If you want your Australian marketing agency to be successful you have to hire the right people. You want to assemble a team of marketing experts who are bright and resourceful, hardworking and reliable. There are a lot of tips you can use when recruiting staff for your marketing agency, but before we get there, let’s look at an important question you might not have thought about. Should you use background checks before hiring marketing agents? The answer is yes and we’ll explain why.

What qualities should you look for in a marketing expert

There are a great many things you should ask a job candidate, starting with their experience and ending with their career expectations. Let’s have a look at some of the things you should consider before hiring a new agent for your marketing agency.

Is experience important?

This depends on the position you have in mind. If you need someone to fill in a management position then, yes, experience in a similar position is important. However, most agencies tend to fill management roles with their own employees who have accumulated experience and earned respect while working for you.

For an entry-level position, experience is not always a must. If you come across a young candidate, fresh out of school and eager to make a career in marketing, you can take a chance on them. Often enough, young people are the most eager to prove their skills and they will work very hard to impress you. Obviously, you can test their knowledge of the marketing industry during the job interview to see if they’re any good.

A good tactic you could use is to present them with a hypothetical situation and ask them how they would solve a certain challenge. For example, they could name current trends in targeting ads or explain basic cyber security protocols that should be followed in any organization. If they have any previous work experience, ask them to relate how they’ve dealt with a challenging issue. Listen to the way they talk. A good marketing agency should be able to craft and tell a captivating story. If they don’t have any work experience, the story will be completely made up and you get a chance to see how creative they are.

Would they fit with your team?

In marketing, being a good team member is essential, but you also need to make sure they fit with the rest of your staff. It’s not a question of age or gender, those are important but not essential. What you should look for is someone with the same mentality as the rest of your staff, especially when it comes to working. Even if most of the current staff are in their 30s, you might find someone pushing 50 who has the same mentality as the rest of your team, so do not rule anyone out on principle.

Also, question the candidate’s motive to apply for that particular job. Are they really interested in working for you or are they using your company as a springboard to land a better offer? These types of people are not worth investing in.

Are they enthusiastic?

This is an essential quality in a marketing agent. The job interview can be quite relevant. If they seem eager to work for you, that’s a good sign. Also, talk about their interest in marketing in general. Do they actually like this field or it’s just a job they took up because it sounds cool and they can earn good money.

A good marketing expert must be passionate about their work.

The need for using employment background checks

Any client knocking on your door will look for creativity and intelligent solutions to promote their business. They’ll also look for reliable people. Think about it – when a client needs a marketing campaign they want to launch a new product or service. They obviously need to keep everything under wraps before launching their new product and they cannot afford any leaks that their rivals could exploit.

At the same time, your marketing agents will have access to funds they can use however they see fit to mount a campaign – online advertising, traditional advertising, social media campaigns, influencers. That’s a lot of money on their hands so you want to make sure they’re reliable people. Should your client discover that funds have mysteriously vanished, the scandal could ruin your business.

Also, you cannot afford to hire someone with a history of violent offenses, aggression, or sex crimes.

To put your mind at ease, you can ask for a criminal background check with the Applicant’s consent in countries like Australia via the following website link for Australian national character check: go now. In countries like the U.S. there are screening services like Equifax that are available.

Also, when talking to a new hire you can mention that all your employees are required to submit to criminal history checks before they are hired. This will help streamline the pre-employment hiring process.

Is originality important?

You bet. Creativity is the number one quality to look for in a marketing agency, but you need to use a broader view when assessing that. It’s not just about creating a smart marketing campaign, but also about looking for novel ways to solve an issue.

Use a recent example, an issue your agency was confronted with, and ask them to come up with their own solution. Give them points for originality if they come up with something your staff didn’t think of, even if you’re not sure it’s the right solution.

Also, if they seem to ask too many questions about your job and your company, take it as a good sign. Curiosity is good in this line of business.

Hire a talented agent even if you don’t need one

Talented marketing agents are hard to find. If you happen to meet someone very good at a conference or a social event, ask them if they would be interested in joining your team. Maybe you weren’t considering any new hires at the moment, but a smart agent is someone you could always use. Make room for them in your organization, cut costs in other departments if you have to, but don’t let a bright guy slip through your fingers and join a rival company. You’ll regret it!