Interviews are a great way to examine a candidates qualifications and also see if the candidate is a good cultural fit for your business.
Interviews are a bad recruitment tool if the candidate fools you into hiring them or doesn’t perform well in an interview setting. Nevertheless, it is nearly impossible to hire employees without an interview. We’ve gone ahead and compiled some questions to ask next time you interview someone for a content marketing position.
External competition and content marketing recommendations
Asking about the competition it’s a great idea – in almost any interview. In regards to a content marketing interview, dive deeper by asking some of the following questions:
- Who would you say are our companies biggest competitors?
- What are your thoughts on the competition?
- What do you think our company is doing well compared to the competition?
- How do you think our company could improve on after considering the competition?
Asking for competitor content marketing recommendations not only shows how invested the candidate is in a potential job at your company but you also see their ability to research and interpret new information. Content marketers need to be able to pick up on trends, identify gaps, and take information to transform the message.
For example, a successful content marketing person will look at the competitors website and see where that competitor might have gaps in their existing content offerings. Those gaps could lead to great topics for future blog posts.
Additionally, that person may also pick up on trends and key components of the competitors’ business to inform their current company of strategic recommendations to get ahead of the curve.
Ask about the target audience and how they will segment their messaging
Content marketing is successful when the content appeals to the target audience and the person that you are engaging. For example, a great candidate will interpret the company’s business objective and describe key components of who the audience is. If a candidate can suggest aspects of the audience based on informed research that indicates deep interest in the position and the ability to think in the mindset of the reader.
Content that is written in the right voice will perform better and match your brand. Proper messaging and segmentation within a content marketing program will also deliver the best results.
Workflow management style to stay on top of content marketing projects
Ask about the candidates typical work flow management style. Content marketing typically requires a lot of different components, stages, and deliverables that can be difficult to manage at one time.
A great question during the interview process is how would you manage multiple different projects at one time? This will demonstrate how the candidate thinks and organizes information. This question should determine how the candidate can handle managing a project from start to finish.
