Basic Marketing Intern Interview Preparation Guide

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Responding with something that follows the lines of the job description is a good idea. But remember: Interviewers are intelligent people. If they realize you’re directly quoting the job description, then it might lower their opinion of your answer.

There are a multitude of responses to this question, including: decisions involving others, decisions with a large impact, or decisions which involve large sums of money.

It’s acceptable to say that you’re more cautious with any difficult decision, but you want to show the interviewer you’re willing to make difficult decisions (and do so logically). Nobody likes to hold another person’s hand in the workplace, so the person they will hire is someone who they can trust in tough situations.

The key to success when answering this question is to stay positive about your previous employers. The interviewer will understand if you’re an intern or new professional looking to gain experience, but they don’t want to hire someone who will speak ill of them in the future.

Even if you did have a negative experience with your last employer, state your answer in a way that makes it clear you’re excited for new opportunities.

For those who have no previous jobs: Mention that you’re new to the professional world, but are prepared to take on the challenges you expect to face.

Highlights the candidate’s educational background.

If the position you’re interviewing for aligns with your future goals, mention it! Your interviewer is most likely looking for someone with potential for long-term employment.

For any future interns reading this, remember that you broaden your horizons if you leave the company on good terms. Many people return to the company they interned with for their careers after gaining a bit more experience.

☛ Why it’s important to ask this: This is a good question to tease out which parts of the content lifecycle the candidate is familiar with. Do they only have experience with copywriting, or can they come up with blog ideas themselves? Do they stop at writing the blog post, or do they keep promotion on social media in mind as well?
☛ What to look out for: You should look for a response that captures the whole process from start to finish, from ideation to production to distribution to analytics. A great answer will include specific tools and details. Here’s an example of great and mediocre responses.

A response about schoolwork is completely relevant in response to this question. It’s safe to say that the person interviewing you has been through some form of higher education, and can understand the stresses of college life.

Describe how you use your time and determine which tasks receive priority. Be sure to show that your method is universal and could be applied to a workplace setting as well.

The intent of this question is to learn more about your competencies and your motivation to improve your weak ones. Prepare to discuss at least 3 strengths and 3 weaknesses.

Most candidates get nervous at the thought of divulging weaknesses. After all, isn’t stating a weakness a bad thing? It actually is not if you are choosing to do something about. Herein lies the strategy; first, stay away from cliché and ineffective answers such as “perfectionist” or “workaholic.” Second, always follow a statement about a weakness with a statement describing what you are doing to improve upon it.

☛ Why it’s important to ask this: The candidate may understand Google ranks content based on inbound links, but they also need to know how to accumulate inbound links.
☛ What to look for: A good content marketer knows how to get links by producing great link worthy content, and promoting it in a clever manner. Here are some good responses to the questions:
► I interview influencers, not only because they have good things to say, but because they promote the resulting content to a large audience as well—and some of those people will end up linking back to my interview.
► I include content others can reuse. For example, I may create a quick infographic that other bloggers may want to curate or include in their own posts, with a link back to mine.
► I write long form content so I have the most comprehensive and authoritative post on a particular subject, which tempts others to link to me as the reference source.

Based on the candidates' answers, you can gauge their problem-solving and collaborative skills. It's important to understand if your interviewees possess problem-solving skills and can work in a team environment.

☛ Results
☛ Experience with working in a team environment
☛ Thought process and experience for solving issues

The pet shelter I volunteer at needed to reach new audiences and increase awareness of adoption opportunities. However, funds were limited. I rallied volunteers, identified that the shelter wasn't using social media or posting frequent blog content, and mapped out a content and social media marketing plan that could be implemented within the budget using free marketing tools and platforms. As a result, awareness and adoptions increased by 10 percent within three months.

When answering this question, be cautious:

The company you’re interviewing with doesn’t want to hire someone who is petty. Make it clear that while you did have problems with the coworker/classmate, you don’t hold a grudge. Even if there was no clear resolution, show that you did what you could for the situation and have learned from it.

This question can be mutually beneficial if answered appropriately. Potential employers want to know what you see in them, and they want to know what you’re looking for more specifically.

Answer honestly, and be prepared to smooth out any details you’re unsure of. If you’ve heard that the company is great to their interns and teaches them while they work, mention as much and ask if that information is accurate.

Return to your weaknesses or strengths. Highlight how the company could help change you and vice versa. One of your strengths may coincide with a new project the company is working on. You won’t know until you talk about it.

A word of caution:

Try to stay clear of personal stories with this question. Giving too many personal details will give the interviewer a sense that you can’t separate your personal and professional life.

Focus on experiences where you showcased leadership skills in professional settings. If you don’t have much work experience, it’s completely acceptable to respond with instances from school or social encounters.

