10 ways to prepare for an email interview

How to get hired in the email industry you ask? Specifically, on the strategist, specialist, marketing side of things?

Interviewing for an email-related job and want to get the inside scoop of what questions might come up? Look no further.

Here’s the must-dos before you have your first interview:

1. Signup for their email newsletter, or Product

Even if you only have a day’s notice for an interview, you can still gather some idea of what kind of email or opt-in experience the company offers. This is a must-do.

2. Know what ESP they use

How? If it’s not listed on the job description and you can’t find it from their emails, you can forward an email of theirs after you do #1 above, to esp@sendview.io - which will send an auto-reply with the ESP it’s sent from.

3. Know what questions you want to ask them

Asking questions is important. Not only for yourself but also for the recruiter or hiring manager to get a feel for what you’re curious about. Here are some of my must-ask questions (regardless of how uncomfortable they are).

What is the salary range budgeted for this role? Ask this to the recruiter.

Is this role new? Or a backfill? If this role is a backfill, what is the reason the person is leaving the job? The one time I asked this, the hiring manager got so defensive and the way she reacted to this question made me realize I wouldn’t work well with her as my manager.

What kind of growth opportunities does this role have? Do you anticipate this role to be an IC role for a long time, or is there room for the email team to expand?

If you could change one thing about [Business name] what would it be? I always love asking this question, because depending on how they answer, it can show you if you’ll be burnt out on your first day.

Is this role primarily building emails that others have briefed in and conceptualized, or will I have an opportunity to own initiatives? Totally optional, but I like this one.

Here are 7 questions you might be asked when you find yourself in an email-related job interview.

I used to work in recruiting (weird pivot to email but alas), and I conducted over 3,000 interviews in my tenure. Having worked in email and been on the interviewing side, I've compiled a list of common questions you can jot down thoughts for ahead of your interviews.

1. Tell me about yourself

This is a great opportunity to talk about your past job experience, and how it relates to email.

New to email? Talk about your passions and why you think you like email.

Design, copywriting, automation, behavioral analysis, are all areas you can like (and dislike) about email. Hone in on one or two if you don’t have a large story to tell.

2. What is your background with email

This is where I would recommend discussing specific projects. For me, I discuss designing onboarding journeys, highlighting key moments in the user journey, and building email to convert users to paid SaaS plans after initially being offered a free trial.

I usually discuss how I like to create emails, from the briefing process straight through to QA, and then discuss what kind of reporting I do, and why I think the specific reporting is important to look at.

3. How comfortable are you with HTML and CSS?

Answer this honestly. But if this role is a marketing strategy-focused position, and you know they use MailChimp, I want to say you won’t be hard-coding emails from scratch each time. I do find that HTML and CSS are often listed on job descriptions, but then the emails are built with drag & drop editors.

I would recommend knowing what a HEX colour is, how to bold text, and turn font italic, and also create list’s in HTML.

You can also discuss how HTML and CSS is more limited with email in comparison to web design, but that if there’s something you don’t know, you’re open to learning.

Again, don’t lie.

4. How do you handle email deadlines?

What the interviewer is trying to figure out is if you can work well under stress, if you can stand your ground, and how you manage expectations.

What I like to discuss here is how I manage email briefs and what project management tools I use (Asana, Jira, Notion, Trello).

However, there will always be last-minute deadlines when it comes to email, as with all forms of marketing content so I would look to you to lean into your flexibility. But again, in my opinion, a well-used project management tool when it comes to email is invaluable. Organization + flexibility = very important.

5. What is your experience with cross-team collaboration?

Email could be a one-lady/man show, but 99% of the time it’s not.

Launching a product? You’re probably working with a product marketing manager.

Writing content? You’ll need to work with a copywriter!

Want to report on the successes of your efforts? You’ll definitely talk to someone in data.

The amount of people you could work with while doing email is a long one, and I recommend keeping an informal, friendly relationship with most parties so that when you need their help, they will be there for you.

6. Tell me about a time you made a mistake, and how you rectified the situation.

If you haven’t made an email mistake, you will at some point. It’s humiliating, embarrassing, you feel super alone in the movement, but it’s a great way to remember to QA.

SEND TESTS BEFORE YOU SCHEDULE YOUR EMAILS.

I have made plenty of mistakes in my time, from sending emails with incorrect links, to using a CTA with “Rectivate Account” instead of “Reactivate Account”… it goes on. I’m human, you’re human.

Just be thankful you aren’t the HBO intern. If you don’t know what I mean by that, just google “HBO intern email mistake”.

7. What email KPI’s do you like to look at?

This is the final question I’d prepare for. You can’t send email and not understand if your emails are working or not.

How would you define your email as successful or not?

I like to look at different email KPI’s for different use cases, but primarily, click-through rate is the metric that matters to me the most. I need to drive subscribers into our product.

I hope my tips above were helpful. If you have any questions or would like to chat about a job opportunity, feel free to reach out to me here.