When preparing for an interview everyone knows the essentials! Ensure you choose an appropriate outfit for the job level, do thorough research on the company beforehand and make sure you have a bunch of relevant questions. However, a recent published survey about interviews for digital marketing roles outlined that most candidates pursuing digital marketing roles are making the same familiar mistakes, not surprisingly given digital marketing’s embryonic state.

So to bag your dream digital marketing role we’ve compiled 5 tips on how you can prepare for your interview and avoid these common mistakes:

Don’t be afraid to critique the company’s online presence

It is very like likely that you will be asked whether you have reviewed the company’s website and/or social media and you shouldn’t be worried as this is not a trick question and no one is looking for your flattery. This question is asked only to see what fresh insights and ideas you can bring to the business.

This is your best opportunity to showcase that you have done your research on the company and you have paid extra attention to the website/social media accounts. The interviewer will appreciate hearing any suggestions and recommendations that you may have. However, minimal answers like “I think the website is great!” or “I think it could use more white space” will lead the interviewer to believe that you haven’t done any research on the company. If for some reason you are not asked about the website make sure you bring it up along with some recommendations that you believe will improve it. The interviewer will appreciate knowing that you didn’t neglect to research the company’s digital properties and you have a selection of fresh and innovative ideas.

Have a great updated online presence

A recent survey highlighted a tendency of interviewees to not put a lot effort into their own digital presence which is leading to a bad first impression as many interviewers usually check their candidates profiles online beforehand starting with LinkedIn and then moving onto Google. Therefore, it can be very alarming for an interviewer to come across LinkedIn accounts without a profile picture, public tweets that contain profanity or blogs that haven’t been updated in years. This is considered a sign of neglect especially when applying for digital marketing roles. “If you can’t market yourself online, how can you expect your interviewer to believe you could market the company?” Spend some time on your social presence, especially LinkedIn as an up to-date LinkedIn account can go a long way in making a great first digital impression.

It is okay not to know everything about the digital marketing space

The digital marketing space is a very broad field with everything from SEO to social media marketing to marketing automation to Artificial Intelligence all falling under this digital umbrella. No one expects you to be a master of all these areas, however, if you can do most of the job as described in the posting but are not so confident in one area – don’t panic, don’t try to gloss over it, turn it into an advantage.

If marketing automation isn’t your strongest area but is something that the successful candidate will be required to work on, instead of saying you can’t do that try saying “Whilst my previous roles haven’t allowed me much exposure to marketing automation, I have taken it upon myself to stay current via blogs, podcast and online training”. The interviewer will appreciate your honesty and your initiative to continuously learn and develop new skills.

Avoid jargon and buzzwords

Whilst you might be tempted to speak about your knowledge of hacking, hashtags and gamification, you will quickly lose the interviewer’s interest if none of those terms are relevant to the job role you are interviewing for.

The interview is your one opportunity to showcase your knowledge and capabilities, not how many buzzwords you have memorised! You should answer the questions avoiding jargon as much as possible and provide clear and concise answers in a formal and easy to understand tone. If you’re relying on buzzwords you are risking the interviewer immediately tuning out.

Show you’re comfortable with analytics

Any digital marketing role has a measurement component to it and there is no escaping that. You could find yourself working with web, social or online advertising analytics, therefore it is crucial to demonstrate that you are both comfortable working with analytics and interpreting them.

Everyone can read numbers off a spreadsheet, but what will set you apart from other candidates is your ability to analyse the data and tell a story with it. A great tip is to provide clear examples of previous campaigns you’ve worked on and explain how your insights have helped reach the campaign goal. If you haven’t had an opportunity to work with analytics in your previous job roles, it is essential to try to get as much exposure as you can outside of work. You could start with a blog and install Google Analytics. In addition regularly check your tweets’ analytics on your Twitter account or simply sign up for free training on Google Analytics provided and authorised by Google.

 

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