When hiring for a VP of Marketing, there are some specific questions you may need to ask that differ from your standard interview. As an executive-level position in most companies, you need to be sure that your VP of Marketing has what it takes to get the job done in the best possible way for your organization.
What questions should you ask a candidate? How do they relate to choosing the right fit? 7 experts have provided their best questions to ask a candidate interviewing for VP of Marketing.
Would you prefer to be liked or respected?
Gain better insights into the type of candidate you are interviewing is by asking them whether they would prefer to be liked or respected. It is one of those questions that can help you better assess what kind of leader you will be hiring for your team. Senior leadership roles come with a tremendous level of responsibility and it is crucial that you understand very clearly what type of leader you are potentially hiring.
Jon Schneider, Recruiterie
What are five things you can do with this roll of duct tape?
No matter what level the role, marketing and creativity go hand in hand. If a VP of Marketing is going to effectively market a product or service, they’ll need to think of 101 ways to talk about the features of what they’re selling. To measure creativity, I will hand a candidate a roll of duct tape and ask them for five things they can do with it. I love the question, because some candidates will ask for permission before providing their answer (“Can I say that I would tape a box?”). It’s such an odd question that reveals so much about how a marketer thinks.
Brett Farmiloe, Small Business SEO
How do you anticipate to report on marketing efforts, even if there is not a direct ROI associated with every marketing decision?
Being the VP of Marketing means you have to make sure every marketing decision being made is being made for good reason and will eventually result in conversions for the company. This is hard to track at times and difficult to report on for someone that is a beginner to marketing, making this a great question to ask in a VP of Marketing interview.
Pete Newstrom, Arrowlift
What are clear examples of work you have done and what were the outcomes?
This will sound obvious to many marketers, but you need to ask for clear examples of the individual work a candidate has done and what the outcome was. In marketing, leadership is important, but so is “doing the work.” To truly create great content, for example, you need to have done it yourself. Same with ads, SEO and similar campaigns you may run. Because of this, asking for examples and outcomes is one way to illuminate someone’s actual experience.
Michael Alexis, Teambuilding
Why exactly do you want to be here, at this company?
As simple as it may seem, it is always crucial to ask people applying for positions of authority why exactly they want to be there. As a potential leader at your company, you want to make sure their values align with that of the company and that they’ll be a good fit.
Zack McCarty, Qwick
How are you going to lead and manage a large team of marketing professionals?
The VP of Marketing will most likely be leading a large team of marketing professionals. How are they going to manage them? What does their leadership style look like? Ask questions to access what kind of leader they will be and if they will be a good fit to lead the marketing team.
Henry Babich, Stomadent Dental Lab
How would you describe your approach to leadership?
When someone is at this level in an organization, they are focused on strategy and their output is greatly measured in their ability to work through their team. That in mind, a fair portion of the interview should be focused on their style of leadership, how they work through challenges and how they motivate their team. One question I would ask is, “how would you describe your approach to leadership?” Another would be, “Tell me about a time where your team had a tight deadline to complete a project that was assigned at the last minute, how did you make it happen?”
Steven Brown, DP Electric Inc