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How to spot the highest quality Marketing Candidates for your business

Kate Allen, Executive Chair and Marketing Director, Allen Associates

Marketing has become a bit of a pseudo-science. The introduction of big data and the digital revolution has enabled brands and agencies to measure return on investment like never before.

Managers can now act with confidence that their input will inevitably be rewarded with the output desired.

This good practice should not be neglected when it comes to Recruitment, either. Hiring new Candidates can be a a gamble, and non-scientific factors can often influence your decision. Indicators like gut instinct, rapport, and an impressive CV are all just that, indicators, and they can prove deceptive.

That’s why we’ve put together our top tips for finding only the highest quality Marketing Candidates.

Search

In recent years, the Marketing industry has begun to fully recover from the downturn that afflicted it during the financial crash. The common mentality is a desire to hire, as agencies and in-house departments have once again begun to grow. Coupled with a universal skills shortage sweeping across the UK, hiring businesses have had to start digging deeper, to find their hidden gems.

Whilst discovering new prospects and attracting passive Candidates is clearly difficult there are tools out there to help you succeed.

LinkedIn gives hiring businesses an eagle eye into what the current skills pool looks like. A quick glance at a Candidate’s profile will show their educational and professional accomplishments, as well as referrals from previous managers and colleagues.

Comprehensive references are worth their weight in gold, and contacting previous Employers should still be part of the HR handbook. More often than not, you can judge the aptitude of a Candidate by what isn’t said, rather than what is.

Adaptability

Marketing twenty years ago was an incredibly different landscape. The tools of the trade have changed, and successful Marketers have reskilled, to find their footing in the new digital world.

Adaptability should sit at the forefront of all hiring managers, when recruiting new Marketing personnel. Just as the market has changed – your business’ requirements may do also. Candidates who have wide capabilities are usually willing to learn and adapt to the changes in marketing.

Attention

It goes without saying, Digital Marketing and attention to detail should very much go hand in hand. Copywriting, coding and data analysis all require a keen eye, as even slight mistakes can have disastrous consequences.

When recruiting for a new role, this risk can often be mitigated by a few focused tests at interview stage. Firstly, check the CV for errors. It sounds simple, but so many Candidates let slip their loose attention to detail at the very first hurdle. If you still have reservations about a Candidate, psychometric testing and written exams are useful ways to single out the star prospect.

Deliverables

To ensure that you are choosing the correct Candidate, ensure you can envisage the deliverables they will bring to your current strategy. Whether pre-agreed during the interview, or instilled at the outset of probation; content creators, lead generators and even web masters should all carry KPI’s into new roles.

Which qualities do you look for, when searching for a Marketing Candidate? Tell us, we might have the perfect person for you.

Over the last 20 years, we have grown as a business to become one of the leading independent Recruitment agencies in Oxfordshire, and in 2018 have opened our first London office, to service Clients in the capital.  

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