The objective of this matrix is to help you prepare yourself to answer questions that are relevant to the role that you are applying for.
The matrix takes the core components of the role you are applying for and will help you to align your experience and achievements from your previous roles so that you can be well prepared to answer relevant questions.
It will help you to ensure that you don’t just keep repeating the same experience with your answers. You want to, where possible, demonstrate that you have broad experience and position yourself as the best candidate for that role.
Download the McloughlinBall Responsibility and Attribute Matrix.

There is nothing like proper preparation to improve your chances of success in getting the job you want. Beginning with this Checklist for Success and working together with McLoughlinBall we will help to find the right role for you.

Download the McLoughlinBall Checklist for Success

Often, in law firms, the marketing and business development teams face the ‘value’ question: What value are you bringing to the firm’s bottom line? John Wannamaker’s famous quote ‘Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted – the trouble is, I don’t know which half’ is a good example of the niggling issue which often lurks in the minds of a firm’s partnership. Is business development worth it? And if so, why?

Effective and accountable business development and marketing is absolutely paramount to the success and longevity of any business, organisation or firm, large or small. It is crucial to be able to:

Differentiate your firm,

• Articulate why you are different, and
• Explain what that may mean to your clients’ and potential clients’ success.
• Competition is tough, and getting tougher. All businesses, including law firms, need to be able to market themselves effectively to clients old and new, constantly, cleverly and relevantly.

Paramount to generating and sustaining growth and development is investing in the right people and systems to attract clients to the firm. And if the competition is tough and getting tougher, then similarly, winning new business is extremely tough and getting enormously tougher.

Getting a new client through the door is extremely expensive in resources, time, energy and commitment. A far less expensive and more effective approach to profitably increase revenue, is to service your existing clients so fantastically well, they wouldn’t dream of looking elsewhere.

The Pareto Principle

This means your business development and marketing cannot solely be aimed at bringing in new business.

It is absolutely vital not to lose sight of your existing clients. Remember the Pareto principle, that old adage that states you attain 80 per cent of your business from 20 per cent of your clients. What that means for any firm is that the focus of your business development and marketing activities should be in that same ratio: 80 per cent on your existing clients, keeping them happy and engaged and letting them know you value their work, and 20 per cent on attracting new clients and revenue.

One of the outcomes on which partners and aspiring partners will often be judged is what revenue (either through existing or new clients) they can bring to the firm. Yet interestingly, how best to win revenue is still not taught during the course of a law degree.

The power of client relationships

This is where the business development team comes into its own. The onus of how to attract and retain both existing and new clients largely falls on their shoulders, and although traditionally only partners have gone out and interacted with real live clients, this situation has been changing over time. The Big Four accounting firms do it superbly with professional, experienced account managers. Working very closely with partners to develop close, sustainable relationships with existing clients, and helping them attract and acquire new ones. Law firms are sadly lagging behind their accounting counterparts.

One of the ways to gently introduce the concept of business development staff interacting with clients and potential clients in the same way, is client listening.

What clients want to hear

I was recently lucky enough to attend a workshop run by the Professional Services Marketing Group in London. The workshop focused on the way client service is undergoing radical change and innovation. Meridian West has researched what law firm clients want and what law firms are giving them. More often than not, the nexus between what the clients needed and what they wanted was significant. Some of the findings were fascinating. Over 68 per cent of clients say that a lack of understanding of their business is the biggest factor in them looking for a change in provider.

Clients want firms to come to them with ideas, and to be proactive. They want their providers to be aware of their particular industry challenges and how these might affect them. Interestingly they also want to know that their providers are able to benchmark them with their competition, they even seek ‘industry gossip’ over a coffee. Clients want their providers to demonstrate value, to have an appetite for innovation, to look at different models of working and above all, to be able to negotiate on fees. This is all tremendously valuable client information which can be translated into marketing and business development strategies over time.

We will see business development professionals target and approach potential clients alone or with a partner. Indeed, this is happening slowly and surely within a few law firms. I identified a trend of trained lawyers entering the business development arena a few years ago, and this will only increase.

To invest in a team of high performing and achieving business development and marketing executives can only aid both profitability and sustainability for any law firm.

Article published in The Law Society of NSW member newsletter ‘The Big Picture’, May 2015.

