7 Strategies for Your Job Interview in Marketing and Sales

 Are you about to finish your marketing and sales degree and starting to attend interviews for your first job?

Then this post is for you.
Hello, how are you? I’m Dr. Carlos Valdez, founder and director of MercadotecniayVentas.com, an educational portal where 90% of our content is free to access. Our mission is to educate and inspire students, academics, and professionals in the areas of marketing and sales through innovative and practical content, to develop essential skills for creating value.

And this is our video-audio blog for August 9, titled:
7 Strategies for Your Job Interview in Marketing and Sales

So, let’s begin.

I’m going to share with you 7 strategies that will help you perform excellently in your job interviews. They will give you security and confidence, and you will project that to recruiters, which will help you stand out from other candidates.

Strategy 1: Know the company well
This means doing thorough research: mission, values, products, services, and how they generate value for their customers. How much they charge for their products or services, the date of founding, growth, founder, and current management. What has been their growth in recent years, and in which territories they operate. Does gathering all this information sound like a lot of work? Well, that’s exactly why you’ll stand out from other candidates. The recruiter needs to see that you have a genuine interest in being part of the company and that you prepared for the interview. The conversation you’ll be able to have and the questions you’ll ask will be very different from those of other candidates.

Strategy 2: Know their competitors well
Do a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) not only of the company you are applying to but also of its competitors. This will give you a complete view of the industry, and when the recruiter notices this, they will confirm not only your strong interest but also that you are prepared to start working and delivering results because you did your homework. During your time as a student, you’ve done many analyses like this for university projects and grades. Now it’s about your future, so the better the integration you make, the more prepared you’ll be, the more confident you’ll feel in the interview, and that will show.

Strategy 3: Build connections within the company
On LinkedIn, connect with friends and acquaintances from the company, and if you don’t know anyone, check your contacts to see if someone is connected to someone inside the company who can introduce you. And if none of your contacts know anyone in the company, connect directly via LinkedIn with recruiters or marketing and sales managers. Never send a connection request without a note specifying what you want: “I’d like to connect because I want to learn more about your company, gain knowledge, and eventually apply for a position.”

Connect with your professors on LinkedIn, as they may have contacts in companies or among alumni, and your professor can introduce you to that alumnus at the company. Once you connect with that person, you can ask for recommendations for interviews at their company since you are doing your research, preparing, and want to perform well in the interview.

If you attend guest speaker talks, connect with them. University is a great time to network at events, seminars, symposiums, and conferences. Marketing student societies help expand your network—the bigger, the better—because you’ll be able to apply to more companies.

Strategy 4: Professionalism
From how you communicate in person, by phone, by email, on LinkedIn, and across all your social media, recruiters will check not only LinkedIn but also your other profiles. Don’t post anything that could hurt you as a candidate for the company.

Professionalism also applies to any communication with the recruiter: connect professionally on LinkedIn with them before the interview; you can send a note saying you look forward to meeting them.

Executive presence, professional appearance, well-groomed; your attire and look should show your level of interest in being part of the company. Well-groomed, with tidy hair, sitting professionally, and if on Zoom, having a tidy background or using a professional virtual background with good lighting. Shake hands when entering and leaving, maintain eye contact at all times, and never look at your phone—put it on silent mode.

Strategy 5: Practice role-playing
A friend, family member, or AI can act as the interviewer. Prepare the questions you think they might ask and consult AI for possible interview questions for that specific position. The idea is to practice how you enter, greet, introduce yourself, and answer questions. This will give you the confidence to feel secure and prepared for the interview, and that confidence will catch the recruiter’s attention.

Strategy 6: Prepare your list of questions
I recommend bringing a small notebook to take notes and have your questions ready. At the beginning of the interview, ask if it’s okay to take notes in your notebook to keep improving in interviews.

After they ask you questions, they will say, “What questions do you have for us?” Tell them you have prepared a set of questions and have them written down. This will catch their attention because you didn’t improvise or say, “I don’t have questions.”

Some ideas:

• What do you like most and least about working at the company?
• What community outreach and social activities exist within the company?
• Can you describe the company culture in more detail and how it differs from competitors?
• What are the company’s growth paths?
• Is there support for studying a master’s degree?

Show them you did your homework thoroughly and better than other candidates.

Strategy 7: Final message
Have your closing message ready. When the questions end and they’re saying goodbye, share your exit message, like an elevator pitch, to reinforce your positioning with the recruiter.

Follow up: thank them that same day for their time in the meeting and mention you look forward to hearing back to proceed with the next interview. If you’re not selected, don’t close the door; ask what you can improve next time and act on it. Apply again—just because they didn’t hire you once doesn’t mean they won’t in the future, but you must keep improving continuously.

If you put these strategies into action, you’ll feel more confident going into interviews, and each time you interview, you’ll learn new things.

Final tip: Drink water before entering the interview so your throat doesn’t get dry and you don’t lose your voice from nerves. Also, if you tend to sweat when nervous, wipe it off before entering—that’s why arriving early is important.

I hope you put these strategies into practice and land the marketing and sales job you’ve been dreaming of. If you do, I’d be happy to hear from you—share your story at [email protected].

As a reminder, 90% of our marketing and sales content is free. Also, once you’re in your first marketing and sales job, I recommend the Red Manual for Marketing and Sales Coordinators. It’s not a book—it’s a practical manual and guide to help you remember the most important marketing topics and how to apply them with AI. It costs $10, and here’s the link to our landing page.

I wish you great success in your job interviews and remind you that in marketing and sales, we must always create value. Thank you, and see you next time!