5 tips for hiring the best marketing professionals ever!

(Written by Richard Heft, President and Co-founder of Ext. Marketing)

After years filling every imaginable role in content, communications and marketing teams, I know that it’s never easy finding the right writers, designers or project managers.

But after many challenges and successes, I’ve been able to refine my hiring process dramatically. And I want to share some tips with you.

1. Trust your contacts

Often, the best communications professionals have worked in a similar role at a similar type of firm.

Ext. Marketing Inc. only hires professionals from the financial services sector, and we often find our best writers and designers by asking people we know at financial services firms if they’ve worked with someone great who they would be comfortable recommending.

We often find our best writers and designers by asking people we know at financial services firms if they’ve worked with someone great who they would be comfortable recommending.

Generally speaking, no one you trust would recommend someone they don’t believe in, so your contacts are a great place to start.

2. Get them to write or design something for you

It’s important to test your candidates by giving them similar types of copy and design jobs to the ones your firm will require of them.

If you’re not sure where to find these types of tests, just send them a creative brief, style guide, etc. from a completed project and then see how their work stacks up against the work you’ve already successfully delivered.

3. Take a good, long look at their portfolio

It’s not great to depend entirely on a creative type’s portfolio of work (a large number of other people may have had a hand in developing those pieces), but his or her portfolio can give you a good idea of the types of projects they’ve worked on and their overall quality of work.

4. Dig deep into their resume

Although a person’s resume never tells the whole story, it’s very important to know what education your marketing team has, as well as knowing where they’ve worked, what they’ve worked on and, importantly, how long they have stayed at each of their jobs.

It’s very important to know what education your marketing team has, as well as knowing where they’ve worked, what they’ve worked on and, importantly, how long they have stayed at each of their jobs.

We know this isn’t rocket science but, taken together, having a good idea of what’s in your team members’ resumes can help you build and manage the best-possible marketing team.

5. Consider your culture

We can’t stress this enough. It’s a good idea to look at fit when you’re hiring a writer, editor, graphic designer or project manager because these roles tend to be highly collaborative … and maybe even a little stressful at times.

It’s a good idea to look at fit when you’re hiring a writer, editor, graphic designer or project manager because these roles tend to be highly collaborative

If this individual is going to work in a fast-paced environment with occasionally stressful days, be sure they’re aware of that and can commit to delivering in such an environment. It’s never good when one person on a marketing team has difficulty managing their mood when the pace or volume of your team’s work picks up.

So, ask them about times when they have successfully worked in similar environments to determine how they managed the stress.

Still having trouble hiring for that marketing role? Contact us today to see if we can help! 416.925.1700, 844.243.1830 or info@ext-marketing.com.

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