Any company or firm cannot hope to survive and thrive in today’s competitive marketplace without some sort of marketing/business development plan. That includes law firms, no matter what size. The marketing plan is probably the first and most important step in marketing your firm. This can simply be a one page document which sets out your firm’s goals, supported by some strategies and tactics by which you think you can realistically achieve those goals and by when.

So how does marketing lead business development?

Marketing is both an art and a science. And with science comes theory. The theory of marketing rests upon eight key areas. In the context of a small law firm, here are some ideas to get you thinking about how you might apply these:

Price – how you bill your clients, how soon they pay, what your profitability is around each client – this information is fundamental to your business. You must be able to identify who are your most profitable clients and work out how to engage and keep them. You may even find there could be some clients who aren’t profitable and it may be expedient to resign them.

Product – this is what your clients buy from you: put simply it’s your knowledge and expertise. But it is also how you package that knowledge and present it back to the client, and the reason they keep buying from you. Being consistent, providing excellent service to your clients, doing what you say you are going to do (on time and within the agreed fee), these are all fundamental to keeping clients happy. But often firms fail to meet these basics. You might consider something as simple as having a universal policy that any client’s call or email will be answered within a specific timeframe. In terms of how marketing can help this P – client knowledge is the key.

Again, researching and understanding your client base better is vital. You may even consider building individual marketing plans around your top five or so clients – this can be a very simple tactic but one which could reap significant rewards.

Place – within the ‘fast moving consumer goods’ sector, ‘place’ refers to channels of distribution i.e. how to physically get your product to market. Within the context of the legal sector this might refer to where your service is going to take place, i.e. your offices. You might not need harbourside CBD offices but they should still look and feel professional, welcoming and above all they should reflect what you are providing.

Promotion – this is where marketing comes in. This refers to how you’re going to promote your product/service and again, this requires you to really think about a marketing plan that is going to work for you and your firm. Some tactics may include improving/rebranding your website, producing quality and relevant marketing collateral (which can also be web based – online brochures are increasingly more common), sponsoring various appropriate events, speaking at a conference, attending networking events, or commencing a campaign directed exclusively at your (previously researched) target market. Whatever activities you decide upon, they have to be relevant, achievable, appropriate and, wherever possible, measurable. That way you can understand where and how your marketing dollar is being spent and more importantly, what the return on your investment is.

People – in any professional services marketing, people are critical to the success of the organisation, from the person answering the telephone to the professional providing the service. The client should have a positive experience throughout their interaction with your firm.

Process – the process by which your services are delivered is critical to ensuring consistency of quality is delivered to your clients. Often companies will produce a service blueprint to ensure consistency. You might consider this overkill, however, tactics such as guaranteeing clients their calls or queries will be answered within a specific timeframe every time may be a good start.

Physical evidence – within a services environment the client looks for cues and clues to indicate what the quality of service may be like when dealing with your firm. What you are attempting to achieve is to make tangible the intangible, so that quality is reflected back to the client with every tangible experience they have with your firm from a document, to the office space, to the marketing collateral in your foyer.

Partnership – this holds it all together in a legal firm. Without cohesive, commercially-savvy partners who communicate well with each other and their staff, the firm is destined to eventually fail.

There are many and varied reference materials available to anyone who is interested in reading further about marketing and BD within the legal sector, and David Maister’s book, The Trusted Advisor, is excellent. To help get started, there are many online tools around marketing plans, Eric Reis’ ‘Lean Canvas’ might be a good place to start. Happy reading.

Written by Gina McLoughlin for the Law Society of New South Wales’ ‘Small Practice Portal’, published in April 2014.

Whether you’re actively looking for a new position or are simply interested in seeing what’s out there, you need to choose your recruiter very carefully and work with them very closely. A good relationship with your recruiter is more like a partnership. The better your professional partnership with your recruiter, the better the outcome will be for everyone involved, candidate, client and recruiter!

If your recruiter is responsive, respectful, informed and informative, professional, highly ethical, friendly and authentic, then it sounds like you’ve chosen correctly and you’re on your way to recruitment nirvana. And that is a good feeling when you’re looking for your next move.

How can you tell if your recruiter is the one for you?

