What are the most common mistakes you see candidates make during an interview for a demand generation position?

For case study questions, some candidates tend to focus on the tactics and how they would deliver a DG plan. During interviews, be strategic and curious first. Then, aim to showcase your problem-solving skills. Ask clarifying questions that would position you as someone that understands strategy. For instance, make sure you understand the context (market, goals, challenges, opportunities, etc.) and go from there. For behavioral questions, I always recommend following a 'framework' as you answer ...Read More

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 as ...Read More

Many candidates treat demand generation like basic lead gen and fail to show how they drive full-funnel revenue. Others focus on isolated tactics rather than demonstrating a scalable operating system with clear metrics, conversion math, and sales partnership. Many also struggle to articulate their ICP, prioritization decisions, and real examples of experimentation. The strongest candidates rise above by connecting strategy to execution and showing how their work materially shapes pipeline, effic ...Read More

I’ve grouped the most common areas of opportunity for candidates below. See these items as opportunities for growth that are very doable to overcome. Not being prepared. This may seem obvious, but it happens often enough to note it. Specifically for demand gen, you have to be able to demonstrate either a deep understanding on a topic or be trainable for an entry level role.  Not being familiar with a recent update in the industry that is timely. For example, if you are interviewing for an SEO ro ...Read More

Jumping straight into tactics without framing the system. I want candidates to pause, ask questions, and explain why demand gen investment matters, not just what channels they ran. Do they understand short-term demand versus long-term pipeline? Can they articulate the horizons of impact? Strong candidates tell the story of demand as a business lever. This is also critical for getting resources within the business- employees, dollars, placing bets, and so I want to see that they can tie their cra ...Read More