‘Tis the season for job seeking! Whether you’re looking for a new marketing challenge, your first post-grad gig, or a marketing summer internship, we have the interviewing insights for you. Today, we are diving into three major interviewing tips to landing your next marketing role!

Research, Recite, & Reflect Before A Job Interview

Like marathon runners training ahead of the big race, aspiring marketing professionals should adopt a similar model and mindset to approaching job interviews. While a job interview does not require months of training in comparison to endurance sports, a little preparation in the days leading up to the interview will go a long way.

Preparing for a job interview can look different for every marketing role and company you apply for. To start, Research the company and hiring manager. By getting to know your interviewer and the company beforehand, you walk into the interview showing that you have enough interest in the position and company to delegate time toward learning more about who you will be speaking with. Research can also help you, the interviewee, prepare questions you might have for the hiring manager about the company’s culture, role expectations, duties, work environment, etc. 

Write and recite your answers (with concrete, quantitative examples from past experiences) out loud to get comfortable sharing what makes you the most qualified candidate for the role. Using your resume and the marketing job listing to guide you, pull 3-5 keywords or skills that stand out to you. Use these key terms to act as recurring themes throughout your answers to show how your experience matches the qualifications and that you completely understand what is being asked in the job description. Have a friend, roommate, or family member ask you common marketing interview questions! 

The last step to our interview preparation guide is to Reflect. Think of why you applied to this marketing role in the first place. Reflecting on your past educational and professional experiences will recall your memory to think about the skills and knowledge you’ve acquired along your marketing journey.

What Is The Star Method?

Let’s dive a bit deeper into those practice interview questions from your preparation. Do you find yourself rambling your way through answers during a job interview? The STAR method is coming to rescue you and focus your thoughts! The hidden gem of interviewing methods, the STAR method stands for Situation, Task, Action, and Result. Perfect for those tricky behavioral questions, using this straightforward technique will show you are concise, driven, and respectful of both your and the interviewer’s time. Let us break it down for you:

Situation. Like your favorite author, get creative. It’s time to set the scene and lay the foundation for your audience to understand why the experience you are about to share is relevant to your job candidacy. Don’t stress about the details unimportant to the message you are conveying, simply share what is essential background information to obtain the best understanding in an efficient amount of time. Task. What is your role in the situation? What goals or objectives did you set to carry out your responsibilities? Typically summarized in a sentence or two, this is the time to show your involvement within the given scenario. Action. Here is your time to shine. Be concise, descriptive, and factual in your response to show how you helped or aided the situation closer to achieving the end goal. The more specific you are in sharing the actions you took, the better. Result. In the home stretch, this final step brings your listeners in to hear how this situation was resolved at last. Show the interviewers the positive impact your contributions had on your company or the greater good. By laying out your impact on a situation, you’re showing potential employers that your actions had a meaningful purpose. Be proud of what you accomplished! 

The STAR method takes an at-first overwhelming question and breaks it into a structural process that will showcase your skills, abilities, and impact in a way that is eloquently communicated to the interviewers.

Finish Strong With A Follow-Up To Seal The Deal

You’ve done your homework, you answered the company’s questions with precision and personality, and you’ve asked some inquisitive questions of your own…so, what’s next? Sell yourself as the perfect fit by thanking your interviewer and the company for their time to meet with you.

Have you ever heard the expression ‘You’ve only done the laundry if you fold and put away the freshly cleaned clothes’? Well, the same thing could be said for following up after a marketing job interview. While the hard part of interviewing in real-time might be over, there is still another chance for your application and interest to stand out among your fellow candidates. 

Within 24 hours of your interview, writing a simple thank you email to those you met with is an effective way to keep your face, name, and experiences at the top of the hiring manager’s mind. Additionally, you might have questions come up once you’ve concluded the interview. The follow-up, thank you email is a great opportunity to ask those questions.

Following up within a week of your interview shows that you are eager for the next steps and want to check in on the status of the hiring process. By following up, you are helping the marketing recruiter and hiring manager do their job by simply showing you are still interested and the best fit for the role.

It is important to give respect to the hiring manager and the marketing hiring process overall. Following up after the job interview demonstrates this respect and consideration while illustrating your anticipation and excitement to work for the company. Follow up to find a path to your marketing future.

Now that we’ve given you a few of our favorite tools and interviewing necessities, go out and give them a try! Be yourself, stay confident, and commit to your goals and dreams while working through your marketing job search. You got this!