Firstly, your recruiter should understand the industry and the players within it intimately, and they must be willing to share that knowledge appropriately with you. Your career and your next steps are, of course, vitally important to you. Your recruiter should understand and respect that at all times. Therefore, try to ensure that when you are considering a move, you’re given as much information as possible regarding the firm including the position itself (with a job description), the team, the culture, the potential, their attitude to people development, how they reward and remunerate – every facet of the firm, and everything that is important and relevant to you, before you decide to even submit your resume. You should be as confident as you can be that your recruiter has given you as much information as they possibly can to enable you to make an informed and confident decision about a way forward. And never let a recruiter push you into a role you don’t want.

How do you tell if your recruiter really has your best interests at heart?

For a successful job hunting experience, it’s vital that you understand the unwritten and often unspoken rules of working with a recruiter, and work with these rules. Here are some basic guidelines to bear in mind.

If a recruiter tells you that you only need to work with them, and no other recruiter – run! Really, really fast! And don’t look back – ever!!! Work with reputable names in the industry – work with a couple, certainly, but work with only the best.

Don’t tolerate the ‘resume in/resume out’ syndrome , that is, sending off your resume to a potential client without your prior knowledge or consent. Quite simply, it is unethical! Only recently, I became aware of just such a situation – a recruiter had received a resume from a candidate, sent it off to the client and got the candidate an interview. The candidate had not met the recruiter, hadn’t seen a job description, hadn’t even discussed the position and hadn’t even realised they’d been submitted for the role. This is a complete breach of the RCSA code of ethical practice and destroys your professional partnership with the recruiter and possibly the client. You should always be interviewed by the recruiter, preferably face to face (but a well conducted video conference or telephone interview is fine), receive and review a job description, be informed about and discussed the role, the firm and the other vital factors, and then, provided you’ve given your agreement, and only then should your resume be submitted.

How do you maintain an authentic relationship with your recruiter?

Once you’ve landed your dream role, what are the rules with regard to your relationship with the recruiter? Once a recruiter has placed you in a role and everyone is happy – candidate and client alike, under industry code of ethical practice, the recruiter is not to then call you to discuss other potential roles they have available. It is absolutely fine to maintain a relationship with them, have a chat or a coffee, but any direct approaches are highly unethical and unprofessional . However, if you do decide your time is coming to an end at your current firm, or you spot an interesting opportunity that you want to explore, then it’s quite acceptable for you to call the recruiter who placed you initially, especially if you have a great relationship with them – but it should never be the other way around.

Lastly, if a recruiter is rude to you, undermines your confidence, shows a distinct lack of interest, doesn’t seem to understand the industry or position or firm, doesn’t return phone calls and is generally unresponsive – leave – and don’t go back.

If you have any questions or comments, we’d love to hear them!

Sarah Jessica-Parker is starring in a new film called ‘I don’t know how she does it’ – I read the book a few years ago and it is hilarious – and it could have been written about me and most of the working mums I know. The release of the film is very timely as I am always very interested in the conversation about women juggling work, home and family in the professional services industry, so that’s what this article is about – plate spinning and ball juggling!

There have been plenty of studies, surveys, articles and conversations over the last ten or so years regarding women returning to work after having a child. And many awards and accolades have been handed out to firms for ‘family friendly’ policies. There has also been a myriad of research and commentary around women partners in law and accounting firms. We’ve all read them. We know that in 2010, as identified by The Australian, women account for just 22% of all new partners in law firms down from 26% in 2009, even though woman make up 55% of new law graduates. Accounting firms have also been in the spotlight – 60.1% of all accountants are women in Australia, however, woman only average around 17%of partners among the Big Four accounting firms.

Hmmm, and these figures don’t ever drill down to how many woman partners also have children – a significantly lower figure than those quoted above, I am sure!

Obviously, a lot of work still to be done around how we spin those plates and juggle those balls, and a significant number of firms are really working very hard to look at changing their business models and behaviours to address and rectify these figures. For women partners, that is! What about the women who are on the BD/marketing/communications side of the fence? Our world! No one seems to talk about those women – the focus always seems to be on the fee earners… until now….

I am a working mother, have been for over 15 years. I know plenty of women who are, with varying degrees of success. And I have noticed that there do seem to be (and I have no hard and fast figures on this – you’re just going to have to take my word) more part time roles and more clients willing to consider part time roles for BD and marketing staff, they are happier to look at different ways of working including condensed weeks and flexible hours – it’s very encouraging to see. And on the flip side, there are definitely more candidates asking for flexible or part time options. So it seems, we’re slowly, extremely slowly but surely getting there.

