Know-How Exchange : Student Questions

As your background is not marketing I would suggest getting an experienced recruiter to do the assignment. They can ensure the potential candidates actually have the skills and experience that you require as well as the personality fit with your business. It also means that when you get to interview the short list you can evaluate more deeply what value will they bring to your firm.

Susan's suggestion of getting a recruiter to help you is right on the money. Presumably, you want to get busy focusing on your new role of COO. A good recruiter can help you screen out hundreds of unqualified candidates.

Many companies are afraid to take on the expense of a recruiter. One particular employer I worked for posted on some of the well-known job boards and spent months screening through unqualified candidates. Those were also months spent without qualified marketers driving business opportunities! There's an opportunity cost to going it on your own.

One last suggestion is to beware of having "champagne tastes and a beer budget." I see lots of listings that have very specific qualifications such as an MBA and 7+ years of experience, yet they don't pay what the role is worth in the market. Best to familiarize yourself with the going rate of various levels of qualifications before finalizing position requirements and compensation. Marketers are much like anything else - you get what you pay for.

As for questions: ask candidates about their past accomplishments, and what have they done successfully that also should be done at your organization. At the level you're hiring, the candidates should know all about your business, clients, and company culture before they even come in the door. That same competence would be necessary as they approach your customers and the media: researching, thinking, and skill at creative thought.

I agree with Jay.....
I would ask them what they know about your company... (one of the first rules of marketing)
Then I would ask them what they know about your customers.... (it tells you how thorough they were)
Then I would ask.. what they would change and the time line they would take..

But, more than anything, I would hire based on integrity, sense of urgency and professional drive. I would rather have the right person with no marketing background than the wrong with a PHD in marketing.

I'm going to suggest a different approach, Mike. You say that you don't have a marketing background, yet you have been serving as the Marketing Director for this company.

Before you go out and hire a new person for this role, I think it makes sense to spend some time with a marketing professional to
- analyze your business,
- determine what you want out of the marketing function, and
- identify the qualifications you need in a person who is to assume this role.

You might even consider having an outside marketing person perform these functions in the interim while you develop your specs. I am concerned that if you just draft a job description and turn the hiring over to an agency, they may overlook the perfect person in an effort to stay true to the letter of the description you provide. I would seek a marketing professional and work with him/her to outline a marketing strategy for your company, THEN seek a person who can provide input to the plan and implement it. You may even want your interim professional to assist with the screening and hiring. I did this for a client who ran a family business, and it was more cost effective in the long run; plus, I had a clear sense of what the company needed and what type of personality/work style would best mesh with the family organization chart.

Feel free to contact me offline via my profile info if you want additional suggestions. Good luck!
Polly