My favorite job interview questions 💯

10 uncommon questions to ask marketing candidates

After 100+ job interviews as a hiring manager, I’ve perfected a set of questions that cut through the noise and reveal the true potential of any marketing candidate. I always ask all the standard questions, of course, but I mix some of the Qs below. 💎

Fair warning: They’re a bit unconventional. But that’s the point - to uncover exceptional talent that might slip through the cracks of a traditional interview.

Here are my top 10 uncommon job interview questions 👇

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1. 🎤 Have you ever built an audience from scratch?

This is THE most important question in any interview I have, for any marketing role.

Show me that you grew *any* audience - for a newsletter, a personal social account, a Facebook group, an app, a side project - I want to see that you understand the pain of growing from 0 to 10, and from 10 to 10,000.

As a marketing team, we all work together to expand our reach - and I want to see that you really know how hard it is.

✅ What to look for:

1. Specific examples of audiences they’ve grown from 0

2. If no audience built - experience moderating or managing forums

3. Creative tactics they’ve used

4. Ability to apply audience-building skills to other contexts (e.g., organizing events)

🚩 Red flags:

1. Claiming sole credit for a startup’s audience growth while in an employee role, without acknowledging the founders’ network or existing company resources

2. Absolutely zero examples of building an audience or managing communities

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2. 🛰️ Tell me about a time you used Fiverr / Upwork

I want to see if they outsource tasks they’re not capable of doing themselves (e.g. design, coding, video editing). It shows an ability to solve problems creatively by leveraging external resources.

✅ What to look for:

1. Ability to identify tasks suitable for outsourcing

2. Examples of tasks they’ve outsourced creatively (either for work or for personal projects)

3. Understanding of how to manage remote freelancers

🚩 Red flags:

1. Never used gig platforms at all

2. Over-reliance on themselves / internal help for everything

3. Lack of self-awareness regarding personal skill gaps

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3. 🧠 What is your favorite marketing resource?

The specific answer matters less than the excitement they show when discussing it. I want to see that they’re obsessed with marketing - it’s not just a job but a passion.

✅ What to look for:

1. Eyes light up, talks faster, sits up straighter

2. Shares specific lessons from the resource

3. Has multiple favorites, hard to pick one

🚩 Red flags:

1. Long pause, struggles to think of anything

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4. 🧱 Have you built stuff on the internet with no-code?

I don’t want them to be engineers but having a technical orientation is definitely a bonus. Experience with platforms like Wix, Adalo, Bubble, Zapier, etc. shows they can automate processes and get a website up and running.

✅ What to look for:

1. Hands-on experience with no-code tools

2. Launched the stuff they’ve built online and got traction (see question #1)

3. Ability to stand up a website independently

4. Examples of processes they’ve automated

🚩 Red flags:

1. No experience setting anything up

2. Lack of interest in learning technical skills

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5. 🤩 Tell me about a viral moment you’ve had (or any other big marketing achievement)

I want to see if they’ve ever felt ‘stars’ on the internet and how they made it happen. The stories are always inspiring, whether it's 2.4M views or 1K views.

✅ What to look for:

1. Specific example with metrics

2. Ability to break down the factors that led to virality

3. Experience on multiple platforms

🚩 Red flags:

1. One-time, lucky algorithm boost vs. repeatable success

2. Inability to articulate the why behind the win

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6. 🎉 Have you ever organized an event?

Pulling off an event — whether it’s a small meetup or a big conference — requires hustle, creative problem-solving, an eye for detail, and the ability to manage a thousand moving pieces.

That’s why I always ask marketing candidates about their event planning experience. It shows how they handle pressure, adapt on the fly, and ultimately deliver a great experience for attendees.

You’d be surprised how much you can learn about someone’s project management abilities from the events they’ve organized. It’s all about the grit and resourcefulness they bring to the table.

✅ What to look for:

1. Experience as main organizer, not just helper

2. Creative problem-solving when issues arose

3. Understanding of attendee experience

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7. ⚡ Tell me about a time you took action without much data

Speed is critical. I need marketers with a strong bias for action - who gather just enough data to decide and then move quickly to implement. And when it doesn’t work → they adapt fast.

✅ What to look for:

1. Comfort making decisions with incomplete information

2. Track record of rapid experimentation and iteration

3. Fails fast, learns faster mentality

🚩 Red flags:

1. Paralyzed by imperfect data, overanalyzes everything

2. Plays it safe to avoid any possibility of failure

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8. 🕵️ What do you know about our company?

If a candidate hasn’t even checked our website or recent news, that’s an immediate red flag. I’m looking for people who dive deep.

✅ What to look for:

1. Has consumed all key info: website, blog, social, news

2. Asks insightful questions that show critical thinking

🚩 Red flags:

1. No initial research whatsoever

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9. 🔮 What would be the first experiment you’d run here?

This one is usually a follow-up to the previous question. Without much data or specific KPIs, I’m looking for people already envisioning ways to make an impact - before day 1.

✅ What to look for:

1. Offers quick win recommendations grounded in research

2. Walks through hypothesis and expected results

3. Balances bold ideas with practical realities

🚩 Red flags:

1. Hasn’t thought about it at all

2. Proposes something generic that could apply to any company

3. Wildly off-base or infeasible ideas

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10. 🥊 What would it take for our company to become the “category king”?

This is the hardest question, but I love it.

It invites candidates to put themselves in our shoes and think like an owner obsessed with market dominance. I want to see that even before starting the job, they’re already “all in” - paranoid about competitors working 24/7 to beat us.

It is also a chance for them to show how closely they’ve studied our competitive landscape.

✅ What to look for:

1. Has researched key competitors

2. Displays strong energy and urgency to defeat our competitors

3. Shares specific, actionable ideas for how to gain an unfair advantage

🚩 Red flags:

1. Seems unaware of or unbothered by the competition

2. Frames the question as a “nice-to-have” vs. an existential imperative

3. Treats competitor tracking as someone else’s job, not a shared obsession

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🌐 BONUS: How many domain names do you own, and why?

Owning domains - whether for a personal site or trading - is a great indicator that someone really gets the internet.

✅ What to look for:

1. Independently bought a domain, at least once

2. Bought some domains for ideas/projects they had

3. Lights up talking about one fantastic domain and its potential

🚩 Red flags:

1. Has never independently bought a domain, ever

2. Doesn’t understand the value of a good .com domain

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By the way, the 1st question I ask in any interview is…

🍿 What should I know about [NAME]?

• What to look for: A concise, compelling pitch about their successes and skills. I’m looking for a history of achievement, even if it’s not directly marketing-related. Bonus points for a sprinkle of humor and personality ✨

• Red flags: Rambling, vague answers, or a focus on irrelevant details. If they can’t sell themselves in a few minutes, how will they sell your product? 🤷‍♀️

It’s the ultimate icebreaker and reveals a ton about the candidate.

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These questions are NOT make-or-break criteria — they are conversation starters to reveal hidden talents.

Not everyone will have amazing answers to all of them, and that’s okay! 👍 You shouldn’t reject candidates solely because of how they answer these unconventional questions. The goal is to spark interesting conversations and find those special qualities that might not show up in a standard interview. So mix these in with your traditional questions and see the special gems you discover. 🐧

Happy hiring! 🥂

Tom

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