It’s not all good news, though. I know some fabulous women who have just found it ‘too hard’ to come back to work after having a child. They’ve may have been ‘juniorised’ in their role, sidelined for promotion because they wanted to work part time, or even lost their jobs because motherhood has somehow diminished their relevance in their employer’s eyes. My own experience (with one of the Big Four accounting firms) was a very positive one. My then boss could not have been more generous with flexible hours, time off when my child was sick etc., but what I did find was that when I became more senior (in another firm), the expectations increased and my child spent her days between before and after school care, and a nanny after after school care! It was exhausting and hugely expensive. Was it worth it? Well, to me it was, definitely – I wanted to work, I love working and my child doesn’t seem to have suffered as a result. What about other mothers though? What do they think and what have they experienced? I spoke to a few.

One senior BD and Marketing Director in the industry went back to work when her little boy was 8 months old. She told me that she’d heard all the clichés about women running to the bathroom between meetings in tears, and she certainly had her fair share of that. However, she is extremely fortunate to work for a firm which practices what it preaches in terms of flexible and reasonable hours and the firm’s policies allow her the ability to really juggle home and family life. She considers herself ‘a lucky lady who has a great job and a beautiful family’. She also made an extremely good point, and one with which I wholeheartedly agree – she said, “it’s all too easy to get sucked in to the whirlwind and pressures of work and to think you’re indispensable – you’re the only person who can bring a project in and really make a difference to the firm. The fact is, no one is indispensable in business, but I am to my family and I am the only one that can make a real difference there – that is the reality of home”. Well said!

A very senior Marketing Director I spoke to (a male), had mixed views on women returning to work after having a child. He thought that there were definitely roles where part time or flexible arrangements were possible, but the employee had to really be a valuable member of the team and probably had to work harder than the non mothers to prove their worth. And in a tender heavy role, his words, “Forget it!” Lots of firms play the family friendly card, but when it comes down to it, it is more about who you report to, what their particular views are, how accommodating they are and what your relationship is like with your boss and greater team. And the bottom line is often whether you’re able to produce the same quality work, in the same quantity and with the same energy as before.

And sometimes, you just can’t!

This was the experience for one woman in the industry I spoke to. She, happily, has now found herself in her dream role, but she did find it difficult returning to her previous position after her first child. She told me she was confronted with a mix of emotions, whilst she was delighted to be joining the world again after a year of baby duty, being intellectually stimulated and earning money, she recalls feeling like a bad mother, crying most nights in the first and second week and eventually felt that she was viewed ‘differently’ because she had to leave the office by 5pm each night to pick up her child. She was no longer considered a high performer, and the next pay cycle came and went without an increase. She has been very fortunate to have now found a new job, with a very understanding boss, more flexible arrangements, more seniority and more money. She could not be happier.

Her advice to mums returning to work? “Don’t feel trapped and don’t settle – there are great opportunities out there, and many companies are looking for your experience.”

And I think that is really great advice. It is certainly far easier in most cases to return to work and negotiate flexible hours when you’ve been at a firm for a period of time, when you have shown your worth, and where your contribution is valued. But if, after returning to a job and you do feel that you are being viewed differently, being treated differently, then don’t settle… it may take some time, it may take a long time, but there are great firms out there who are crying out for your skills and experience.

Hey, and you know where to come!

With the ongoing success of the APSMA/McLoughlinBall Leadership program, I thought it might be rather timely to share some thoughts on mentoring programs within firms, which is always high on many candidate’s wish lists.

When discussing benefits and salary packages with potential candidates, one of the most common questions is not around salary, or bonus, or health club membership, it’s surprisingly whether firms have an established and formal mentoring program. Of course those hygiene factors around salary package are vital, but firms who can demonstrate that they do have a formal and effective program of mentoring in place are the firms which are going to attract the better candidates. And with the lack of great talent today, anything that a firm can provide to rate highly in the choice set for those top flight candidates is going to pay great dividends.

Mentoring, to just give the term some clarity, is very different to coaching, which generally provides a tactical and timely solution to a managerial problem or process, for example helping a manager to improve their interview techniques or get up to speed on the firm’s diversity policy. Mentoring is a horse of an entirely different colour. It can be defined as the bringing together voluntarily of two people, the mentor and the mentoree, ideally with different levels of seniority, where the conversation focuses on personal career guidance and/or role transition for the mentoree. Essential to the process is that the two people involved do so voluntarily and are not coerced into the relationship just because the firm says so, where all dialogue is kept scrupulously confidential and where the process is perceived by both parties to be mutually beneficial. Plenty of firms say they have a mentoring program in place, but the sad fact of life is that very few firms have an effective and successful program in place!

