16 tips for employers hiring a lot of student, recent grads for early career, advertising and marketing jobs 

When hiring dozens or even hundreds of candidates for marketing and advertising roles, employers need a recruitment approach that highlights creativity, analytical thinking, and strong communication skills. These roles—ranging from social media coordinators and copywriters to media buyers and marketing analysts—require a mix of strategic thinking and execution. Employers can streamline the process by using applicant tracking systems (ATS) to filter candidates based on relevant experience, portfolios, certifications (such as Google Ads or HubSpot), and software proficiency in tools like Adobe Creative Suite or marketing automation platforms. Posting opportunities on platforms like College Recruiter helps attract recent grads and early career professionals eager to break into the industry with fresh ideas and digital fluency. Pre-employment assessments such as writing samples, campaign critiques, or mini strategy challenges can quickly surface top candidates.

To handle high-volume hiring efficiently, companies can host virtual creative recruiting events, portfolio review sessions, or even online challenges where candidates submit mock campaigns. Group interviews, case studies, and collaborative brainstorming exercises allow hiring managers to evaluate candidates’ ability to think strategically, work in teams, and pitch ideas under pressure. Structured interviews with a mix of behavioral and creative scenario questions can help assess how candidates handle deadlines, feedback, and campaign performance analysis. Once hired, a thoughtful onboarding process that introduces brand voice, campaign goals, and marketing tools sets new hires up for early success—and helps them start contributing fresh ideas that drive results.

We reached out to 16 hiring experts to get their tips for employers who plan to hire dozens or even hundreds of students, recent graduates, and others who are early in their advertising and marketing careers.

• Avoid Skipping Real-World Tests
• Implement Behavioral Testing
• Require Creative Samples
• Clearly Define Job Requirements
• Develop Role-Specific Metrics
• Prioritize Personality Traits
• Avoid Irrelevant Credentials
• Focus on Strategic Fit
• Mix Automation with Hands-On Assessments
• Revamp Hiring Decisions
• Focus on Ability Over Tenure
• Assess Collaboration Skills
• Prioritize Cultural Fit
• Focus on Measurable Impact
• Never Ghost Candidates
• Assess Creativity and Strategic Thinking

Avoid Skipping Real-World Tests

Hiring 20-50 candidates at a time is a massive task, and after doing this for years, one thing has become painfully obvious: most people don’t make it. Less than 0.5% of candidates actually stay on at our firm.

The biggest mistake employers make when hiring at scale is skipping a real-world test or trial. Interviews are the biggest time-waster in high-volume hiring because so many candidates can talk their way through them but completely fall apart on the job. 

Instead of sitting through two or three unnecessary interview rounds, I’ve found the better way is to let the work speak for itself, before wasting anyone’s time.

Here’s what works for me: a structured, multi-step hiring process that filters out the right people quickly. The first step is a simple application form with test questions to see how they think and whether they can follow basic instructions. If they pass, they move on to a real-world trial task.

For example, when hiring for content roles, candidates are asked to write a long-form landing page using our standard operating procedures (SOPs), templates, and guidelines, just like they would on the job. 

If they can’t be bothered to do it, they’re not serious about the role. If they rush through it without effort, it’s obvious. Only a small percentage of people put in the work and show real talent, and those are the ones that move to the next step.

By the time someone gets to an interview, it’s not about testing their skills anymore; it’s just a quick check to see if they’re the right fit. This new process has cut down our hiring time by 70% and eliminated the back-and-forth of vetting people through outdated interview rounds.

The takeaway is: don’t rely on interviews to figure out if someone is good at their job. Let them prove it. The best candidates will rise to the top naturally, and you’ll save your team a massive amount of time and effort.

Josiah Roche, Fractional CMO, JRR Marketing

Implement Behavioral Testing

Behavioral testing completely changed how we do high-volume hiring—I’d never go back to traditional methods. While standard interviews fail to reveal adaptability, implementing standardized scenario-based assessments uncovered candidates with exceptional problem-solving abilities that didn’t show up on resumes.

A decisive shift occurred when we moved beyond portfolio reviews. For marketing roles specifically, we developed industry-specific scenarios requiring candidates to analyze data, identify opportunities, and create response strategies. These practical assessments revealed capabilities no interview question could uncover.

