Is it time to grow your marketing department? Whether you need a interim marketing team or an executive level marketing leader, a marketing recruiter can help you find the right person.
But just like a marketing recruiter screens candidates, you need to vet marketing recruiters to find the right one for your company. Their professionalism, experience and processes can really affect your final outcome – and the quality of the person they help you hire.
If you’re ready to start, here’s what to look for:
- Marketing expertise and industry knowledge.
This is a given. You can’t know what to find unless you know what you’re looking for. I would do a terrible job at a choosing a winning pumpkin at a harvest festival. I don’t know what makes a great pumpkin – but I do know which qualities and experiences make a person a potential great marketing asset in a company. Knowing the industry is essential. When your marketing recruiter has marketing expertise, they know how to spot, hire and recruit the very best talent so your marketing department can flourish. - A process for getting to know your company
Although most marketing departments function similarly, your marketing department is unique because it’s in your company. Your marketing recruiter needs to understand what makes your company tick, what type of help you need and how this particular marketing position will take your company to the next level. - An emphasis on finding a cultural fit.
In today’s workplace, culture is just as important as experience. The values that your company holds, the way it rewards success and what it emphasizes in the work place all play into how well a new hire will do in your company. Your marketing recruiter should value culture and have a process for screening qualified candidates for culture fit as well as skills. - Connections to passive candidates.
Sometimes the best talent is employed and not actively looking for a position. But a good recruiter knows that the hiring pool isn’t just made up of people who are looking through want ads and making connections on LinkedIn. When your recruiter knows people who would be perfect for your company – but are in “hiding” – you can end up with than excellent hire that you wouldn’t be able to find otherwise. - Ongoing support.
Finding the right candidate is only the start for working with a great marketing recruiter. They should help with an onboarding plan to ease the transition for both you and the candidate. And they should follow up at pre-determined internals for the next 6 months. This way they can be sure they’ve found the right fit and everything is working out for your new hire.
Not all marketing recruiters are created equally! Before you put the future of your company in their hands, be sure you’ve found the right fit with these keys.