One of the reasons for this is that there is no quick fix solution to establishing an effective and successful mentoring program. It takes time, energy, hard work and commitment but those firms who recognise that mentoring is no longer a ‘nice to have’ but rather an integral and vital component in any executive’s career and personal development are the very firms which will attract the best and brightest candidates. To get further information on mentoring, here are a few websites which provide insights and information on mentoring and establishing mentoring programs within your firm.

www.aicd.com.au, www.harbourfutureleaders.com and www.aim.com.au

As part of my job, I interview. A lot! And how people present to me during interview, whether we like it or not, matters, particularly in our industry. Men have it so easy! They have the sartorial equivalent of the safety net, the suit, which word derives from the French ‘suivre’ meaning to follow. We all know what a man’s suit looks like, two (or now very fashionably chic, I’m told) three pieces of quite sombre material, cut well, enhancing the body, creating a non threateninguniformity and enabling the wearer to demonstrate individuality witharakish tie or a raffish shirt – or both.

Women on the other hand, don’t have it so easy. We need to be able to present a carefully coordinated statement which, through the cut of a skirt of a line of a jacket, demonstrates confidence, self assuredness, poise, and capability. That’s a lot of work for an outfit! Do we all need to wear well cut suits, medium heels, tan hose and minimal jewellery to be taken seriously? I don’t think so, but I do think there are rules which help us navigate this potential minefield but without looking like Margaret Thatcher meets Tootsie (and not in a good way).

So, here are a few tips I’ve collected over the years and do remember, this is about the work environment. If you love yourself in a Prabal Gurung sequinned and feathered mini skirt teamed with a McQueen steel bustier and diamante dog collar on your weekends, knock yourself out. But 5 to 9 in our world is a horse of an entirely different colour.

First, avoid big bold fashion statements. Sounds obvious. It’s not. Second, invest in quality both in terms of cut and fabric. Your clothes need to whisper quality and confidence, they must say you can trust me to do a great job for you, but also make you look good, so versatility is a must. You can add your own personal twists with scarves, blouses and accessories but that suit has to be sharp!

Third, your clothes need to be comfortable and fit you properly and they need to look pristine. No hanging threads or hems or missing buttons. Fourth, stockings are a must. Kate Middleton didn’t get to become the Queen apparent without a good pair of 10 deniers on her pins. And finally, clothing is a complex issue, particularly for women, but it should be fun.

If you’re starting out and your budget is really limited, spend most of your budget on really great suits and pieces with longevity. A good wardrobe really is an investment in your career. Looking good really does make you feel good – it’s a hackneyed saying but it is, nonetheless, true. And if you’re confident, you’ll attract confidence. Not a small thing!

When I asked those lawyers who are either considering or actually working in the business development space what their motivation was for the move, the majority tell more or less the same story. Whilst they really enjoyed studying the law, once they had their degree and started working, they became quite disillusioned quite quickly. They either didn’t like the lack of client interaction, the significant time spent hunched over a PC and not communicating with anyone, or, as one lawyer turned very successful BD practitioner said, ‘I saw how excited and passionate our BD and marketing people were and I wanted to have that too”.

Despite the passion and commitment it takes for a lawyer to become a successful BD person, it can sometimes be quite a challenging dynamic for the firm who appoints an ‘ex lawyer’ into their BD team, especially if it’s their first role in that space. One Marketing Director I spoke to told me she had a very brilliant young ex lawyer in her team who the partners really liked, respected and worked superbly with, but who did not fit well within the broader team because of issues with ego and entitlement. And it took a good twelve months to ‘smooth the fur’ in that particular dynamic, and the process of integrating the employee resulted in her being very wary of other lawyers turned BD candidates.

However, far more Marketing and BD Directors I spoke to were very encouraging in their views. One told me that they had had tremendous success with a number of ex lawyers, the partners were extremely positive about their training as they felt that they ‘knew the product’ and the broader team were able to capitalise on that dynamic. The key to success was to be scrupulous in the interview process in terms of deep and broad questioning and really drilling down into the rationale and drivers behind the move and to also expose the candidate as much and as often as possible to the broader team to ensure a seamless cultural fit. And, of course, brutal honesty about the realities of working as a BD professional – thrilling and challenging as it is.