Many organizations make the critical error of overemphasizing specific tool knowledge. We stopped requiring extensive experience with particular platforms and started measuring learning capacity instead. This approach uncovered adaptable candidates who quickly mastered new systems rather than those limited to familiar tools.

The approach that worked for us was to create realistic scenarios representing actual challenges our team faces, then evaluate candidates on their problem-solving process rather than specific answers. This reveals true capability better than any resume review or standard interview.

Tristan Harris, Sr. VP of Marketing, Next Net Media

Require Creative Samples

Hiring for marketing at scale requires speed without sacrificing quality. Skipping creative samples is the biggest mistake. Resumes lie, portfolios look polished, but real skills show in execution. A short test task—like scripting a 15-second ad or writing a product caption—reveals who gets engagement and who just talks strategy.

Generic interview questions waste time. “Tell me about yourself” doesn’t show if someone understands trends, platforms, or brand voice. Instead, ask for a quick UGC concept or a response to a real customer comment. The right candidates thrive under pressure and adapt fast. Those who hesitate? Not built for marketing today.

Natalia Lavrenenko, UGC Manager / Marketing Manager, Rathly

Clearly Define Job Requirements

Since marketing and advertising spans such a BROAD range—from SEO specialists and social media strategists to data analysts and creative content developers—vague or overly generalized job descriptions generally yield a large number of applicants who are neither truly qualified nor genuinely interested. So when hiring high-volume hires for marketing and advertising roles, one crucial aspect employers could focus on is clearly defining the specific skills and tools that the role will require from the start. 

What we’ve found is that when we’re very clear about not only the tasks at hand, but also the specific tools and expertise a candidate needs to have and use every day, like Google Analytics or Adobe Creative Suite for digital marketers and graphic designers, the quantity and quality of relevant applicants skyrockets! 

Also, employers should not use vague or unrealistic expectations for their employees, but rather convey to them specific KPIs and desired outcomes from the beginning. If a role includes managing paid ad campaigns, then spell out expected conversion rates or cost-per-lead targets. Clearly defined expectations ensure candidates fully understand what’s required, minimizing mismatches (which can be costly) and ultimately resulting in stronger employee retention and satisfaction.

Sofia Wang, Sr. Marketing Specialist, Luxury Appliances Division, EMPAVA

Develop Role-Specific Metrics

Creating role-specific evaluation metrics before posting multiple marketing positions is absolutely crucial and often overlooked. When expanding our outreach team, we developed a CUSTOM assessment that measured ACTUAL outreach performance rather than just interviewing skills. 

Candidates completed sample publisher research and drafted personalized outreach emails to real websites. 

This hands-on approach immediately revealed which applicants understood relationship building versus those who just performed well in interviews. The candidates we hired through this process achieved successful placements within their first month, while our previous interview-focused hiring led to weeks of additional training before new team members could contribute effectively.

Marc Hardgrove, CEO, The Hoth

Prioritize Personality Traits

My advice is to prioritize personality traits over skills. Early-career marketing and advertising professionals typically won’t have extensive experience, so hiring based on their inherent qualities ensures you’re bringing on someone who can grow and excel in the role.

The traits that matter most in this ever-changing field include a growth mindset, intellectual curiosity, and strong attention to detail. A growth mindset ensures they’re adaptable and eager to develop their skills as the industry evolves. Intellectual curiosity drives them to continuously learn about emerging trends, platforms, and strategies. Attention to detail helps them stay organized and manage the many moving parts involved in marketing and advertising roles.

By focusing on these qualities, you’ll build a team of professionals who are not only capable of thriving in their current roles but also prepared to take on greater responsibilities as they grow within your organization.

Jonathan Buffard, Digital Marketing Director, Bottom Line Marketing Agency

Avoid Irrelevant Credentials

As the CEO of a UI/UX and growth marketing company who’s made plenty of hiring mistakes, the one thing employers must stop doing when hiring marketing talent at scale is evaluating resumes based on irrelevant credentials.

Marketing isn’t law or medicine—formal degrees often tell you nothing about actual capability. I’ve hired Ivy League grads who couldn’t write compelling copy to save their lives and self-taught specialists who transformed our clients’ conversion rates overnight.

Case in point: Last year, we needed to scale our paid social team quickly. In the first round, we followed the traditional playbook—filtering for marketing degrees and agency experience. 

