Friends and Followers, here are the top guide posts for this week. This week is about Candidate Questions, Strategic Marketing and Not Dying!

Attention Hiring Managers: Pay attention to the questions a candidate asks!

Sometimes candidates that interview really well do so because they interview all the time. In other words, they may not be great at the job but they know how to talk a good game.

Other times great candidates may interview poorly because they rarely interview and are too busy delivering massive results for their current company.

So, here’s one way to tell them apart. Pay attention to the questions that they ask.

Do they ask questions that evidence their functional expertise, domain knowledge and industry experience?

Or do they ask, “What’s the culture like?” or some other softball question that anyone could ask without doing any homework and/or real depth?

The real pro is going to have robust questions that evidence their intellectual curiosity in addition to the above attributes that will enable them to make substantial contributions to your business.

Do you want to learn more about how to tell who's a Pro and who is a Poser during the interview process?

Due North is here to help,?click here?to schedule a meeting.

What's a Strategic Marketer?

Recruiter: "Are you interested in a Marketing Communications Manager job?"

Me: "No, I am in Strategic Marketing."

Recruiter: "What does a Strategic Marketer do?"

Me: click

This is why I became a recruiter. I realized that recruiters didn't know what the marketing function does. So they have no idea who is good at what.

Here's what a strategic marketers does:

A strategic marketer is responsible for developing and implementing marketing strategies that align with a company's overall business objectives. Their primary goal is to increase brand awareness, generate leads, and drive revenue growth.

A strategic marketer typically begins by conducting market research to understand their target audience and their preferences. They analyze the competition and the industry landscape to identify opportunities and challenges. They then develop a comprehensive marketing plan that includes the messaging, positioning, and tactics that will be used to reach and engage the target audience.

Strategic marketers are also responsible for measuring the success of their marketing efforts and adjusting their strategies as needed. They use data and analytics to track key performance metrics such as website traffic, conversion rates, and ROI. Based on this data, they make informed decisions about where to invest marketing resources and how to optimize their campaigns.

Overall, a strategic marketer plays a critical role in helping a company achieve its business objectives by developing and executing effective marketing strategies.

But did you die?

A few years ago, my daughter had a soccer tournament in Rockford, Illinois. Here's the litany of things that happened during that awful weekend:

We experienced the “Jeep Death Wobble” while going 65 mph through Wisconsin with huge trucks all around us going even faster. And my 16-year-old daughter was driving!

After limping our way to Rockford, I immediately called the dealer who had sold me the car new less than 6 months earlier. I was directed to call the manufacturer who was no help at all!

The local dealership told me they could get me in 3 weeks!

A dealership in the neighboring town got me in the next day. Upon arrival they said, “Did you know this was on a “No sale recall” before you bought it?”

Then the fun really started.

The first game was cold and in a blizzard.

The next day we purchased more cold weather gear. It was colder, darker and snowing.

The last day was the worst. The snow was blowing sideways. It was even colder.

And then, we had to hitch rides back to Minnesota with our amazing friends as the Jeep repair was going to take a few days and we needed to get back.

As we sat in the car after stopping at a gas station to change out of our cold wet clothing, I saw a jeep with the phrase “But did you die?”.

We all laughed because we didn’t die and it was officially the most memorable soccer weekend for all of us.

The Morale: Even when you’re going through challenging times, keep moving forward! After the storm has passed you will have no doubt learned a thing or two, built a memory and will be able to say…

At least I didn’t die!

Chris Gustanski – Founder and Lead Talent Guide

Chris is a classically trained marketer with over a decade of executive search experience. He moved into recruiting because he was someone that was frequently recruited and was tired of recruiters hounding him to consider roles they didn’t understand, and he wasn’t interested in pursuing. He was determined to disrupt Marketing Executive Search to deliver a better result and experience for companies and the Marketing Mavens they need.?After over a decade seeing the dysfunction in executive search firms large and small, he formed Due North Executive Search in collaboration with his wife Amie.

To learn more about how Due North can help you build World Class Commercial teams?click here?to schedule a meeting.