One lawyer, who is now a BD Executive in a large, international law firm, told me that whilst he did really well at university, he knew from day one as a lawyer that he just didn’t want to continue on that path. He wanted something far more creative, dynamic and varied. And he took every opportunity to work with the BD and marketing team and to become as involved as he could with tenders and proposals. He made it clear he would do anything and everything in his spare time to help. He made it clear he was interested and he read everything he could lay his hands on and spoke to as many people as he could. And as soon as a Marketing Coordinator position became available within the firm, he made his move and got the job! This is how most lawyers get started in marketing and BD – they just put their hand up!

It seems that, like most things in life, it’s not a one size fits all situation – it is really down to the individual. Some lawyers really can’t ‘jump the fence’ successfully – they don’t feel that they are listened to or respected once they aren’t seen to be contributing to billable hours. Others just don’t like seeing their university peers becoming more and more senior, and in the process, and being blunt, earning more kudos and salary packages. But if it works well, it can work superbly. The trick is, of course, to find the law firm which encourages, develops, nurtures and rewards. And then just put your hand up!

Often, the reality of practising law is very different from studying it and it seems that the two year mark is a watershed when people started to question their motivation and look at their various options. And it can be a confronting situation to try to explain to colleagues, family and friends that having worked so hard to get a law degree, you may be seen to be ‘turning your back’ on that to do something that may not have nearly the same kudos. However, it’s very gratifying that every lawyer turned BD practioner that I have spoken to wouldn’t consider going back to practising law. So if you’re a lawyer reading this article, and you’re interested in working in business development, it could be as simple as just putting your hand up!

So, the recruiter has called you – McLoughlinBall naturally! You’ve seen and reviewed the job description thoroughly, you’ve researched the company, you’ve sent in your impeccably presented resume (crafted with this specific position in mind) and you’ve just been advised the client wants to interview you. This should be a really exhilarating feeling. However, some candidates can be a little apprehensive when it comes to the interview process, and it really doesn’t have to be quite so nerve wracking!

We’ve interviewed some of the heads of marketing and BD in the industry and asked them various questions around what they look for in an interview with a candidate. It does make for interesting and, hopefully, illuminating reading!

Q Can you tell me what are the main things you look for from a candidate in an interview?

In my opinion, firstly, it is extremely important to actually sell yourself, so candidates should not be timid about putting forth those qualities and experiences pertinent to the job at hand . Secondly I think it is really important that as they are describing their backgrounds that they give fulsome explanations. And what I mean by that is, give specifics about what they’ve actually done, how they did it, how they talked about an idea internally, how they got buy in, how they implemented it, what the push-backs were, basically be prepared to give absolutely specific examples (which can be substantiated if asked) of the process they went through, with whom and what the outcomes were. And also be prepared to talk about the I, and not the we! So talk about what THEY did, not what the team did! Of course, it is essential that candidates discuss team work and the team dynamic, but the interview is about them and not their former (or present team) so the emphasis needs to be on them as a candidate.

Q What is the most important thing you might look for in a candidate’s research for the role?

I think that the absolutely most important thing during an interview (apart from almost knowing the website and product offerings back to front) is for a candidate to have read the job description almost forensically, have identified the salient points, the deliverables, what the essence of the role is, and then give as many examples to the client as they possibly can addressing where they’ve either done those particular things, or had experience of those things, so really addressing each specific criteria of the role and focusing on where their experience and background fits with what the client is looking for.

You would not believe how many people come in to me and don’t actually address the specifics of the job, so when a candidate is preparing for the interview, get the JD, look at the criteria and really think about where you are able to provide specific examples of what you’ve done and tell the interviewer at the interview – don’t just assume that because they’ve read your resume, they will automatically know. This is your chance to impress the interviewers, so use it wisely.

I think that candidates who can demonstrate some knowledge of the industry and the players are always of interest to me. They don’t have to know the ins and outs of who is where and for how long, but knowing who the top players are, who their clients are, what their go to market strategy might be, are all indications that the candidate has done some basic research into the industry, particularly if they are applying for a senior role.

Q How do you assess cultural fit?

