6 interview best practices for marketing & BD candidates

​Best practice recruiting involves two things: a sound strategy and good execution of that strategy.
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Applying recruiting best practices to the interpersonal roles of marketing and BD has never been more important. Rarely are personal attributes - from one’s style, approach and energy - as on display as they are in these roles. Marketing and BD roles are influential and highly visible, as they deal with many people each and every day. Getting someone who can have a positive interaction with each person at every turn is essential.

Many firms struggle to find the right people. A best practice helps to professionally and purposefully recruit the right marketing and BD people for your team and your firm.

This blog focuses on the first part of that best practice, namely, the strategy or plan. In a follow up blog, I will discuss how to effectively execute on that plan.
 
Part 1: An effective strategy                 

• Conduct meetings, not interviews. Calling it an interview makes people nervous. When people are nervous their most natural self is not on display. This means technical abilities become masked by unnecessary nervousness, and softer skills get misinterpreted. For those who argue that it’s good to see how candidates act under pressure, I would say “yes, and…” there are very few situations in a firm which are the same as an interview. And I argue there are better ways to test their abilities under pressure (and I’ll elaborate on this further below).
• Plan out the meetings. This is so simple to do, but many miss the mark. Take a few minutes to map out what the meeting process will look like. This includes how long it will take (how many phases of meetings will you conduct?), who is involved at each phase (do you need some or all of your peers, partners, and HR involved?), and when will you be able to get feedback from others involved at each phase to move forward (who’s out on vacation or who’s simply too busy to contribute meaningfully and quickly?).
• Set your candidate’s expectations. Take a few minutes at each meeting with your candidates to communicate timing, actions and next steps. This shows that you are recruiting for the role in a meaningful and professional way and that you have a clear path forward. Ending a meeting with “thanks we’ll be in touch” is vague and indecisive and risks miscommunicating your intentions about their candidacy and your next steps. Candidates understand they’re usually not the only person being considered for the role, they just want transparency about the process and timing.
• Key people from the start. An effective process needs the key people from the start so the right people are talking and no time is wasted. This means the person who will manage this candidate should be the first person who meets with them. These days, we – as recruiters – have done all the qualifying for you so you can fast-track any introductory or process driven meetings and get straight to the higher value conversations and what you’re trying to achieve.
• Have one meeting out of the office. Outside interactions show you how your candidate interacts with and treats others and how they hold themselves outside of the firm. How often have you observed someone reacting or being abrupt to someone, only to then quickly revert back to their ‘other self’ with the people they are with. True characters are revealed in situations of uncertainty, stress or uneasiness. Take your candidate out for a coffee or lunch and watch and observe. An added bonus to this phase is you get to build a deeper rapport than normal; which is essential if you end up working together.
• Ask questions that give you the right information. This is a topic in and of itself. But, at a high level, rather than fall into the script of asking them to count the number of times they’ve done a certain project or task, change the emphasis to elicit a response that tells you how they react in certain situations. This goes to their past behavior (the best indicator of future behavior) and shows you how they deal with people and circumstances. This includes how they learn or adapt, how they delegate, and how they manage their boss, peers and juniors. The answers you receive will give you a read on their technical abilities, their all-important softer skills, their people management abilities, and their cultural fit; all equally important. All of this information also gives you insights into their ability to problem solve under pressure.

 
Moving forward                        
 
Use the above six-point strategy when you next need to hire. And then compare it with your old method to see where you noticed the value. Adding the right people to your team and to the future of your firm is the most important thing you can do. Commit to the strategy and have confidence that it yields the best results.