If you're attending a marketing assistant job interview, arrive at the interview in smart attire, be friendly, and make an effort to give a good first impression with a firm handshake, and by making solid eye contact with the interviewers. Try to arrive about 15 minutes before the interview starts, and don’t be afraid to ask for a drink of water, especially if feeling nervous.
Employers looking for marketing assistants will want to find candidates who are creative, but have the drive and motivation to see their ideas through to the end. They will also be looking for individuals who can display passion, enthusiasm, and energy in the role.
As well as taking some time to research the company fully, candidates should revisit the job description, considering why they are a good fit for the role and how they can demonstrate this through examples from their career. Aim to be confident, and show personality when answering the questions.
Our recruiters in the sales, marketing and customer services sectors outline their top interview prep tip in the video below:
Information for marketing assistant job candidates.
Marketing assistants play an important role in the branding and promotion side of a business, working on interesting new clients and customers with their ideas and campaigns, and provide a stream of incoming opportunities.
Marketing assistant responsibilities can range from planning new campaigns, to writing press releases and promoting and attending company events. Online marketing is also growing in influence, with marketers in this role working to drive web traffic to websites.
Candidates for these roles need to be able to communicate well and collaborate comfortably with other team members to devise, plan and implement projects and campaigns effectively, and within a budget.
Candidates should aim to demonstrate enthusiasm, inventiveness, and excellent communication skills during the interview. Any online marketing skills should also be mentioned as these are likely to be highly valued by employers.
Marketing assistant interview questions.
Marketing assistant interview questions can generally be broken down into experience-based and preference-based questions.Here is a selection of common interview questions marketing assistant candidates can face.
Experience-based questions.
Have you experience in creating bespoke marketing campaigns?
Ideally, you have and will be able to talk freely about what you did, why you enjoyed it and say that it worked. If you have not, do some research and say that you have not had the opportunity but have studied many campaigns with interest, giving examples.
What do you know about online and mobile marketing?
Social media, email, and mobile marketing are rapidly growing areas of business. You need to show good knowledge in this field, even if you have never done any yourself. Consider setting up some social media pages purely to experiment with marketing concepts and explain what you have learned from this. For mobile marketing, mention apps and push notifications.
Do you have any search engine optimisation skills or experience?
If you do you can speak freely about this. If not, read up on the SEO advice from Google and familiarise yourself with all the major changes that Google has launched in the last two years. Google has massively changed SEO recently and quality content on websites is now a driving factor.
How would you handle public complaints and criticisms on the social media account?
The best way is to always apologise and invite the individual to contact you direct to resolve the matter. It is best to take the conversation offline and, once resolved, request that the individual leaves a comment to say they are happy with the outcome.
What do you think the main differences between marketing and sales are?
Explain that sales almost always deals with closing a deal; the purpose is to make contact with potential customers and encourage them to commit to a purchase or a follow-up meeting. Marketing is concerned with raising brand awareness; you are not trying to sell the product directly, you are trying to make people aware of it and want to buy it.
How do you make sure you never miss a deadline?
Say that you maintain a diary and a ‘to do’ list and update both after every appointment and every task is completed. Explain how you prioritise your workload and that you are not afraid to request assistance from your team if you know you cannot complete it on time yourself.
Preference-based questions.
What drew you to marketing in the first place?
This is your opportunity to talk about your passion for marketing and to demonstrate that you understand the purpose of role. Say that you enjoy researching consumer trends to better understand buying habits and using this information to help engage with customers.
Why are you particularly interested in this role?
Do some research on the company and praise their products and any major marketing campaigns they have done. The interviewer may have been behind the campaign and will be pleased to hear you talk about it.
What do you think makes a great marketing assistant?
A good marketing assistant should be able to turn their hand to any aspect of marketing, from writing copy to helping organise events and communicating with clients and team members.
What makes good marketing material?
Brilliant copy and visually stunning material is the cornerstone of good marketing. Material should always focus on the brand and engage with the most important customers.
Do you enjoy using social media? How do you think it can be used to enhance a brand and win more business?
Say that you enjoy using it for both business and leisure. To enhance brand and awareness, companies should actively manage their own social media pages on Facebook, Twitter and Google so that they can drive the direction of the conversion and reach out to customers. Social media is now central to reputation management.
Is offline marketing dying out?
Absolutely not. Talk about the continuing importance of television and radio advertising and business events. Television marketing continues to be a dominant force.
Do you like working in a team environment?
There is only one answer for this - say that you thrive in a team environment and that you enjoy working with others on projects and believe that working as a team allows you to achieve far more than is possible alone.
What is your favourite marketing campaign and why?
Ideally you should have a good and honest answer to this. Whatever you say, you need to sound extremely passionate. Do not just give one the company’s campaigns as they will see this for what it is - an attempt to impress. One of the most remarkable campaigns launched in recent years was the Red Bull Stratos space jump - millions watched it and their slogan is “Gives you wings”. It was a genius piece of marketing.
Do you enjoy throwing yourself into a role?
Of course you do. You believe in learning on the job and getting involved from the start. You want to be part of the action from the outset and start making positive changes from the day you start in the new job.
General interview questions
- What do you know about what we do?
- Why are you interested in working for us?
- What experience do you have?
- What are your strengths/weaknesses?
- What are your future aspirations?
- How will you commute to us?
- What’s your favourite book or film?
- What salary are you expecting?