Regarding cultural fit, this is just as if not more important than being able to actually do the job. I normally do ask the person what their workstyle is, what their preferred management style is, so they need to be prepared to talk about those cultural issues as well. For example, how they work in a team, what they look for in a team, what they like in a manager, how they manage people, what don’t they like, so they really need to look inside themselves to really know what kind of environment they like and have the ability to eloquently answer those types of questions, really prepare for them in advance. Professional services, as we know, can be thrilling yet sometimes challenging – so it’s important you get the right fit and the candidate should feel just as comfortable asking about that as the interviewer.

Q What about personal presentation and body language?

This is so important! They absolutely have to be attired and presented very professionally, and one thing that I think is really important, and it does happen, if the interview is on a Friday and you have a casual Friday situation where you currently work, do not attend the interview in casual clothing, or if you absolutely cannot get around it, talk to the client beforehand through the recruiter if necessary, to let them know you’ll be coming in casual attire. And under no circumstances, wear jeans! And just the obvious things, wear a suit, clean shoes, hair and nails and arrive at least ten minutes before time. Absolutely no excuse for lateness!
Body language is fascinating – you cannot change your basic personality but do try to be engaging in the interview and candidates really do have to make eye contact with the interviewer/s.

Smiling, being warm, and presenting yourself as the type of person that the firm wants on board and that the other team members will want to work with.

Q What about the ‘informal coffee’ with the team?

OK, this is a good question here – and here is the hot tip – they are NEVER informal. On some level, the coffee meeting is going to be formal, because whoever you are having coffee with, whether it’s in their offices or at a cafe, you are still being assessed, your cultural fit is being looked at and the candidate should be doing the same!

Q What is the single best thing, in your opinion, a candidate can do during the interview process?

Ask for the role!!!! That answer may not suit everyone, and not everyone may be comfortable in doing that, but if there’s any way of stating your interest in the role that feels right and comfortable to you, then do it! Some Marketing Directors will like it, some won’t – I love it because that’s what I’ve always done but think carefully about how you can do it which feels real to you. At the very least, show some interest in the role at some level.

So there you have it, some hot tips from the top. If you have anything to share regarding interviews, please do let us know!

Your resume is, essentially, your golden opportunity to secure that all important interview – it might be the make or break between an employer or recruiter seeing you, or simply overlooking you. It won’t actually get you the job, but a great resume will go a long way in helping you in the process. Your resume needs to be a reflection of you as a person and your qualifications, experience and interests. And it needs, whenever possible, to be tailored to the position under discussion.

Obviously, when you’re initially approaching a recruiter, your resume will be more general, describing your roles and the outcomes you’ve achieved, but when discussing an actual role with your recruiter, you should be also discussing how best to tailor your resume to reflect the deliverables reflected in the brief in question.

Don’t just take my word for it – I’ve spoken to a couple of Heads of Marketing, and here are some of their views.

Q What do you look for in a resume?

“The most important thing to me is the clarity of the information, and by that I mean a clear chronology of work experience and the overall descriptions of the positions the candidate has held. I want to get a good picture of where this person has been, and without having to keep referring backwards and forwards through the resume to put the information together myself like a jigsaw puzzle”.

“Clarity, above anything else, and unless that is there, it immediately raises questions in my mind about where a person has been and what they have done”.

Q What is a turn off?

“A resume needs to be very concise, not too long and to the point. I don’t want to read through a diatribe of the candidate’s personal attributes like ‘honest, hard working, good communicator’ – that is meaningless to me. I want to see what they’ve done, when they’ve done it, what outcomes they’ve achieved, what qualifications they’ve got, all set out in a clear and attractive manner. Oh, and it doesn’t need to be over designed, but please think about layout and fonts – we’re in marketing for goodness sake – their resume should market them, the candidate – if they can’t do that, how can I expect them to market my firm?”

“I absolutely do not want to see any ‘typos’ or grammatical errors whatsoever, ever! Not even small ones – it’s a death knell, and you’d be surprised how many resumes I get with ‘typos’ – I find it appalling!”

Q What sets a resume apart from the rest?

“Tailoring! It is, to me, absolutely vital that candidates tailor their resume to the specific job at hand – so for example read through the specific requirements of the job either as it is advertised or within the JD if you have one or are going through a recruiter, in both your resume and cover letter and pull out examples of where you can demonstrate that you’ve either done the job before or at the very least have had exposure to the areas of expertise the employer is looking for”.

So there we have it – keep it concise, clear, clean and error free! A bit like life really!