Your reasons for applying will give your interviewers a sense of whether they can provide you with an internship in which you will thrive and feel motivated to perform well. You may have answered this question in your application. Expand on it. Tell recruiters what you really want to get out of the internship. Think about how it will inform your graduate career choices, what skills you are keen to learn from it and other things that appealed to you when you read the role description.

This question can vary based on the industry you’re interviewing in. Focus on the priorities within the job. Those that are time sensitive will expect you to complete the job on time over all else, while others understand sacrificing punctuality for quality.

Be sure to mention that you do your best to ensure all your tasks are completed promptly and correctly. This lets the interviewer know that you rarely have to choose between completing a job on time or doing it right.

As with every question in an interview, you need to be honest with your answers. But you should also keep in mind that you don’t want to paint yourself in a negative way. There are a few things to remember when answering this type of question:

☛ Don’t say that you can never get along with a certain type of person. The company wants to know that you can interact professionally with anyone. Using absolutes like “never” or “always” implies that you’re not adaptable.
☛ Show that you’re a problem solver: Tell of a specific difficult instance you’ve had with another person and what you did to resolve the situation. Remember PAR stories and the STAR method.

The way candidates answer this question reveals whether they possess leadership skills. It's crucial to understand if your interns have leadership skills because they are a core part of the business.

☛ A broad overview of the impact
☛ How the candidate plans to initiate the strategy to create impact
☛ Tactics the candidate plans to use

I plan to identify key areas of opportunities that can enhance the operational process. I'll map out the necessary resources to achieve operational goals. I'll also rally a team, delegate tasks, procure resources, identify key performance indicators and create a schedule to make sure that each tactic is being achieved in a timely manner.

☛ Why it’s important to ask this: I am always surprised by how few marketers at any level understand how Google really ranks content. Though you’re not interviewing for an SEO position, content marketing is intrinsically tied to search engine optimization; everyone should know the basics when creating content.
☛ What to look for: You don’t need a candidate to know the PageRank formula, but rather the basic premise behind Google’s ranking algorithm, along with other auxiliary factors that help with SEO. For example, many naive marketers think Google ranks content largely on meta tags and keyword stuffing. In reality, Google primarily ranks content on inbound links, and the authority of the sites doing the linking. It’s a bonus if a candidate can mention other contributing factors such as the text of the hyperlink, the title tag, keywords in the URL, and others.

Tests the candidate’s knowledge of market analysis software.

The way candidates answer this question determines whether they have the skills to do the job. This is crucial so you can gauge how much training will be required for skills development and decide if the candidate is a good fit for the position.

☛ Technical skills
☛ Communication skills
☛ Leadership skills

I have a variety of skills that I can use on the job, including public speaking, writing, planning, data analysis and leadership skills. I plan to apply my communication and technical skills in this position to lead team projects, research and solve business problems, identify trends and present findings.

Never say to the person interviewing you that you’re just looking for something to pay the bills. As far as they’re concerned, you could pay the bills by flipping burgers at any fast food restaurant.

Even if your primary motive for applying for the job was to earn a paycheck, focus on other factors that inspired you to choose that job in particular. Include specific attributes of the company you picked up on while researching it, and highlight how you relate to them as a potential employee.

Interns, almost as a rule, don’t have large amounts of experience in the field they’re trying to break into. If nothing else, say that you applied for the position to gain experience in that specific field of work.

If you love people, this question will be easy for you. But if you’re introverted or shy, an answer to this question may be slightly more difficult.

More likely than not, you’ll be required to work with other people in some sort of team setting. Describe past experiences you’ve had while working as part of a team and how you handled them. If you’re not a natural leader, mention that you enjoy taking on the role of supporter for most situations.

Be sure to make it clear that you’re willing to be either in a given situation, and drive for results regardless of your position in the social hierarchy.

☛ Why did you choose your field of study?
☛ How has your academic experience prepared you for this position?
☛ What are your plans after graduation?

☛ Tell me a little bit about yourself.
☛ What are your strengths and weaknesses?
☛ What accomplishments are you most proud of?
☛ Do you work better under pressure or with time to plan and organize?
☛ Why are you interested in this internship?
☛ Why should we consider you for this internship?
☛ What do you know about this industry/company?
☛ How would your faculty/friends/co-workers describe you?
☛ What three words would you choose to best describe yourself?
☛ Why did you choose your major?

☛ Give an example of how you’ve dealt with a conflict with another person.
☛ Tell me a story either personal or professional that paints a picture of you.
☛ Describe a situation where your judgment proved to be an invaluable contribution to a team.
☛ How do you handle meeting tight deadlines?
☛ Give an example of how you set goals and achieve them.
☛ What do you do when your schedule is interrupted? Give an example of how you handle this.
☛ Give an example of how you work on a team.
☛ Can you remember a time when you handled a difficult situation with another student or co-worker? What did you do?
☛ Share an example of how you’ve been able to motivate team members.
☛ Describe how you would handle a difficult relationship that you felt was holding you back on the job.