Hiring a marketing manager can be tricky. In any position at a company, you have to assess technical skills and personality traits, but marketing managers have so many different skill sets and responsibilities that sussing out the right candidate can feel like an art. The good news is that hiring managers who understand the role of marketing manager in their organization can confidently create an interview assessment process that will help them find the right fit for their needs. For example, if you're looking for a person who can help increase customer engagement in some way but don't know exactly how they'll do it yet (it could be through social media outreach or content creation!), you should probably hire someone with skills in those two areas and trust that they'll figure out how to get your business closer to its goals—you just need to make sure they're capable of doing that work first.
In order to create an effective marketing manager interview, you'll need to be clear about the job description. What is this person going to do? How does that fit into the company's goals and values? Why does it matter for them to succeed in their role? What are your expectations for this role at this point in time?
Once you have a solid idea of what kind of marketing person you're looking for and why he or she needs to succeed in their role, you'll be able to create questions that will help reveal whether or not candidates are right for your organization.
As you plan to meet with candidates, be sure not to be vague about what you're looking for in a marketing manager. If you want someone who has a track record of successful PPC campaigns, then say so. If you need someone who can develop and implement an employee referral program, let them know that as well.
When possible, try not to leave things open-ended or underdeveloped when discussing expectations and skill sets with the individual—this will help both parties avoid confusion or miscommunication later on down the road.
Skills and values assessment exercises are the best way to find out about a candidate's true abilities, interests, and fit with your company. These tests help you evaluate candidates on a variety of factors including their technical skills, personality traits, problem solving ability, and communication skills.
You want to hire candidates who are a good fit for the job and the team, so you need to ask questions that will tell you how they would handle challenges. If the candidate has worked in customer service before, ask them about a time when they had to deal with an angry customer or difficult situation. If they have not worked in customer service before, consider giving them more challenging scenarios than those you would give someone who has worked in this area before. It's important that your interviewee can demonstrate their problem-solving skills and emotional intelligence so that they can be successful at your company.
The best indicator of whether or not a candidate is right for your company is their passion for marketing. What were some of the ideas and campaigns that excited you in your previous roles? What tools do you use on a daily basis to get things done? Who are some of the people who inspire you and why? The answers to these questions will give you an idea of how well the candidate fits into the culture at your firm.
Ask them what they've learned from reading books like Advertising Today or Marketing Management: Concepts & Cases by Philip Kotler, or listening to podcasts such as NPR's Planet Money or Freakonomics Radio. Ask them if there are any quotes that resonate with them as marketers (a personal favorite of mine is from Steve Jobs: "You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards.").
There are plenty of great marketing managers out there, but knowing what kind of person you need will help you find them. This can be a lot of work, but it’s worth the time if you want the best possible candidates for your position.