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Must-ask interview questions for a junior Marketo specialist

Question asked by Huihsing Kiang on Aug 6, 2019
Latest reply on Aug 23, 2019 by Huihsing Kiang

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Hi all,

I'm preparing interview questions for a phone screening. My team is hiring a Marketo specialist. This position is opened to new college graduates or those may have 0-2 years of marketing automation/email marketing experience. Here are what I'm trying to find out during the phone interviews.

- If he/she is a quick learner and trainable

- If he/she will be passionate about Marketo or Marketing technology

- If he/she is detail-oriented

- If he/she is a strong problem solver

- If he/she holds a high standard to his/her work

Can you please advise what will be good questions to ask? Thanks in advance.

Also, if you know anyone who may be a good fit. Feel free to forward the link and encourage them to apply. This opening is in San Jose, CA.

https://www.paycomonline.net/v4/ats/web.php/jobs/ViewJobDetails?job=20140&clientkey=25CC88284DDA7F561FE3B7261449A7AD

Thanks!

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Pratyusha Ram Aug 7, 2019 1:07 PM

Hello!

Well, there is no right or wrong answer here. I think these questions come up organically. But, I've been in your shoes and a couple of things have worked for me.

I always ask for examples that could help me assess these skills. I'd ask probing questions if the candidate doesn't get how detailed you'd like to be.

I dig into the design and implementation details as well. I usually ask the candidate to whiteboard the process flow for me and talk to me in detail about what decisions were made, how and why, what worked and didn't, how things could've been done better, etc. No project is perfect and it takes an honest, enthusiastic person to understand key takeaways from each experience.

I also request a walk through of the end-to-end process/steps and look for what the candidate's contribution was. Look for the nuances and above-and-beyond activities done in the process. Sometimes, those tiniest things go a long way. For example, someone who can be structured and organized w.r.t. documenting and collaboration, or who can understand business challenges to propose new and smarter ways of doing something.

Sometimes, you never know until you have them. :-) So, good luck!

Pratyusha

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Huihsing Kiang @ Pratyusha Ram on Aug 7, 2019 2:08 PM

Thanks Pratyusha. This is good.

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Amy Goldfine

Aug 7, 2019 1:38 PM

Another thing to think about is how you're going to test those skills. We always have finalists do a "homework" project and present to the interview panel. It's very illuminating–I've had candidates who seemed great in interviews do really sub-par projects. On the flipside, truly stellar candidates have shined in their projects.

For this type of role, think about what tasks would demonstrate the skills you're looking for. For example, I give MOPS candidates a list of "tradeshow booth scans" that has a lot of messy and non-normalized data, outline how the data should be formatted, and have them clean it up. You'd be surprised at the range of quality you'll get from candiates.

If this person is going to have to write emails, you could send them some content (blogs, white papers, videos, etc.), and ask them to write emails to promote the content. I have done 5-6 pieces of content, asked them to write subject lines for all and body copy for 1-2.

If they have to be a good proofreader, send them Marketo sample emails with issues/errors and have them spot the broken links, wrong graphics, grammar issues, etc.

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Huihsing Kiang @ Amy Goldfine on Aug 7, 2019 2:12 PM

Thanks Amy. I like homework ideas! This will be a good way to test out if they're detailed oriented and care about the quality of their works.

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Jessica Kao

Aug 23, 2019 1:17 PM

Since you are interviewing new college grads that may have little to no experience, I ask them to do a logic puzzle and walk me through their thinking. Marketo is a logic puzzle. If they have a logical mind they can learn Marketo.

Also I ask them to look at an email with some purposeful mistakes in them and see what they can pick out is wrong, misspelling, spacing, etc. See how detail oriented they are.

2 people found this helpful

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Huihsing Kiang @ Jessica Kao on Aug 23, 2019 4:58 PM

Thanks Jessica. I did ask them to QA an email. That helps big time. I'll try logic puzzle next time.

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Pratyusha Ram Aug 7, 2019 1:07 PM
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Hello!

Well, there is no right or wrong answer here. I think these questions come up organically. But, I've been in your shoes and a couple of things have worked for me.

I always ask for examples that could help me assess these skills. I'd ask probing questions if the candidate doesn't get how detailed you'd like to be.

I dig into the design and implementation details as well. I usually ask the candidate to whiteboard the process flow for me and talk to me in detail about what decisions were made, how and why, what worked and didn't, how things could've been done better, etc. No project is perfect and it takes an honest, enthusiastic person to understand key takeaways from each experience.

I also request a walk through of the end-to-end process/steps and look for what the candidate's contribution was. Look for the nuances and above-and-beyond activities done in the process. Sometimes, those tiniest things go a long way. For example, someone who can be structured and organized w.r.t. documenting and collaboration, or who can understand business challenges to propose new and smarter ways of doing something.

Sometimes, you never know until you have them. :-) So, good luck!

Pratyusha
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- Huihsing Kiang @ Pratyusha Ram on Aug 7, 2019 2:08 PM
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  Thanks Pratyusha. This is good.
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Amy Goldfine Aug 7, 2019 1:38 PM
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Another thing to think about is how you're going to test those skills. We always have finalists do a "homework" project and present to the interview panel. It's very illuminating–I've had candidates who seemed great in interviews do really sub-par projects. On the flipside, truly stellar candidates have shined in their projects.

For this type of role, think about what tasks would demonstrate the skills you're looking for. For example, I give MOPS candidates a list of "tradeshow booth scans" that has a lot of messy and non-normalized data, outline how the data should be formatted, and have them clean it up. You'd be surprised at the range of quality you'll get from candiates.

If this person is going to have to write emails, you could send them some content (blogs, white papers, videos, etc.), and ask them to write emails to promote the content. I have done 5-6 pieces of content, asked them to write subject lines for all and body copy for 1-2.

If they have to be a good proofreader, send them Marketo sample emails with issues/errors and have them spot the broken links, wrong graphics, grammar issues, etc.
1 person found this helpful
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- Huihsing Kiang @ Amy Goldfine on Aug 7, 2019 2:12 PM
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  Thanks Amy. I like homework ideas! This will be a good way to test out if they're detailed oriented and care about the quality of their works.
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Jessica Kao Aug 23, 2019 1:17 PM
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Since you are interviewing new college grads that may have little to no experience, I ask them to do a logic puzzle and walk me through their thinking. Marketo is a logic puzzle. If they have a logical mind they can learn Marketo.

Also I ask them to look at an email with some purposeful mistakes in them and see what they can pick out is wrong, misspelling, spacing, etc. See how detail oriented they are.
2 people found this helpful
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- Huihsing Kiang @ Jessica Kao on Aug 23, 2019 4:58 PM
  Mark Correct
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  Thanks Jessica. I did ask them to QA an email. That helps big time. I'll try logic puzzle next time.
  Like • Show 0 Likes0
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Must-ask interview questions for a junior Marketo specialist

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