Originally posted in r/digitalmarketing on reddit.com, but now deleted. Boo!
Question
Going into a second round interview for a social media position running and curating socials for an interior design company. How should I prepare and what questions should I expect? Any tips on how to really surprise and impress them?
Interview #1 was with the lady from HR and this one is with her and the hiring manager/director of the company, the first interview was more surface level/about my experience and this one will be more about actually talking shop about this role (which makes me nervous lol).
Answer
Beyond the standard “be at your best” and the usual “research their company and the role” which I assume everyone would do, try to find out about their current social media strategy, talk about it.
Be more specific. As specific as you can.
People asking generic questions are boring. On the other hand, those showing they already know the generic stuff and show interest in what’s beyond catch attention.
Don’t criticise, but try to present questions related to their current strategy.
Here are some sample questions… of course, make sure they’re relevant and follow up to something you talk about.
There’s absolutely no point in reciting them out of context, and naturally you can’t just leave them hanging if they ask for details, so you’ll have to put in some actual work to make sense out of them.
- “I’ve noticed that you do xxx on [social media]. Have you also tried [yyy], if not, if I were to get the position, would that be expected of me?”
- “I have experience in xxx, and I can see that you’re not doing xxx. Have you considered doing xxx?”
- “I see competitor A and B doing xxx. How do you feel about their strategy?”
I usually advise people to try and squeeze the “if I were to get the role” line. It’s a psychological trick, which may or may not work: you’re actively making them imagine you joining their team.
You can phrase it differently: “if we were to end up working together…”, “what kind of profile would be a good fit for your team today?”
You’ll fine additional resources on platforms like https://www.facebook.com/ads/library/ if they run ads on Facebook too.
It’s always a shame when users ask for help and delete their posts when they get their answer… but hey, good luck on your career!