Hosting multiple interviews can be an enlightening experience and marketing recruitment experts, Spotlight Recruitment, are here to make things easier! If you are looking to onboard a talented Marketer but are unsure about how to give a first-class interview, have a read of our seven tips below that will certainly come in handy when seeking to hire an outstanding marketing, digital, or communications candidate.
- Build a seamless candidate experience
The candidate market is moving faster than ever, and skilled Marketers are in demand. Before you start recruitment, discuss with your team and create a great hiring plan that will quickly attract and retain talent. We advise clients to keep interview stages to a minimum and close together and move swiftly on decisions to ensure that you are less likely to lose the candidate to another company. Make sure your interviews are informative, appealing and engaging to the candidate, recruitment is not a one-way street.
- Come prepared
Before starting interviews, know exactly what it is that you are looking for in terms of experience, skills, and how your new Marketer would fit within the team. Create questions that will allow them to demonstrate their suitability for the role and carefully review their CV in detail in case you want clarification on any of their key skills, previous roles, or achievements. Consider offering a variety of questions such as competency-based questions, character questions, and open questions as this will give you a clear understanding of how they would approach the role, how they would fit in with the team, their motivations, and career goals. Inject some informal chat to get to know them better and make decisions from there.
- Offer a warm welcome
Whether virtual or in-person, it is important that you introduce yourself, describe the company and make the candidate feel comfortable and keen to share. Starting the interview with some conversational questions is a great way to settle the candidate’s nerves, make the experience more enjoyable, and encourage them to talk freely before the more challenging questions begin. Make sure if there are any last-minute changes, you convey these to the candidate, keeping them updated so they feel prepared and ready.
- Set clear expectations
Be clear on the role’s responsibilities, salary, job title, and benefits to make sure expectations are completely aligned. Whilst you do want to paint the role and company in a positive light, a great interviewer will always be descriptive and offer accurate information. No one likes finding out at the end of the process it’s a different role and salary, be clear from the start!
- Actively listen, take notes, and learn about their goals
A brilliant interviewer will actively listen to the candidates, encourage them to share, and show a genuine interest in what they have to say. An interview is a great opportunity to learn about a candidate’s career goals, professional interests, personal hobbies, and their motivations for applying and all of this together, will help you determine whether they are a good fit for you and the business.
- Allow them to ask questions
A prepared candidate will have questions of their own, to find out more about the company, the hiring process, and the role. Giving the candidate a chance to ask questions will allow them to determine whether the role is right for them, and it will help you understand their interest in the company and enthusiasm about the role. Allow ample time to answer questions, share insight, and cover
- Conclude on next steps
A brilliant interviewer will offer a consistent and well-thought-out process that shows they care and clearly know what they are doing! Be sure to thank the candidate for their time, it is a time-consuming and all-encompassing process to go through while often working in a current role. Update them on the next steps and timeline and if continuing to interview, keep them updated throughout. If you go silent, candidates often lose interest so don’t leave people unsure of where they are in the process.
Interviewers need to create engagement, tell the story of a business, and captivate their audience leaving them with a positive thought of the company and the role they are applying for. In this candidate-led market make sure your interviews are first class! If you are a business looking to hire talented Marketers for marketing, digital, or communications roles, get in touch find out more about the clients we work with and how Spotlight Recruitment can help you source exceptional marketing candidates.
NICOLA MONGON is the MD of Spotlight Recruitment, specialists in marketing, digital, and communications recruitment since 2008. Read our 5* Google reviews from candidates and clients to find out more. If you would like to discuss hiring plans or find out more about us, you can reach Spotlight at 020 3008 4254 or info@spotlightrecruitment.com