The Only 3 Things That Matter To Marketing Hiring Managers

What really matters when it comes to pursuing that dream marketing role? We’re not talking about the high-level intellectual stuff here...

Hopefully you’ve already designed your Career Strategy, considered The 6 Career Factors, outlined your Career Profile, and mapped your Career Path.

No, Here we’re talking about the rubber meeting the road. What really matters if you want to get that dream job?

The Interview.

We’re going to dissect the interview in this Guidebook for Marketing Associates, from pre-interview, to during-interview, and post-interview. Over the next half-hour, you’ll become an expert in nailing this most important phase of landing your dream role in marketing.

Now, let’s step into the shoes of a modern Marketing Associate. These are real quotes from marketers in our Career Mentor program - do any of these situations resonate with you?

• “I’d say I’m comfortable in my current role and [Company], but I’d really like to get to the next level faster, and jumping to another agency is the only way that’s going to happen. I’ve identified a few agencies that have potential, but haven’t reached out to any yet - I’m telling myself that I’m dragging my feet because I’m looking for the perfect next company, but I really think I’m actually just dreading the interview process.”
  - Agency Marketing Associate, New York City NY

• “Desperate to go on more interviews - that’s how I’d describe myself. I left my last position before I had really nailed down where I wanted to work next (I know, rookie mistake), and now there’s a countdown clock over my head to get that next paycheck. I’ve been on two interviews in the last month, but I wouldn’t say I knocked them out of the park. I’m eager for that change of scenery, but I don’t understand why I’m not getting called back after the first interview!”
  - Startup Marketing Associate, Austin TX

• “I’ve got to get out of here. It may sound selfish, but my commute is terrible and my boss provides me with no guidance. I’m not necessarily looking to change my role, but I’ve come to realize I need to do it somewhere else. It’s just the interview process is very daunting, and I don’t know where to start.”
  -Client-Side Marketing Associate, Detroit MI

What was holding all three of these marketing associates back from taking the next step in their career journey?

The interview.

Whether you’re satisfied with your role, but just need to do it at another company, or you’re looking to level up faster than your current employer can facilitate, or you’re a free agent who needs to crush some interviews fast - this 33-Minute Interviewing Guidebook is the shortcut up Marketing Mountain that you’ve been looking for.

The 10,000-Hour Rule

Now, your average Marketing Associate has been on 2-3 interviews since they graduated from university. While Malcom Gladwell’s 10,000 Hour Rule wouldn’t quite qualify the average Associate as an Expert, three interviews is enough to have a good understanding of the process, right?

Send in your application, get a phone interview, then an in-person interview, then get an offer. Seems simple enough.

But in reality, there is much more going on in the behind the scenes in the office of your potential employer.

Imagine you’re HR manager staring at a stack of 500 resumes, and needing to shortlist 10 candidates for the hiring manager to review…

Imagine you’re the hiring manager interviewing those 10 candidates for 2 hours each over the course of only 2 or 3 days…

Imagine you’re an Associate on an expanding marketing team and your manager asks you to interview several of the candidates, and then weigh in on who you think she should hire...

When viewed from the perspective of the hiring team rather than the candidate, the interview process takes on new meaning.

By looking at the hiring process this way, marketing candidates gain a competitive edge, stand out more effectively, and move through the process more efficiently than other candidates who view the process with themselves at the center.

This ultimately gives savvy marketing candidates (like you) a huge advantage in the hiring process for associate level positions.

So, now that we’ve got a grasp of who this guide is for, and what the interview process really looks like from the employer’s viewpoint, let’s look at the only three things that matter to hiring managers of marketing associate roles.

• Personal Brand: For job seekers, this means your LinkedIn profile. Research profile best practices; things like profile photo, cover image, headline, and byline. Also add some relevant media, like presentations, certifications, and anything else that shows what else you can bring to the table.

• Resume & Cover Letter: Be sure to also research best practices for resume design and cover letter writing. Focus on content first, design second. And ensure that your taglines and bullets are all about results, not just activities.

• Knowledge Application: It’s great that you’ve gained two or ten certifications, but even this has become table-stakes for marketing candidates due to the plentiful expert hard skills content online. Marketing hiring managers today are looking for applied learning beyond certifications - does this person just have an array of certs, or have they taken the next step, put the rubber to the road, and applied these learnings successfully?

These are bullets, not numbers, because there is no universally agreed-upon priority order for them. Marketing hiring managers can be fickle - some may be ready to bring you in for an interview as soon as they see how well you position your personal brand.

Others will put more stock in the candidate’s resume - a more typical approach.

And a third bucket of hiring managers will care most about applied learning - has this candidate successfully applied all of their certifications and on-paper expertise for a client, former employer, or personal brand presence?

Need help putting together a results-oriented resume? We have just the thing...

Download The Impactful Resume Generator, one of many free tools from The Marketing Help.

So there you have it. The only three things that marketing hiring managers care about - your personal brand, your resume & cover letter, and your applied learning.

Now let's talk about what do to before the big show...

Marketing Interview Preparation.