The job search and interview process for any marketing role is usually time-consuming and can be daunting for many professionals, even for those in senior positions. And it certainly doesn’t help when you finally get an interview for the position you’ve always wanted, and you find yourself making a mistake.
Marketing recruitment firms and marketing recruiters witness countless mistakes interviewees make that could have been easily avoided. But we also realize that no matter how thoroughly you prepare, mistakes can always happen during the interview process.
Related Video: How to Present Yourself During an Interview
Marketing Recruitment Firms Share the Most Common Marketing Interview Mistakes
While some minor blunders are inevitable, the candidates that are able to pick themselves up and recover are the ones that make a lasting impression. As a marketer, you are already familiar with general professionalism standards like arriving on time, thoroughly updating your resume, and other basic steps to adequately prepare for an interview.
Marketing recruitment firms often witness a few common mistakes even the most experienced candidates make. If you encounter yourself making any of these, a few key measures can be taken to ensure you don’t lose out on a great opportunity.
1. Failing to Sufficiently Prepare
Are you interested in the position you’re interviewing for? If so, make sure you show it! Doing extensive research on the company is essential in preparing for an interview. Experienced marketing recruitment firms can always detect if a candidate shows genuine interest in the role and if they’ve taken the time to conduct enough research on the company. Don’t blow your opportunity by failing to study the company that’s giving you a chance – it’s one of the first signs that you’re not the right candidate.
As you conduct research on the organization, don’t forget to examine your own expertise as a marketing professional. This entails recognizing your skill set, accomplishments, and experience that relate to the job. Being able to clearly communicate your capabilities and skills, and demonstrate the value you can bring to the organization will set you apart from other candidates.
2. Not Evaluating How the Company Fits Your Needs
Assessing how the job opportunity fits into your long term career goals is important in evaluating if it’s worth the time and effort – especially if you’re a seasoned marketing professional.
Adequate research into the specific role and company is necessary to ensure that you’re not wasting your time or the company’s. Many times, marketing recruitment firms find the right person for a position only to find them backing out of the offer last minute. This is ultimately a major inconvenience to you and the employer.
Have you already gone to an initial interview and realized the company wasn’t a good fit? Avoid wasting your time and efforts with the second and third round of interviews. If you’re on a serious job hunt, you most likely have interviews scheduled back to back. Allow yourself to fully prepare for the ones that genuinely peak your interest by cutting out any that don’t.
Related Video: What Makes a Good Next Step in Your Career
3. Not Providing Enough Contextual Information
Providing key quantifiable and contextual information to support your skills as a qualified marketing professional is essential in setting yourself apart. In today’s marketing space, there’s an overwhelming amount of technology to assess performance. Thus, marketing recruiters expect for you to know how the business is performing and the impact you’re driving.
Companies want to learn how you impacted an organization’s bottom-line and how you drove true value. What problems were you brought on to solve? How did you go about resolving them, and why?
Marketing recruitment firms prefer that you provide contextual data that accurately speaks to your capabilities. Provide some case studies or real evidence that illustrate how you think and solve problems. Elaborate on any times where you’ve reduced costs, improved processes or drove profitability for an organization. Speaking in a quantifiable manner explains what you did to impact a company’s bottom-line and builds credibility.
4. Failing to Directly Answer Questions
Marketing recruitment firms know that companies discredit candidates that aren’t able to directly answer a question. You may be able to answer them perfectly in your mind, but find yourself struggling to execute each one successfully. We get it – it happens to the best of us. But candidates that ramble and stumble through every question leave a less than satisfying impression on the recruiter or employer.
This goes back to proper preparation. Many interviewees have an issue with this because they don’t listen or they’re not prepared. Counteract the challenge of not being able to answer questions by taking a minute to think it through and gather your thoughts. It helps to mentally prepare your strongest accomplishments and demonstrate them in a concise manner.
Become the Candidate Marketing Recruiters Can’t Resist
To help you brush up on some basic standards, here are a few extra tips to ensure you’re adequately prepared for your next job interview:
- Ask strategic questions that demonstrate your interest in the position
- Don’t speak negatively about a previous employer
- Sit back and evaluate every question thoroughly
- Don’t discuss your personal life or personal challenges
- If a mistake happens, acknowledge it and apologize for it
As an experienced marketing recruitment firm, we attest to the many challenges that are uncontrollable in the nature of job interviews. However, how you handle those situations give marketing recruiters and employers a glimpse into your manners as a potential employee.
Even if you do slip up, being able to pick yourself back up will leave a memorable impression on marketing recruiters. Don’t cost yourself a great opportunity because you didn’t take the time to prepare – take advantage of accessible career growth advice that’s readily available at your fingertips.