Author: Ram Parthasarathy
Unlike many skill sets within an organization, marketing is primarily a soft skill. So, obviously, when hiring a marketing person, soft skills should receive priority.
Some basic things to look out for:
Demographics:
Is the person being interviewed comfortable with communicating in the local language of the area they are being hired for? And, of course, also comfortable with spoken and written English?
Gender neutrality:
Gender should not be a factor in making a hiring decision. However, since marketing entails a lot of traveling, when interviewing a female candidate, her willingness to travel should be ascertained. This of course does not apply to online marketing.
Friendliness:
Does a marketing person come across as friendly and relaxed, or as tense and stand-offish? People are often tense when facing an interview, so the interviewer should make an effort to be relaxed and informal, and try to put the candidate at ease. That’s when you will see the real side of the person. After all, you are taking a call on a person based on a single interaction of 20-30 minutes, so take time to peel away the outer defensive layers.
Confidence and grooming:
Is the candidate presentable, neatly dressed, and does he or she project an air of confidence and self assurance? This is extremely important. Fashion is not important, cleanliness and neatness are. And confidence, most important of all.
Positive attitude:
A lot can be judged about a candidate’s attitude by the words they speak, and, of course their body language. People who smile a lot are more likely to have a positive attitude. People who use negative verbs a lot in their speech tend to have a negative attitude. For example, if you ask a question to which the candidate does not know the answer, one response would be “I don’t know”- negative, and 90% will respond this way. The outstanding candidate would say “ I will check and get back to you”.
Try and judge what overall impression the candidate makes on you. Broadly speaking, if the candidate makes a favorable impression on you, he should be able to make the same on a customer as well.
