Perfect Guide To Nailing A Marketing Graduate Job Interview

For many young marketing graduates, this year has had many highs and lows. While you have finally finished your degree, you now need to find a marketing graduate position in an uncertain market with so much more competition than ever. 

In the past, a good half of marketing graduates head overseas for a gap year, as reward for many years of study and to explore the world around us.

But this year is different, and suddenly you are thrown into the deep end and need to find a position that is perfect for you.

As an employer, I am always looking out for great marketing talent. Mostly when seeking to employ a graduate, we look no further than our marketing internship pool, but if a company doesn’t have a professional internship program like we do, it is almost certain they head to Seek or LinkedIn to find the right person for their company.

There is a number of things that make young marketers stand out from the crowd, but in today’s day and age, social media is the first thing that comes to mind.

Every marketer needs to know how to use social media and what better way to show this by using it to build your own profile. Smart marketers:

• Have a proficient LinkedIn account with many connections
• Participate in LinkedIn Groups
• Regularly comment on threads from other people
• Post regularly about marketing and business on Linkedin
• Have an Instagram/Facebook/Twitter account that has significant following and engagement. Knowing what your audience likes and dislikes is important to understanding marketing through social media
• Typo free CV’s

Prior to a job interview:

• Look up the company you are about to go and work for. Understand what they do, how they do it and why.
• Follow your perspective employer on social media and like their posts, comment and share where applicable.
• Write down 3 to 5 questions that you can ask when the time is right during the interview
• Prepare for questions they may ask:
  • Tell me about yourself (the art of storytelling)
  • What are your marketing strengths and weakness’?
  • What areas in marketing are you strong in?
  • Why should we employ you over other candidates?
  • How would you market a company like ours?
  • What is important to you in your next role?
  • How can you positively contribute to our workplace culture?

On the day of the interview:

• Dress appropriately and do your hair (seriously)
• Arrive early by at least 5 minutes
• Bring a notebook (electronic or paper-based)
• Ensure that you are well-prepared

Being introduced to the interviewer:

• Use your full name
• Ensure that you don’t have clammy hands – use a spritz spray if you need to
• Remember the names of those who are interviewing you
• Make small talk

During the interview:

• Even if you are nervous, focus on talking slowing and pausing so that the interviewer can ask you questions
• Keep your head held high and sit properly on the chair
• If they provide you with a water bottle and glass, pour the water into the glass
• Keep any negative communication out of the interview. 
  • i.e. “I did a science degree and hated it and that’s why I ended up in marketing” – replace with “I was fortunate to have started my tertiary education with a science degree. Marketing is in part art but also a science, and we know even more today particularly with the amount of data we have to play with. With my first three years of science I learned the different scenarios for how different parts of any equation work together while others don’t. It taught me tenacity; to keep trying and never give up until I achieved a desired outcome. It also taught me about failure which is imperative to marketing as sometimes your best lessons are in failures. Marketing is my passion and every part of my education helped me get to this point where I am sitting in front of you about to embark on the most exciting phase of my career.
• Maintain eye contact with the person who has asked you the question for as long as possible (without being awkward), then talk to everyone in the room. 
• Use language that resonates with the career you are hoping to have. Marketers have a certain language and that can be found easily in various editorials about marketing on the internet. Familiarise yourself with the “language” and use it.
• Read up on “cold reading” and body language so you can read your room
• Enjoy the process; remember you are on a stage and this is part of the process in getting the right job to suit your requirements.
• Sell yourself!