We just completed hiring an online marketing manager and we wanted to share our experience with the small business and startup community.
This was a all-in-one role and we required a person who could work independently and be motivated enough to execute a number of online activities online.
Our filtering process was a traditional ad followed by an interview to gauge interest, experience and willingness for the role. Once through the first round, we prepared a comprehensive interview list of questions. These questions were a majority open ended questions. Answering these questions required hands-on experience, motivation, knowledge, internet savviness and a number of other core skills required for the role. We then requested the potential candidates to compile all the answers into a persuasive presentation for senior management and team responsible for hiring. The team interaction would mean colleagues would know more about this person before he/she joined. Senior management’s involvement meant faster decision making and additional insights into the preferred attributes required for the role.
Some candidates opted out after they knew about this format, others opted out after reading the questionnaire. We hopefully had filtered the ones with lesser motivation and need for the job.
The whole event was organised over 2 days with 6-8 candidates now attending. A couple of them prepared and presented over the telephone. Some candidates got a little more time than the others to prepare, but at the end of the day it was their presentation to management which resulted in an offer towards the end of the event. This was a format which tested the softer skills of a candidate in addition to the core skills required for this particular job.
Key learnings: Communication skills. enthusiasm, passion, commitment and other soft skills are as important than the core skills required for the job. A positive outlook, Out of box thinking and a “can – do attitude” are your best weapons when you are being interviewed.
The candidates, in general appreciated the format and everyone involved in the hiring process seemed involved and happy with the process.
This may not be the best way for all organizations and types of roles, so open to hearing your thoughts.
What is the interview and selection process in your organization ? Please share your thoughts and ideas which have worked through comments on this post.