1. Explain me what are you looking for in your ideal position?

Responding with something that follows the lines of the job description is a good idea. But remember: Interviewers are intelligent people. If they realize you're directly quoting the job description, then it might lower their opinion of your answer.

2. Explain me what kinds of decisions are most difficult for you?

There are a multitude of responses to this question, including: decisions involving others, decisions with a large impact, or decisions which involve large sums of money.

It's acceptable to say that you're more cautious with any difficult decision, but you want to show the interviewer you're willing to make difficult decisions (and do so logically). Nobody likes to hold another person's hand in the workplace, so the person they will hire is someone who they can trust in tough situations.

3. Why are you leaving your current job of Marketing?

The key to success when answering this question is to stay positive about your previous employers. The interviewer will understand if you're an intern or new professional looking to gain experience, but they don't want to hire someone who will speak ill of them in the future.

Even if you did have a negative experience with your last employer, state your answer in a way that makes it clear you're excited for new opportunities.

For those who have no previous jobs: Mention that you're new to the professional world, but are prepared to take on the challenges you expect to face.

4. Tell me the difference between marketing and sales?

Highlights the candidate's educational background.

5. Explain me where do you see yourself in five years as Marketing Intern?

If the position you're interviewing for aligns with your future goals, mention it! Your interviewer is most likely looking for someone with potential for long-term employment.

For any future interns reading this, remember that you broaden your horizons if you leave the company on good terms. Many people return to the company they interned with for their careers after gaining a bit more experience.

6. Explain me how you create a blog post?

☛ Why it's important to ask this: This is a good question to tease out which parts of the content lifecycle the candidate is familiar with. Do they only have experience with copywriting, or can they come up with blog ideas themselves? Do they stop at writing the blog post, or do they keep promotion on social media in mind as well?
☛ What to look out for: You should look for a response that captures the whole process from start to finish, from ideation to production to distribution to analytics. A great answer will include specific tools and details. Here's an example of great and mediocre responses.

7. Explain me how you allocate your time and set your priorities in a typical day?

A response about schoolwork is completely relevant in response to this question. It's safe to say that the person interviewing you has been through some form of higher education, and can understand the stresses of college life.

Describe how you use your time and determine which tasks receive priority. Be sure to show that your method is universal and could be applied to a workplace setting as well.

8. What are your strengths and weaknesses as Marketing Intern?

The intent of this question is to learn more about your competencies and your motivation to improve your weak ones. Prepare to discuss at least 3 strengths and 3 weaknesses.

Most candidates get nervous at the thought of divulging weaknesses. After all, isn't stating a weakness a bad thing? It actually is not if you are choosing to do something about. Herein lies the strategy; first, stay away from cliché and ineffective answers such as “perfectionist” or “workaholic.” Second, always follow a statement about a weakness with a statement describing what you are doing to improve upon it.

9. Please explain what are some good ways to get other people to link to your content?

☛ Why it's important to ask this: The candidate may understand Google ranks content based on inbound links, but they also need to know how to accumulate inbound links.
☛ What to look for: A good content marketer knows how to get links by producing great link worthy content, and promoting it in a clever manner. Here are some good responses to the questions:
► I interview influencers, not only because they have good things to say, but because they promote the resulting content to a large audience as well-and some of those people will end up linking back to my interview.
► I include content others can reuse. For example, I may create a quick infographic that other bloggers may want to curate or include in their own posts, with a link back to mine.
► I write long form content so I have the most comprehensive and authoritative post on a particular subject, which tempts others to link to me as the reference source.

10. Can you provide an example where you had to take the lead in a group setting to overcome an obstacle?

Based on the candidates' answers, you can gauge their problem-solving and collaborative skills. It's important to understand if your interviewees possess problem-solving skills and can work in a team environment.

☛ Results
☛ Experience with working in a team environment
☛ Thought process and experience for solving issues

The pet shelter I volunteer at needed to reach new audiences and increase awareness of adoption opportunities. However, funds were limited. I rallied volunteers, identified that the shelter wasn't using social media or posting frequent blog content, and mapped out a content and social media marketing plan that could be implemented within the budget using free marketing tools and platforms. As a result, awareness and adoptions increased by 10 percent within three months.

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