3 tips to make your next job interview 100x saucier (professionally speaking, of course)

Being on the other side of the hiring table has taught me three BIG lessons about applying for roles in content (and marketing in general, actually).

Marketing is a creative industry by nature and, obviously, there are many instances where these suggestions do not make logical sense. However, these are personal vendettas and advice from my experience that just might help someone nail their next interview and land that job.

1?? Take the ‘interview task’ and flip that f*cker on its head.?

It’s likely the hiring manager tasked you with responding to a painfully obvious content marketing concern, right?

99% of applicants will do the obvious and prepare the task as requested. Okay, so this isn’t violently offensive in itself. BUT (biiiig but) no matter how pretty or well presented you deliver your response to the obvious…it’s still the obvious.

As a hiring manager, what stands out from multiple hours spent watching candidates present variations on the exact same thing…is someone who rocks up with an entirely new idea (within reason).

One interviewee last year started her presentation with “You asked me to do X, but I looked at your website and thought that Y made more sense.” Straight up; you’ve got my attention. You schooled me with a better idea that I hadn’t even thought of. You sound kind of great.

2?? Don’t just think outside the box, throw the box in the bin and go ROGUE.

Whether you regularly read the most common content marketing blog isn’t interesting to me. In fact, it makes me think you probably Googled ‘top content marketing blogs’ before the interview.?

Great content writers don’t and won’t read the same blogs as everyone else. When asked what content inspires you, or what blogs you read, or what brands you think are nailing their content strategy, for the sake of your career don't be vanilla.

The minute someone mentions an obscure podcast or randy-ass newsletter, I’m intrigued. Inspiration can come from a million different places and evidence of varied content consumption is Gold Standard for a content marketer.?

So don’t tell me “I love the XYZ content marketing podcast” (ugh, so plain! So expected! So painfully tied into the job role!). No, no, no. Tell me you go wild for some whacky YouTube account that rates potatoes, then tell me why. Content inspiration is EVERYWHERE, so be interesting and have something good to say.?

3?? “Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers.”?

Great content marketers are inquisitive AF. I have a million different questions flying around my head at any given moment (sorry, colleagues). And the last section of the interview (the ‘do you have any questions for me?’ section) is the bit that leaves a lasting taste in the mouth. And this - THIS - is your time to shiiiiiine.??

If you read the job description, you already know what the priorities of the role are. If you have access to the internet, you can check out the company’s culture on GlassDoor. So please don't waste this precious time asking questions that are fully within your power to find out yourself, or that you found in an article entitled “Questions to ask at the end of an interview” on page one of Google.

Ask me what our appetite is to expand into a new content area you’ve noticed we’re lacking in. Ask me what our content plans for the next year are and what data backed them up. Ask me what content marketing expertise the team is lacking and how we plan to address them. Get into it. Let me know you know your sh*t about content. If I’m stunned into silence and have to take a few moments to formulate a response–even better. That’s the kind of inquisitive marketer people want on a content team.