Do you have questions about finding a marketing job? Here are a few pieces of advice for those seeking a marketing career.
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| Three pieces of advice to get a marketing job |
I have hired dozens of marketing professionals during my
career. My hiring methods are not complicated
but have proven successful since they are based on common sense. The best corporate strategies in the world need skilled,
competent marketing professionals to execute them with excellence. Here are 3 key
ideas to keep in mind that the hiring manager may be considering as you go in for that interview.
Can you help balance the team?
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| A team needs to be balanced |
If you are fortunate to have a number of direct reports in
your marketing department, you need team members who lean toward:
left brain or right brain
writers or data crunchers
strategists or tacticians
reactive or proactive
introverts or extroverts
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| Too much yin, too little yang? |
The best teams give you a nice blend of perspectives that
can challenge each other and attack problems from varied perspectives. So the right hire may not be the most talented
with the longest resume and experience. She may be the person who rounds out
your team, brings a fresh perspective to the group and can balance your human
resources. If you are going for a job interview, learn about what is missing in the department and see if you have those skills or competencies that can add a nice balance to the team. Do your strengths compliment the team's needs?
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| Show me the initiative |
Have you seen their initiative?
Nothing is worse than a candidate who shows up unprepared.
During a job interview, I never want to hear someone ask me to tell them
about the company. A lack of preparation
gets me very disappointed and disinterested. My expectations are to have someone coming in
telling me about our company. I want them to explain what have they observed,
read or researched about who we are and what we do. How informed are they about
the category? I don’t expect anyone to come in with the right answers to our
problems but I do get annoyed if they walk in without lots and lots of
questions. I have advised my daughters that they should prepare a long list of
questions that they can use to engage the interviewer or hiring manager. Be
thoughtful, be inquisitive and be prepared!
Show that you have
taken the initiative to learn and educate yourself so you can give me a sample
of what it would be like if you worked for me. Remember, an interview gives a prospective
employer a chance to see how you work when trying to market something---in this
case it is you.
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| Are you ready for the interview? |
Have they really come prepared for the interview?
I don’t understand why candidates aren’t better prepared to
make my job easier? I want them to come in with a big fat stack of letters of
references from a many people they know from the last 10 years. If they are
very junior and inexperienced, they still have had plenty of teachers, coaches
or co-workers who will say something positive about their work. How hard is it
to illustrate through your preparation that you are an upstanding individual
with plenty of people who will vouch for you?
You need to be keeping those letters organized and in a file
well in advance of looking for a job. And, when you leave an internship, a
part-time position, a club or non-profit, ask for a letter of reference for the
future. It is a simple thing yet so few potential candidates come prepared. If
I have 3 equally qualified candidates and someone has brought several
references letters with them, they immediately show me that they have thought through
how they can help me hire them.
Most surprising, if these are marketing candidate you would
expect them to be mindful of the importance of differentiation. How can you
stand out among the dozens of resumes and interviews?
Summing it up
So remember when you have that job interview coming up, the
hiring manager is busy. They are trying to balance their team, find someone
with initiative and are looking for a way to easily assess the candidate’s
background. Don't make things difficult for the hiring manager- help them hire you.
Labels: initiative, job interviews, marketing, marketing jobs, Marketing Moments
