On the Fly Marketing Interview Questions
& Process

I had a quick chat with HR, then an in-person meeting at the office with the hiring manager/CEO that was super short, like fifteen minutes. After that, I did an hour-long field interview at Sam's Club with someone who started in a similar entry-level role about six months ago. This field interview was with another candidate too. The office people were nice and chatted casually, but they made me wait about 40 minutes while other interviews were happening. The Sam's Club part was great because it really showed what the job is like day-to-day – basically going up to shoppers and trying to sell them Product X from a table. They also explained the pay, which is the higher of wage or commission.

it was a three round interview process. The first round is very brief and a quick overview of the company. The CEO speaks quickly so you have to be sharp and listen to what she says. The second round is a true insight to the entry level part of the job. Here not only do you understand what direct marketing is but you learn in a break down about how the program works. It makes sense that so many people are able to join the company because they have grown from 1 client to many and are starting to represent these clients in new areas which means they need more people. Here I really got to know the people who I would be working with on a day to day basis and understood that they have similar goals to myself and will be willing to coach me into achieving them. As a new graduate I understood that the job market is hard and there was no simple answer from going from a secretary to executive management in 6 to 9 months. I would be lucky for that opportunity in 5 to 8 years if the circumstances were right and I worked really hard for those years. The third round is really meant to answer any other questions that I had about the company.

They contacted me the day after I applied and we set up an interview for the following day. I confirmed the time. When I arrived at the office, I saw four other people waiting; they were seen in the order they arrived. Each person spent about 15 minutes with the hiring manager. The hiring manager spoke very quickly, likely because she knew others were waiting. I ended up waiting about 50 minutes past my scheduled time before speaking with the hiring manager for 10-15 minutes. She mentioned I would receive a call that day if I advanced to the next round.

The interview process was very professional and the hiring manager asked some thought-provoking questions that weren't standard. The office in a Chicago suburb was great, and the in-office staff were friendly. The salary offered was higher than I expected. It started with a recruiter who gave me available times, and I called back to confirm. They seem to be looking for a very specific kind of person who can think quickly and be well-prepared. I plan to reapply once I have more experience.