Hiring Internal Marketing Employees
A guide to hiring internal marketing employees and increasing your chances of success with limited resources compared to the expectations of hiring a new employee.
The biggest pitfall that companies face today when hiring a new employee: Expecting One hire to change the entire marketing department.
The evidence is in the job descriptions that are posted online. Take a few moments on Indeed and read through marketing positions that companies are trying to fill. The expectations communicated to potential applicants are daunting and most likely scare away most applicants who feel they are inadequate.
Here are 3 steps to making your hire of an internal marketing employee effective.
Step 1:
The List
- Create a list of Hard Skills
- Create a list of Soft Skills
- Review corporate initiative for the next 12 months
- Compare the corporate initiative list to the Hard Skills requirements.
• Do they match?
• Calculate hours/weeks/months of full-time work to achieve the items on the list?
• Can one person realistically achieve everything on the initiative list? - Prioritize. If hiring an agency is out of the question and one person cannot realistically achieve everything on the list, prioritizing the list will be required. However, getting management and the c-suite to buy-in may be harder than expected.
- Get management buy-in to the prioritized list.
Step 2:
Prioritization
Now that you know the refined priority list...
- Review the list of the hard skills in your employment listing.
- Remove any/all items that are not necessary to achieve the approved prioritized initiative list.
- Avoid the "it would be nice if the candidate also..." Don't worry about year 2, 3, and 4 future initiatives, and resist the urge to chase shiny objects that are outside the scope of the prioritized list.
Many of the candidates we interview for agency positions often remark that working for internal marketing departments is frustrating and overwhelming. Not only is the company looking for an employee that is a multi-disciplinary expert, but they are also looking for someone who can juggle all the disciplines
Step 3:
Don't Comprimise
- Soft Skills review: Compromising on time and scope of work is important for success, but compromising on soft skills is never an option. No matter what the list of items on the list, hiring someone who is a team player that fits the corporate culture is a must. Remember, this person has a year's worth of work in front of them on a prioritized list of work the c-suite will be watching. You want someone with a great attitude, passion, and a can-do spirit.
- The Candidates: The next phase is always the hardest. Finding someone who fits the refined hard skills requirements while possessing the soft skills necessary to fit the team. Finding the perfect candidate with the available budget is challenging. Compromising only on hard skills and salary for a successful hire, never compromise on soft skills. Also, if you fall short in your search, consider outsourcing as an option to ensure your marketing initiatives are successful in the coming year.
50 Marketing uses this process when hiring agency employees. Whether you are building an agency or growing your internal marketing department, this guide will help you to increase the odds of success.
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