How To Stand Out In A Marketing Job Interview

First of all, if you’ve made it to the interviewing stage, congratulations!

An interview is an opportunity for both you and your interviewer to establish first impressions, and have a conversation around the role, company and your general fit.

While you’ll only be up against a small handful of talented candidates, leaving a great impression on your potential employer and nailing your interview is paramount to you getting that job.

So how do you make yourself stand out in the little time that you have with your interviewer?

I’ve written down 11 unusual tips that are going to help you leave a positive impression and stand out in an interview with your dream company.

Let’s dive into them!

If you’d prefer to listen or watch me go through how to prepare for your interview, feel free to watch the video and pause as needed ⬇️

How to Stand Out in a Marketing Job Interview [11 Unusual Tips]

Tip # 1: Turn of all distractions

This means turn off all your screens including your phone, and the notifications enabled on your phone.

If you don’t want to completely turn off your phone, put it on your desk faced-down, or put it away from you. And I mean physically get up, and put it in a distant drawer or room so you don’t get tempted to look at notifications you might get in the middle of an interview.

Tip # 2: Study the company

Study your company as if it was given to you as homework.

Find all the resources that you can find around the company, study their website,  podcasts, content, anything that has been written about them in the press, and study everything that you can find about them.

Tip # 3: Become a customer

This one applies more for marketers or customer experience or customer success experts,– so if it’s not relevant for you then skip this one.

Let’s say the company you’re interviewing for is a fast consumer goods company.

Purchase a product (if the price point isn’t too high) and go through that journey of communication.

Go through those steps, and experience what it means to be a customer.

How does it feel to be a customer of that company?

Write it down.

Tip # 4: Sign up for their lead generation funnel

If the company you’re interviewing for is a b2b company or technology company for example, then you might not be able to purchase the product they sell, but you can still sign up for their lead generation funnel.

Here are some things you can sign up for or complete on their website:

• Newsletters
• Freebies
• White papers
• Downloadable assets
• Contact forms
• Free trial

Fill out or download whatever they have in terms of Lead Gen, and experience what it’s like to go through that communication and sales funnel.

If the sales team reaches out to you after filling out a form, it’s okay.

You can tell them that you were only preparing for the interview, and that in itself will show your potential company that you’re taking the interview very seriously.

# 5: Look for any podcasts or videos the CEO or senior management of the company is in

You never know who might sit in on your interview, which is why when doing your research on your company, I recommend you do some digging around on any podcasts or YouTube videos that might be out there.

Your interview might just be the perfect time to bring up something you found intriguing about the company that was said during the conversation.

Tip # 6: Create content around the niche or industry of the company you’re interviewing with

You don’t necessarily have to create content around the niche or industry your company’s in, it could even be content that’s relevant to the role you’re applying for.

But one way to turn heads at your interview is to use your website, social channels, YouTube, podcast, and general creativity to create something that is relevant to the job, company and role that you are applying for.

By demonstrating what you can bring to the table in a portfolio, you’ll convince recruiters that you are the right fit for the role.

And don’t forget to casually bring it up in conversation during your interview.

Let them know that you’re interested in the niche and demonstrate your knowledge or something insightful that you learned through creating the project.

Tip # 7: Practice power poses before you go into the interview

Yes, I know this may sound a little bit random compared to the other ones we just talked about, but this really makes a huge difference.

There are so many TED Talks that discuss how power poses can really empower you before going on stage, into interviews or any important conversations in your life.

So remember for next time especially if you’re feeling nervous or need a little confidence boost, before stepping into an interview, practice your power poses.

Tip # 8: Wear a bold color to the interview

Perhaps the company you’re interviewing with has a bright orange color in their logo or brand kit, and you end up wearing a very similar orange colored T shirt or blouse to the interview.

Try this out as it might just help the recruiter remember you better.

Tip # 9: Go into the interview with specific and unique questions that you already know you want to ask the interviewer

Put some effort into coming up with questions for your interviewers before your interview.

Doing this shows not only how much you prepared for the interview, and how well thought through your questions, but also that you’re interested in the role and company.

If you need a set of proven questions that will position you as a high value candidate, check out this resource – it’s a gem. I have shared my ‘questions to bring up in interviews’ document here. There’s even a link to my free Notion template with the questions.

Duplicate the document or copy and paste into your favorite note taking app. Just make sure to pull them out when it comes time to ask your interviewer(s) questions.

Tip # 10: Ace the “tell me about yourself” question

If you don’t already have an elevator pitch ready to go for your “tell me about yourself”, you need to work on preparing yourself for the question because it is one of the most commonly asked opening questions in ANY interview.

Want to know how to prepare for some of the most common interview questions? Take a look at this blog, where I go over questions and possible answers that will help you ace your interview.

Nevertheless, the “tell me about yourself” question is really your chance to give your interviewer that first very solid impression.

So make sure that you have practice in front of a mirror or in front of other people that you trust so you’re prepared.

Tip # 11: Set up a memorable virtual background

This one is something I haven’t tried yet but I’m really curious to try next time I have an interview.

Now that all interviews are essentially virtual, you have the opportunity to create whatever background you want for yourself.

Say that your interview is from your kitchen or your bedroom, if you don’t have space, it’s okay, people understand because we’re all in the same boat.

But play around with your zoom options and create a virtual background for yourself that isn’t too distracting.

You could insert a logo, mission or something that is relevant for that interview into your background and use that as your background for the interview.

To be honest if I was a recruiter and a candidate did that for an interview with me I know that I’d be very impressed.

Final Thoughts

Interviews can be nerve wracking, but there are plenty of things that you can do before and during your interview that will help you stand out and leave a positive impression on your potential employer.

Try some power poses, do your research on your company and their products, prepare for questions, make sure to put your phone away, and at the end of the day remember to simply be yourself.

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