Marketing is a demanding and often complex career field that focuses on a customer’s desire for services and products. As a result, marketing interview questions cover a wide range of topics in order to cover all aspects of a successful marketing career. Interviewers will ask four types of questions to prospective marketing employees: general background, familiarity with the company and the marketing profession in general, skills and competency, and problem-solving.
Questions like “Tell me about yourself,” “Walk me through your resume,” “Tell me about some of your strengths and weaknesses,” and “Where do you see yourself in five years?” should be expected in almost any type of job interview. The most important thing to remember when responding to such questions is to keep your responses brief and relevant to the position in question. When asked to “tell me about yourself,” interviewees should only provide professional information that demonstrates a clear career path and is focused on the employer’s needs rather than the employee’s. Clarity in communication, a firm handshake, maintaining eye contact, good posture, professional dress, and any other aspect that will convey a good first impression also apply to a job interview.
An interviewer may also want to see how well you know the fundamentals of marketing. “What factors do you consider the most important when attempting to influence consumer behavior?”, “How do you research for a target market?”, or “How would you define our product or service?” are examples of marketing interview questions. Individual companies have unique requirements that an employer must meet in any profession. One company may be a small start-up looking for a generalist, while another may be a large conglomerate in need of someone who specializes in international competition. Regardless of the company’s needs, marketing interview questions such as “What value will you bring to our company?” or “Tell me about our company or a recent campaign and what changes or adaptations you would recommend” should be prepared. In order to answer such questions, thorough research is essential.
Because of the fierce competition in advertising and marketing, skills and specialized knowledge are especially important. Understanding competitors and customers is an important psychological component of marketing jobs, so be prepared for questions about marketing trends and competitor advantages/weaknesses, such as “What recent trends have you noticed in our field and how might we capitalize on them?” and “Describe the positive and negative aspects of a competitor’s product launch,” for example. In addition to statistical concepts and research methodology, computer technology, and public relations, marketing professionals use a variety of methods and tools in their daily activities. As a result, questions like “Tell me about the different aspects of a marketing project you recently delivered” and “Give me an example of how you: integrated traditional and new media marketing/used marketing research tools/delivered a project on time and on budget/dealt with a difficult setback/helped resolve a team conflict” are common in marketing interviews.
In the advertising and marketing world, creativity is lauded as well, especially if one’s desired job involves product design and development. Questions such as “Develop a marketing plan for our new product,” “You are product X, now sell yourself to me,” and “If you could invest in a new product venture, what would it be and what first steps would you take?” can test a person’s ability to think outside the box and on the spot.
With an interviewer’s problem-solving questions, the aforementioned assets of creativity and complex thinking can be put to the test most effectively. While knowledge and skills are essential, an employer’s true value is determined by how they are applied. Hypothetical questions can be used to demonstrate an employee’s abilities and fit for the company by putting him or her in a situation that they might encounter in everyday life. “Tell me how you would increase profit margins by 10% in the next five months” or “How would you market your product if you only had $500 US Dollars (USD)?” are two examples of such testing questions. These types of questions vary depending on the specialty a person pursues, such as higher-level management or a more traditional position like research and development.