What interview questions should you ask a Marketing Operations Manager?
If you’re ready to hire talent into your Marketing Operations function, then we’ve prepared some top interview questions that you may want to ask. Each one of them will give you some key information and hints to the type of hire you may be making.
The last few years have seen a surge in marketing operations jobs, mostly due to the explosion of technology in the marketing space. And, with Marketing Operations being labeled as the CMO’s best friend, it has never been more important to build an experienced and capable Marketing Operations team.
| Not sure how to build a marketing operations function? Take a look at: How to Setup a Marketing Operations Function in Your B2B Tech Company |
This interview question will give you some general insight to what experience and influence the marketing operations candidate has from their previous roles, but also how up to date they are with the MOps movement happening right now. Knowing the key role that Marketing Operations can play inside an organisation is a good indication that you have a candidate who will help you to grow the function.
This is also a good chance to ensure that the candidates view, or experience, is aligned with yours and the business.
🎥 Take a look at this video and see how an expert marketing operations leader answers it.
Further Reading; B2B Marketing Interview Questions – The Comprehensive Guide
As with the previous interview question question, this is a good exploration of the previous tasks and duties of the candidate as well as good insight into what kind of Marketing Operations team they have been part of.
The candidate should be able to describe their own duties, as well as those of their colleagues, and the immediate function they were part of. Perhaps the candidate can describe activities they can see themselves doing, that they haven’t had a chance to before or what a best practice MOps department could look like. This would demonstrate the level of experience and strategic potential of the candidate.
Regardless of the marketing operations job you are recruiting for, your candidate will have used multiple pieces of marketing technology to perform their duties in previous roles. This is a key question for tech specific roles i.e. if you’re looking to hire a Marketo Specialist, but is also a really important question to gain an understanding of the general technical experience of the candidate.
If your candidate can’t name all the tools they have used, they should be able to describe the functionality, or you could also ask them about Martech they may have heard of and how it is used. This will give you some idea of the technical aptitude of the candidate and their understanding of the growing Martech landscape.
Without question, if the candidate has used the tools your business has or is looking to have, then you can discuss how they have developed or operated the tool in previous roles. However, don’t be despondent if the candidate hasn’t used the tool but you have identified a candidate with good technical aptitude and experience. A good candidate will not be afraid to learn and explore new systems and indeed would be excited to do so.
This kind interview question allows the candidate to present to you work that they are proud of and for you to be able to pick out their key skills that will be relevant in the marketing operations job you are trying to fill. How well they can articulate the examples and bring out the points that are relevant and important to you will be significant.
Remember to look for transferable skills, technical capability and similarity with your own business goals.
Also remember that not all candidates can articulate their work well, so be ready to ask more probing questions around details you find interesting. You will also be able to understand how much involvement the candidate has had in their examples, which can give a good litmus test of capability, seniority and overall potential.
This is a great interview question to understand first, that the candidate is aware of the fast-paced Martech progression, and second, to know if the candidate is actively interested in self learning and examples of how. This will also give you a feel for how dedicated to the Marketing Operations industry the candidate is and may indicate the direction of the future growth or leadership capability.
It will also give you an opportunity to discuss continual learning and development opportunities or any expectations you may have on how your eventual MOps team ensure they remain up to date.
Because the breadth of marketing operations is so big, it should be easy for the candidate to discuss with you some examples of the activity they prefer or maybe don’t enjoy so much. This is not a trap and you shouldn’t be looking to try to catch the candidate out, but it will give you some good insight into what your candidates preferences are and, hopefully, they will align to the role they are applying for.
This will also give you a chance to engage with the candidate regarding some parts of the role they are applying for that may not fall into their ‘most enjoyable’ section. Remember, just because they don’t enjoy it, does not mean that they won’t do it or do it well.
This type of interview question allows you to see what your candidate is passionate about. It enables them to think freely without having to roll out ‘ready-made’ interview examples. It also gives you the chance to understand the candidate’s view on the importance of MOps as an industry, inside your business and potentially how passionate they are about being part of it.
This is a good question to find out if your marketing operations candidate has the potential to develop strategic qualities or even leadership qualities you might be looking for.
Now that you know what to look for in a Marketing Operations hire and some of the top interview questions to ask, it’s time to start your search! The team at Market Recruitment is here to help connect you with top MOps talent, so you can find the perfect fit for your company.
Ready to hire? Dive straight in and book a call with our specialist marketing operations recruiters – we focus on supporting B2B tech & SaaS companies.
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