We’ve been interviewing Marketing Manager candidates at MineralTree, and one of my colleagues came up with a great question. I’m not saying that he invented it, but using this question to interview someone that is looking for a startup marketing position is particularly insightful:
As a Marketer, what one word would you use to describe yourself to your audience?
Let that sink in for a second. Here’s why I like it so much:
- It is jarring – While any decent candidate has anticipated the most common interview questions, this one is different. Close to the standard “give me one word to describe yourself”, it is just different enough to make you think.
- It requires empathy – It makes the candidate put themselves in the shoes of their intended audience, and critiques their own projection.
- It is a test for concision – You have one word to describe the totality of your value to a faceless, unknown mass. Go.
The third item is what made me write this post. As one of the most difficult things in marketing is compressing complex ideas into dense, meaningful words, the person that is able to think quickly on their feet and deliver a good answer to a question like this truly stands out.
Had to share.
