When it comes to hiring a Marketer for your company, it’s important to have a structured process that ensures the company is bringing in the right person for the job. One way to do this is to adhere to a multi-step interview process where each step is designed to evaluate different aspects of the candidate's qualifications and fit for the role. In this blog post, we will take a closer look at an Ideal Interview cycle for evaluating a Marketer.

Step 1: Hiring Manager Phone Screen

The first step in the hiring process is a phone screen with the hiring manager. This step typically lasts for about 30 minutes, with 20 minutes dedicated to interviewing the candidate and 10 minutes focused on selling the role and answering any of their questions. The goal of this step is to evaluate the candidate's personality and culture fit with the company, as well as to gauge their interest in the role.

Step 2: Hiring Manager Interview

The second step in the hiring process is a more in-depth interview with the hiring manager. This step typically lasts for about an hour, with 45 minutes dedicated to a deep dive into the candidate's experience, qualifications, culture fit, wants, and needs. The remaining 15 minutes are focused on answering any questions the candidate may have and selling the role further.

Step 3: Cross-Functional Leader Panel

The third step in the hiring process is a panel interview with 2-3 cross-functional leaders or employees, depending on the size of the organization. For the first 45 minutes with the candidate, each person on the panel should focus on a different aspect of the core role requirements and necessary capabilities. This step is designed to ensure that the candidate is a good fit for the company as a whole, not just for the specific role they are applying for.

Step 4: Final Presentation

The fourth step in the hiring process is usually a final presentation, which can be written or live. Depending on the type of marketer, applicable presentation frameworks can include: 

• Leaders: 90 day plan or ½ year plan

• Leaders: Sample marketing budget proposal

• Demand Generation: Walkthrough of a past project or campaign - ideation to evaluation of results 

• Product Marketing: Sample Messaging & Positioning Exercise or GTM strategy plan

• Content Marketing: Sample writing evaluation (email marketing templates, social media marketing posts, blog posts, etc.)

• MarkOps: Design a sample marketing analytics dashboard - what metrics would you track and why?

• MarkOps: Live platform skills test (Marketo, Hubspot, Eloqua, etc.)

Step 5: Verbal Offer and References

If the candidate makes it through the previous steps successfully, they will be given a verbal offer and asked for references. This step is important to ensure that the candidate is truly interested in the role and to verify their qualifications and fit with the company.

Step 6: Formal, Written Offer

The final step in the hiring process is to provide the candidate with a formal, written offer. This step is crucial to ensure that both the company and the candidate are clear on the terms of employment and to finalize the hiring process.

In addition to following a structured hiring process, there are a few other considerations to keep in mind. It is important to provide timely feedback and to schedule each additional step within 1-2 days. Ideally you should request that each interviewer and interview focuses on a different topic or set of questions, and we recommend sharing notes internally to ensure maximum coverage across important criteria. It is important to avoid asking questions about age, marital status, religion, sexual orientation, or parental status, and to ensure that any questions about current compensation are legally permitted in your state.

Following a structured hiring process can help ensure that the company is bringing in the right person for the job. By taking the time to evaluate each candidate thoroughly and following a multi-step interview process, companies can increase the chances of making a successful hire and building a strong team.