from you.
So if you don’t have a strong online presence, we recommend that you start not to build a strong online presence just for your career, especially if you intend to go for a marketing job interview in the future.
Your online presence will tell your interviewer that you can market yourself. This simply means that you are capable of marketing any of the company’s products or services without much hassle.
One of the platforms that you can use to strategize your skill and promote it to thousands of audiences is LinkedIn.
LinkedIn being a popular social media platform allows people to build their profile and even create some content about their business or career for free.
#4. Prove your level of experience
When going for a marketing job interview, don’t claim what you are not. Be honest and sincere both to yourself and to the interviewer.
For instance, you should not claim a false profile; just for you to impress the interviewer and gain favor in his sight that you are capable of handling so many tasks in their company.
We recommend that you present your exact level of experience and what you are capable of doing or what you have achieved in the past as related marketing.
If you are an expert, don’t hesitate to prepare a lot of ensamples of your previous work and also your past employment – be it self-employment or the previous places that you have worked within the past few years.
Perhaps, you should provide alongside your past job experience, a detailed explanation of how you performed in those places that you have worked in the past few years.
You should be aware that your entry-level position as a marketer will be centered on your level of articulation, your confidence in the job, and your communication skills.
#5. Your dressing should suit your company’s brand
A question can arise when it comes to dressing to your company’s brand. For instance, someone who is preparing for a marketing interview may ask – how can I dress to my company’s brand?
The answer to this question is quite short. All you need to do is to take out time to study your company and know the kind of dress their staffs put on when coming to their regular jobs.
Just dressing to your company’s brand alone will make you outstanding among other people that are likely going to come for the same interview that you are preparing for.
This will create a positive impression in the interviewer’s mind and he will know that you are fully ready to become one of the staff in their company.
You should know that as a marketer, you need to first of all market yourself before marketing your brand or your company’s brand.
#6. Ensure to always measure your success
A good marketer should be someone who can keep a track record of all he has achieved in the past.
Ensure to document all your success no matter how small it can be and use it to add value to yourself.
If you are a full-stack web developer, tell the company how you are going to engage people through the designs and functionalities you will add to their already existing website (that is if they have one) and also how you will integrate widgets that will track the performance of every single visitor.
This will in turn help to improve the functions that are needed on the company’s website to ensure maximum sales and revenue for the company.
If you can be able to prove to the company that when they install certain codes on their website, it will surely improve their marketing strategy as well as improve their visibility and awareness.
#7. Have a well-documented references
The majority of the companies that employ new staff will surely want to see how you work with people in the past.
Some interviewers can even go to the extent of finding out how people rated your previous work and also how satisfied they were after going through your work.
This is the place where references come to the scene. If for instance, you have well-documented references that state all your recent work with both individuals and clients, it will be a plus to you during the time of your interview.
We strongly recommend that you keep track of all your work references to show that you are not a standalone marketer.
Imagine if you have more than 10 different work references in a single marketing job that you handled in the past, it will be clear proof that you are a thorough person when it comes to doing research and solving problems.
Ensure that your references come from different sources and also you must strive to show that you are the overall team player in your references.
#8. Try to formulate questions and also make notes during the time of your interview
On most occasions, the interviewer will allow you to ask questions when he is done interviewing you.
Having known this, you should be eager to prepare your questions right from the time he started to interview you.
For you to be able to have enticing questions, you must listen carefully to your interviewer and capture every single word he spoke to you when he was interviewing you.
We recommend that before coming for the interview, you should take out time to research marketing interview questions so that you can be able to perform effectively during the questions he will ask you.
Also, you can be able to ask wise questions to prove to the interviewer that you are fully ready for the marketing job you are applying for.
When you have more questions at your disposal, the better your questions will be for the company at the time of the interview.
#9. Be courageous and have confidence in yourself
As a marketer, you must be confident in yourself. How bold you are when presenting what you are capable of doing will communicate to your interviewers that you know what you are doing.
Also, it will make them know that you can perform well in their company when you become one of their staff.
Ensure that you practice self-esteem strategies often to help you build your confidence, not just to the interviewer but also everywhere you are to defend what you know about marketing.
One of the things that will help you to have confidence is to research the company you are preparing for their interview and focus on how you can help the company to increase their publicity and awareness to their audience.
#10. Get ready to send a thank you note after your interview
Regardless of the company that you went to for their interview, you should get ready to prepare a handwritten copy of a “thank you note” just to appreciate them for the opportunity they gave you to come and express your knowledge with them.
You should document and send your thank-you note within 24-hours of your interview.
Your thank you note should state how happy you were for the opportunity the company gave you to be enrolled for their interview and that you can’t wait to hear from them on when you are to resume work.
Ensure that you include specific points from the interview in your thank you note.
Conclusion
Having seen our detailed guide on how to prepare for a marketing interview, you can now sit back and prepare yourself before going for any marketing job interview.
If you follow these 10 steps that we elucidated, your chances of getting the job will be over 85%.
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