The results were disastrous. 

Most candidates had the same theoretical knowledge but couldn’t adapt to rapidly changing platforms or interpret data to make quick pivots.

For the second round, we completely changed our approach. We created a simple scenario-based assessment: “Here’s an underperforming campaign with real data. What would you change and why?” Candidates had 24 hours to respond.

This single shift revealed who could actually think versus who could just recite best practices. Our eventual hire was a London-based former poker player with limited formal experience who spotted patterns in the data that none of the “qualified” candidates identified. She’s now managing our highest-performing client accounts.

For high-volume marketing hiring, replace credential filtering with small, relevant challenges that simulate actual work. Make them accessible enough that talented people without perfect backgrounds can demonstrate their skills, but specific enough that theoretical knowledge alone won’t suffice.

The best marketers often have unconventional backgrounds—they’re the pattern-breakers who see what others miss. Your hiring process should be designed to find them, not filter them out.

Shantanu Pandey, Founder & CEO, Tenet

Focus on Strategic Fit

One of the biggest mistakes employers make when hiring high-volume candidates for marketing and advertising roles is prioritizing speed over strategic fit. I’ve seen firsthand that rushing the hiring process to fill roles quickly often leads to misaligned hires lacking the creativity, adaptability, or strategic thinking required in fast-paced marketing environments.

Instead of focusing purely on resume screening and generic interviews, employers should implement real-world skill assessments, portfolio reviews, and scenario-based problem-solving exercises. This ensures candidates can think critically, execute strategies, and adapt to industry shifts—crucial in marketing and PR. The key? Quality over quantity. A well-vetted, strategically aligned hire will outperform multiple rushed hires every time.

Kristin Marquet, Founder & Creative Director, Marquet Media

Mix Automation with Hands-On Assessments

One key thing employers should avoid is relying solely on automated resume filters when hiring at high volume for marketing and advertising roles. While automation helps manage the influx of applications, it often misses the nuance of creative and strategic potential. Instead, I recommend incorporating a mix of automated screening and hands-on assessments. For example, supplement resume reviews with a short practical assignment that tests creative problem-solving or campaign strategy. This way, you don’t overlook candidates who might not hit every keyword but can bring fresh, innovative ideas to the table.

On the flip side, employers should also be careful not to rush through interviews just to speed up the process. Taking a little extra time for a structured, behavior-based interview—where candidates share real-life examples of their work—can reveal a lot about their fit and potential. Ultimately, balancing efficiency with thorough evaluation not only helps you find the right creative talent but also builds a stronger, more diverse marketing team in the long run.

Salman Saleem, Marketing Strategist, Rapyd Cloud

Revamp Hiring Decisions

I’ve learned that one of the biggest missteps you can make as an employer is to prioritize speed over quality. It’s easy to fall into the trap of using automated tools or strict job criteria that screen out candidates who might think outside the box. In a field like marketing, where you need to be creative, flexible, and precise, this can limit your team’s ability to solve problems.

The best way to find top talent is to revamp how you decide on potential hires. Focus on practical skills right from the start. Instead of just scanning resumes for certain keywords, try adding structured tests, real-life projects, and deep-dive interviews that study how a person thinks and behaves. This method helps you look past the paper and get a sense of how they approach problems.

Marketers need individuals who can decipher data, enhance campaigns, and form deep bonds with audiences. These are skills that don’t necessarily jump from a resume. By casting your net wider for candidates with alternative backgrounds—perhaps from analytics, psychology, or sales—you give yourself distinctive and powerful ways of thinking.

Also, if your staff is experiencing high turnover or spotty performance, take this as an indication that your hiring process may need to be changed. Choose candidates for their ability to perform well in the actual role, not just for their knack in handling the application process. A successful marketing team is built on quality. By carefully selecting the right traits, you’ll make hires that lead to a more effective, cohesive team.

Alec Loeb, VP of Growth Marketing, EcoATM

Focus on Ability Over Tenure

If employers are hiring for marketing and advertising jobs in large numbers, they should not demand years of experience. The industry moves fast, and someone with five years in the field may not be as sharp with current trends as a candidate who lives and breathes digital platforms. Skills like social media strategy, content creation, and data analysis matter more than how long someone has worked. Rigid experience requirements filter out talented applicants who can bring fresh ideas. Focusing on ability rather than tenure creates a stronger team that adapts quickly to changes in consumer behavior and marketing technology.

