CV, Work & Portfolio Review
We look at what the candidate says they have done, then ask what they personally owned, built, changed, measured or solved.
The interview process
We test beyond the polished answer.
The interview is designed to find the edge of a candidate's real capability: what they can build, how deeply they understand their craft, how they respond when they do not immediately know the answer and how much direction they need to keep moving.
Capability over performance
We want to know how much they can really take on.
A confident interview is useful, but digital marketing is not a job where the correct terminology is enough. We want to understand the candidate's operating range: what they have genuinely done, what they can do without assistance, where their knowledge starts to thin out and what they do when they reach that boundary.
The important question is not only “Do you know this?” It is “What do you do when you don't?”
That distinction matters because SEO, PPC, analytics, automation, social platforms, AI tools, tracking systems and website technology change constantly. A strong digital marketer cannot wait for somebody to hand them a complete instruction manual every time the environment changes.
What we are looking for
People who can think, build and keep moving.
- Evidence of hands-on work rather than knowledge by vocabulary alone.
- The ability to break an unfamiliar problem into sensible next steps.
- Curiosity and the habit of researching what they do not yet know.
- Enough technical or strategic depth for the level of the role.
- Sound judgement about what they can decide and what needs escalation.
- The confidence to work with limited supervision without becoming careless.
- Clear communication when something is uncertain, blocked or going wrong.
How the interview may work
We keep looking after we find the first good candidate.
Not every role needs every stage. We adapt the process to seniority and specialism, but the objective is consistent: get past rehearsed answers and build a realistic picture of how the person would perform in the job.
Probing Questions
We move from broad questions into detail. If an answer is strong, we go deeper until we understand whether the knowledge is practical, memorised or genuinely experienced.
Practical Assessment
Where useful, we may give a time-bounded test, controlled website, campaign scenario, audit or brief to see what the candidate can actually produce.
The Skills Boundary
We may deliberately take the discussion beyond familiar territory. We want to see when the candidate reaches the edge of their knowledge and how they handle it.
Figure-It-Out Test
An unfamiliar problem can be useful. We look at the questions they ask, the assumptions they challenge, what they would research and how they form a workable plan.
Autonomy & Fit
We consider whether the person can take ownership, communicate progress and work with limited supervision while still knowing when a decision needs to be escalated.
Role-specific practical checks
Each discipline needs its own test.
A generic marketing quiz tells us very little. Practical checks should resemble the thinking the candidate will actually need in the role.
SEO
Review a site, diagnose a traffic loss, prioritise technical issues, critique internal linking or explain how they would investigate an indexing problem.
PPC & Performance
Assess campaign structure, explain wasted spend, diagnose falling conversions, discuss tracking or build a sensible testing plan from limited information.
Content & Social
Turn a business objective into a campaign idea, critique a content brief, explain audience intent or build a short plan that has more substance than posting for activity's sake.
Analytics & CRO
Interpret a messy data picture, identify what is missing, challenge a misleading metric and explain what evidence would be needed before making a recommendation.
Automation & AI
Map a workflow, identify failure points, choose sensible tools and show that they can investigate unfamiliar integrations rather than needing every connection prescribed.
Web & Technical
Build or repair something, trace a front-end problem, reason through performance or explain how they would approach an unfamiliar stack without pretending to know what they do not.
Self-starters
Working without supervision still means keeping people informed.
We are looking for people who can make progress without constant hand-holding. That does not mean guessing recklessly or disappearing into a task for three days.
A strong independent operator usually does five things well.
- Clarifies the outcome and the constraints before charging ahead.
- Works out what can be solved independently and starts there.
- Researches unfamiliar problems instead of stopping at “I don't know”.
- Communicates risks, blockers and important assumptions early.
- Escalates decisions that affect budget, clients, security, legal risk or strategy.
A self-starter is not somebody who never asks for help. It is somebody who knows how to keep moving and knows when help actually matters.
Signals we pay attention to
Good candidates show you how they think.
The best signal is often not a perfect answer. It is whether the candidate can explain what they know, admit what they do not, and show a disciplined way of getting from uncertainty to a useful answer.
Good signals
- Specific examples and measurable outcomes.
- Clear ownership of their part of the work.
- Questions that improve the brief.
- Comfort admitting uncertainty.
- A logical research and testing process.
Warning signals
- Buzzwords without evidence or detail.
- Unable to explain what they personally did.
- Every failure is blamed on somebody else.
- Stops when the answer is not immediately known.
- Needs step-by-step direction for ordinary role decisions.
Employer questions
Common questions about the interview process.
Does every candidate receive a practical test?
No. We use practical assessments when they help clarify capability for the role. The process should fit the specialism, seniority and evidence already available.
Do candidates complete unpaid live client work?
No. A useful assessment can be realistic without turning the interview into unpaid production work. Tests should be controlled and time-bounded.
What does “self-starter” mean here?
Someone who can clarify the goal, form a sensible plan, research unfamiliar problems and make progress without every step being prescribed — while still knowing when to escalate.
Why push beyond rehearsed answers?
Because the industry changes. Employers need to know how somebody behaves when the familiar answer runs out and the job requires investigation, judgement, building and adaptation.
Employer-first screening
You are hiring what someone can do next, not what they did before.
Tell us the role, the outcomes you need and the level of independence the person will require. We can shape the screening and interview process around the real work rather than a generic checklist.