Mostly Asked Communication Director Interview Preparation Guide

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If you would be working with the person interviewing you, this is another tough question that can give you some insight into how the team works. It pushes the hiring manager to think about how he or she would handle an uneasy situation, while at the same time showing your level of maturity in that that you (realistically) expect to receive tough feedback sometimes.

Are they a “gather all the info” before making a decision kind-of-person or do they prefer to act fast, “fail-forward,” and adjust on-the-fly?

Paid and volunteer considerations would be good for them to mention here.

Asking this question in an interview has been critical for me as a candidate. Feedback is how humans get better. Excellence and mastery have always been important to me, and I am aware that they are impossible without regular feedback. Does this company limit its feedback cycle to the annual reviews? Does the hiring manager make it a priority to deliver just-in-time acknowledgment and suggestions for improvement?

This question gives an interviewer a chance to do two self-serving things: talk about themselves and perform a no-holds-barred sales pitch on the company. For promising candidates, the sales opportunity is welcomed. And most people love any excuse to talk about themselves. ;)

How would you develop leaders in your ministry and contribute to raising up leaders in the church?

Asking deeply personal or intrusive questions won’t get you high marks on the interview. However, most professionals enjoy sharing their career journey. Ask what first attracted the hiring manager to this company and what the career progression has been like.

Virtually every company has enough work to keep everyone busy 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In practice, everyone gets to go home at the end of the day. How do you know when you are done for the day? What are the expectations around working on weekends and responding to emails outside the normal working hours?

It's not terribly difficult to find a candidate that can execute on a role. It is terribly difficult to find a candidate that can not only execute on their role, but also understand how it fits into larger goals. This includes being able to self-manage, prioritize high-value activities, and grow their role in a direction that aligns with the company's growth.

This question moves from the more general and abstract into the meat of the matter. They should be able to outline 2 or 3 specific strategies that will feed leads into your sales funnel via social engagement.

This question shows that you're the type of person who likes to hit the ground running, instead of spending a week filling out HR forms. It also shows that you recognize patterns of success and want to replicate only the most effective performers.

If your interviewer has been at the company for several years, understanding why could give you some really interesting insight into the company, how it treats its employees, and a taste of what motivates the people who work there. Plus, it shows you've done your research on the interviewer, which is always an impressive sign.

Does the company offer formal or informal mentoring and coaching? Does it invest in continued education or professional training? Great companies want to hire people who are dedicated to personal and professional growth. Show your hiring manager that continued development is important to you.

While the interviewer might be trying to paint a pretty perfect picture of what working on the team might look like, asking this question will help you uncover some of the realities the team has been facing recently. If you end up joining, you'll inevitably hear about these challenges -- and you may have to help solve them, too.

Asking a question like this shows you're interested in getting a practical example of what success looks like to the manager of the team you'd be joining. Plus, when you phrase the question in this way, "you leave no room for a hypothetical answer,"

Be specific when answering questions about your accomplishments with other companies. By simply stating, “I ran several online marketing campaigns” does not adequately show what you can do for the company.

A more appropriate answer would be: “I started a social media campaign that used targeted advertising systems to market the company’s services to youth in North America.” In order to elaborate - this will further project your knowledge of different campaigns - use numbers that support the project such as, “Within three financial quarters, sales increased by 427% and brand recognition vastly improved by 10% within the target demographic.”

There are several techniques of improving SEO with the help of social media. Make sure that they understand the latest Google algorithm, what is rewarded and punished. They should also be aware of the latest social algorithms and policies. Google Analytics should be part of this discussion.

Having an opportunity to contribute is one of the key indicators of job satisfaction and team performance. If your hiring manager feels heard, appreciated, and valued for his or her input, chances are the same will translate into your position.

This is an important question to ask in an interview because if you are offered the job, you will have to work in the environment affected and shaped by your predecessor.
Perhaps this opening was recently created to support company growth. If that is the case, ask a follow-up question about who owned the responsibilities up to this point, and how the duties will be transitioned.
If you are interviewing for a position left vacant by someone’s departure, get a sense for what happened. Why did the predecessor leave the job? Was he or she promoted or internally transferred? If the predecessor left the company, ask about the circumstances.

When answering this question make sure to show how cultural, social, personal and psychological factors all impact consumer behaviour. Provide an example of a marketing campaign or project you developed and how you used these four key factors to develop and optimise your project.

The way they define ‘crisis’ can tell you a lot about how much experience they have. If they haven’t had a real crisis in their own experience, they should at least be familiar with some famous brand reputation blunders. Dealing with negative comments or reviews properly is vital to this position, ask for examples.

Be careful when and how you ask this question as the interviewee might perceive how you value church communications if they think you are going to low-ball their budget.
An excellent candidate will see this question as a red flag. “Why are they asking me about working with no budget? Are they not going to give me a budget? Why would I want to work on a staff where they give so little value to communications that they don’t budget for it?” See what I mean?
Nevertheless, this question can give you great insight about the creativity and passion of the person you are interviewing.

☛ When did you last update your Communications Director education?
☛ How do you let subordinates know what you expect of them?
☛ What is the most difficult thing about working with you?
☛ Have you gone above and beyond the call of duty?
☛ What do you think of your previous boss?
☛ What is your usual role in a team?
☛ What do you do when priorities change quickly?

☛ What were your annual goals at your most current employer?
☛ How do you usually solve problems?
☛ What have you gained from your Communications Director work experiences?
☛ How will your greatest strength help you perform?
☛ How long will it take for you to make a significant contribution?
☛ What support training would you require to be able to do this Communications Director job?
☛ Describe a difficult work situation and how you overcame it.

☛ If you were hired tomorrow, what would you focus on?
☛ Imagine you’re having a disagreement with a PR manager on a campaign. How would you resolve this?
☛ If there was a conflict between a senior executive and an external party during an event, what could you do to diffuse the situation?
☛ What do you find challenging when responding to reporters’ inquiries?