Hugh Dixon, Marketing Manager, PSS International Removals

Assess Collaboration Skills

One critical factor when hiring high-volume candidates in marketing and advertising is assessing their ability to collaborate effectively across teams. Many hiring processes focus on individual skills—copywriting, ad management, or analytics—but overlook how well a candidate works with designers, sales teams, or data analysts.

Marketing is rarely a solo endeavor. The best hires aren’t just technically skilled; they can seamlessly communicate and collaborate with various stakeholders to execute campaigns efficiently. To evaluate this, consider group-based problem-solving tasks during interviews. Present a real-world scenario where candidates must work together to develop a campaign strategy or fix a failing ad. Watch how they navigate group dynamics—do they listen, delegate, and problem-solve effectively?

By prioritizing collaboration skills, you reduce workplace friction and ensure new hires integrate smoothly into your marketing ecosystem. High-volume hiring shouldn’t just be about filling positions quickly but building a cohesive, high-functioning team that can scale efficiently.

Naima Ch, Marketing Head and SEO Specialist, Morse Code Translator

Prioritize Cultural Fit

One critical move employers should make when hiring high-volume candidates for marketing and advertising roles is to prioritize cultural fit and adaptability over just checking off skill sets. Trust me, as someone who’s built a team from the ground up, I’ve seen firsthand how hiring purely for skills can backfire when individuals don’t align with the company’s ethos. 

Marketing is an industry of dynamism—a world where campaigns fizzle or flourish in days—so you need people who thrive on change and bring creativity to the table. A mistake? Rushing the process just to fill seats. Instead, invest in smarter hiring processes that reveal a candidate’s potential beyond their resume. For example, behavioral interviews and practical tests can help uncover if they align with long-term company goals. Remember, longevity stems from building a loyal team—something I’ve been championing my entire career. Hire for growth potential and shared vision, not just credentials.

Valentin Radu, CEO & Founder, Blogger, Speaker, Podcaster, Omniconvert

Focus on Measurable Impact

Hiring for marketing and advertising roles at scale creates risks. Prioritizing speed over strategy leads to weak execution, high turnover, and wasted resources.

Focus on measurable impact. A candidate with an impressive resume but no proof of results won’t drive growth. Ask for specifics like what problem they solved and the outcome. If someone claims they improved engagement, demand numbers. If they built campaigns, ask about ROI. Marketing is data-driven. The right hires prove their value with facts, not fluff.

Avoid over-reliance on automation. AI tools filter resumes, but they don’t assess creativity or adaptability. A marketer who can’t craft a compelling message under pressure won’t succeed. Use real-world tasks, give candidates a campaign challenge, and evaluate their thinking. If they struggle, they won’t perform in a fast-paced role.

Culture fit matters. A skilled marketer who clashes with the team creates friction. Involve employees in hiring decisions to test collaboration skills. The goal isn’t to fill roles, it’s to build a team that delivers real results. High-volume hiring works when it’s intentional, not reactive.

Calin Yablonski, Chief Marketing Officer, Strategic Criminal Defence

Never Ghost Candidates

Never ghost candidates after interviews. Silence damages your company’s reputation. People talk, and bad reviews spread fast. A simple follow-up keeps goodwill alive. Even rejections deserve proper closure. Professionalism matters at every step. Treat candidates as future brand ambassadors.

Vaibhav Kakkar, CEO, Digital Web Solutions

Assess Creativity and Strategic Thinking

When hiring large numbers of candidates for marketing and advertising jobs, employers must prioritize assessing creativity and strategic thinking. While experience and technical skills are important, advertising and marketing often requires out-of-the-box ideas and the ability to adapt to changing trends.

For instance, a friend of mine worked at a marketing company that needed to hire quickly during a busy campaign season. They initially focused on applicants’ previous experience but overlooked their creative thinking abilities. As a result, several new hires struggled to come up with fresh ideas, which slowed down project timelines. By emphasizing creativity in the hiring process, they could have prevented these bottlenecks.

Key Takeaway: When hiring for marketing and advertising roles, employers must prioritize creativity and strategic thinking. These qualities drive innovation and ensure that campaigns stay relevant and effective.

Beau V., Marketing Manager, BijlesHuis