How Should You Prepare for a Marketing Executive Job Interview?

Not Being Prepared

It is true that this opportunity just popped up right in the middle of your busy schedule. Between your current full-time job and family, you are already over-committed, but unless you are determined to carve out some quality time to get prepared for this upcoming interview process, you might as well just graciously pass on the opportunity.

Everyone involved in the process is just as busy, and they do no have time to spare either. No matter how long you have been in the industry or how good you are at your job, sometimes it comes down to how well you interview, and if you don’t prepare, someone else’s interview will outshine yours. It won’t be because you can’t do the job or that they are more qualified than you; it will be because you didn’t take the time to strategically prepare.

You may think that your current role is all you need to refer to during your upcoming interview process, but it is important to recognize that in your current role, you are focused on immediate tasks and future goals that will drive revenue or advance your organization. Interviewing, on the other hand, requires a different perspective, much like looking in a rearview mirror. The hiring organization is interested in your past accomplishments, how you got to where you are today, and how these achievements relate to what you can bring to the table.

Depending on the interviewing strategy used, you may be asked questions that pertain to very early in your career, maybe even about college. If you are like most people, you are so focused on the future and adding value for your current employer that it is going to take some time to bring all your keys wins top of mind so you can articulate them in a succinct and compelling fashion. You have likely seen the other side of this where you interview someone who looked great on paper and they came in and rambled for an hour. It was not a bad candidate, but it was an unprepared candidate and you did not hire them. Taking time to prepare can prevent awkward moments during the interview process while you grapple with trying to come up with well-thought-out answers.

Preparing Incorrectly

Another mistake candidates often make is that they underestimate the depth of the interview questions. They use Google to search for the top 20 or 50 most common interview questions, spend hours coming up with clever answers, and think they are ready. This is a waste of time and energy.

The stakes are considerably higher for the hiring organization when recruiting for a C-suite marketing role. They are looking for candidates with strong critical thinking skills and a broad range of intellectual expertise. They will not be relying on the questions you found in your Google search to choose their next marketing leader.

You Need To Take A Trip Down Memory Lane

How can you best prepare to showcase your qualifications and stand out from the competition? Since you have limited time, you need to utilize it wisely, and the first step is what we at MarketPro call “know thyself.”

In other words, you need to be prepared to make sure you have all your accomplishments top of your mind so you can answer each question in the highest and best way. You don’t want to walk out of the interview and wish you had answered one question better. There are no second chances. It is time to create a summary of your career, highlighting the value you have provided to both your past and current organizations. Specifically, focus on utilizing numbers to highlight results.

Spend time going over your resume and career path, starting from your college days, because some organizations are interested and use interview techniques that ask about these early choices. Consider why you chose the university you attended and what valuable lessons or experiences you gained that still influence your thinking and decision-making today. Prepare a few concise talking points on these subjects to use during the interview.

While reviewing each stage of your career, think about the challenges you faced when you began each role. What were the organization’s objectives for your position? Identify any mistakes you made and the lessons you learned. Highlight instances where you exceeded expectations, contributed to the organization’s success, and achieved goals that drove ROI. Write down a few key points about these accomplishments for each job you’ve had, all the way to your current position.

Spending four or five hours on this preparation is a worthwhile investment. It will keep important details fresh in your mind and ensure you are ready to give confident and well-thought-out answers to even the most unexpected questions.

Connect Your Background And Skills With The Opportunity

Take time to apply the notes you have written about your accomplishments and your career path to the role you are interviewing for.

If you can use specific examples from your experiences and align your skills, background, and past successes with the goals of the hiring organization and demonstrate how you will contribute to their growth, you will stand out from other candidates.

Align Your Experience With Their Goals

Learn about the goals, objectives, and requirements of the role, and strategize ways to showcase the value you bring to the hiring organization. Resources like the job description, quarterly reports, news articles, and publications can help you find relevant information.

For example, if you are interviewing for the role of VP of Demand Gen, you might find that the job description outlines the goals of increasing leads, decreasing overall costs per lead, and increasing their ROI based on marketing investment.

You would want to clearly demonstrate where you have achieved this in the past, the challenges you faced, the lessons learned while going through the process, and most importantly, showcase examples of instances where you exceeded the organization’s expectations in these particular areas.

If you take the time to be well prepared for the interview process and are not offered the role, it may mean it is not the best fit for you. But if you jump into the process without careful preparation, even if you are the most qualified candidate, it might mean missing out on the perfect next step in your career path, which would have benefited both you and the hiring organization.