AMA: Qualia Director, Demand Generation, Laura Lewis on Demand Generation Interviews

One of the mistakes I see most often (and this applies to any interview) is not doing your prep work. Take 15 minutes to read about the company and understand what they do. The goal of this isn't to answer the question "What do you know about us?" but to inform the questions you ask your interviewer. For example, if I know the company I'm interviewing with sells AI technology, I can ask about how they are dealing with the popularity of ChatGPT. Or, if the company sells into real estate, I can ask how they are adjusting their marketing messaging with interest rates up and home sales down. Other mistakes I have seen: * Answering "nothing" when asked about their biggest weakness. Everyone has a weakness - the best answer here is something true, but framed in a way that shows you know yourself and are working to improve it (ie, sometimes I interrupt people, so I've started counting to 3 before speaking to slow myself down) * Talking yourself down (ie, saying "I'm bad at technology") * Thinking you know everything. Everyone always has something to learn, even about their current discipline. Be careful when making statements about the company you are interviewing with, especially (no "oh sounds like you definitely need more ad programs!" for example). * Losing focus on what the company is looking for. If you're interviewing for an ABM-focused role, talk about your ABM experience and give examples that align with that. If you're interviewing for a more high-volume lead generation job, give relevant examples related to that.

I find interviews to be the most successful as a hiring manager when I prep the questions I want to ask in advance. For a 30-minute interview, I'll have 6 or 7 questions ready to go. These questions are a mix of situational questions "Tell me about a time when..." and more general questions around the person's goals, strengths and weaknesses, and achievements. I'll also ensure that any cross-functional partners in the process have a good understanding of the seniority of the ideal candidate we are expecting and what to focus on for their interview time. For example, a sales interviewer can focus on sales collaboration and partnership, while a marketing operations interviewer can focus on skills around analyzing data. If I'm ever blanking on good questions, a quick google search and perusing a few blogs usually gets the ideas flowing.

Practice makes permanent, not perfect. The only way you can become a better interviewer is to practice - but to also get feedback on your practice so you can adjust what isn't working well. Sign up for mock interviews or career coaching classes at your local library or university. Ask a friend or trusted colleague to role-play an interview with you. If that's not available, ask your interviewer at the end. One of the best questions to close with is, "Do you have any concerns about my candidacy at this time?" or "Is there anything I could have done better during this interview?"

One of my all-time favorites is "What is your biggest weakness?" The best answers are real, show that the candidate knows themselves well, and are structured in a way that also shows they are working on improving that thing. Don't just say "I'm bad at technology," say instead, "Sometimes I struggle with new technology platforms. I realized that this was slowing down my ability to launch campaigns, so now whenever we bring on a new platform I sign up for the onboarding program and watch all the training videos. Since I started this, I now find people asking me questions about how to do things!" A newer favorite of mine is, "What is something Demand Generation related that you've always wanted to do?" The best answers show that the candidate is thinking ahead, keeps to with trends, and wants to try new things. Instead of, "I'd like to run more webinars/promote podcasts/try LinkedIn ads," say instead "I think there is so much potential in a really good webinar program! Today, we do a lot of one-off webinars. I've love to expand on that and run a recurring webinar series that engages the audience with polls, giveaways, and an integrated social and sales campaign."

When I'm looking for a new role, I have a couple of steps in my process. First, I narrow down the job titles and types of companies I'm looking for. This might mean I only apply to Director of Demand Generation jobs at SaaS companies over 500 employees. At the manager level, decide if you're looking for Manager, Senior Manager, what type of company your experience best aligns with or you are most interested in, and if there is any other criteria that is important to you. Before beginning interviews with companies I've applied to, I'll do my research. Who works there, according to LinkedIn? How much funding do they have, according to Crunchbase? Who is on the leadership team, and how much experience do they have? What are employees saying on Glassdoor? What is the salary range for this position in general, and this position at this company? I've turned down interviews before because of Glassdoor reviews. If you know exactly what you are looking for, you can filter companies in and out based on that. If you're not sure or can't find enough information, go through the interview process to learn more. I'll ask a lot of questions during my interviews, as well, as tailor those questions to the person I am speaking with. When you meet with a peer reporting to the same boss, ask them about your potential boss's management style. When you meet with the most senior employee, ask them about the financial viability of the company. When you meet with sales, ask them what their biggest challenge is right now to close deals. The company is evaluating you, but you are also evaluating the company.

The most important skills for a Demand Generation manager, in my opinion, are: * Organizational. There are always a lot of projects and moving pieces going on at the same time in this role. You'll be launching new ad campaigns, then need to review a test email, then have an invoice come in that needs to be sent over to finance. Being able to remain organized, manage your time well, and not drop any pieces is critical. * Detail-oriented. The campaigns you launch are meant to be seen by people and represent your brand and your company. A typo, a bad graphic, or messed up formatting bring down the market's impressions of your brand. DG managers have to notice when things don't look right - and not be afraid to say something about it to get it fixed. * Analytical. Understanding why a campaign is or is not working is important. Being able to look at data - click rates, leads generated, pipeline created, sales cycle duration - are all metrics that you can affect with your campaigns. Understand which metrics are important when and how you can impact them and monitor those impacts.