Communications Specialist interview questions and answers
These Communications Specialist interview questions can be used as a guide to help you discover important skills in your candidates. Adjust them according to your needs.
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Communications Specialist Interview Questions
Communications specialists are responsible for the image of a company. They can be found at PR agencies or in-house departments.
Tailor your hiring process according to the seniority and responsibility of the position. If you want a senior professional who can carry the whole communications department on their shoulders, look for a high level of expertise and industry experience. On the other hand, if talent and potential are your focus, you could look for a bright public relations or journalism graduate showing signs of resourcefulness and enthusiasm.
Use the following questions to assess the candidate’s knowledge and capabilities. The job requires communication and copywriting skills. Assess their familiarity with digital channels as well as PR campaign strategies. Look for signs that you’re speaking with a well-organized and reliable individual. Also a good idea is to present them with a case study and ask them to walk you through their problem-solving process.
Operational and Situational questions
- If you were hired tomorrow, what would you focus on?
- Imagine you’re having a disagreement with a PR manager on a campaign. How would you resolve this?
- If there was a conflict between a senior executive and an external party during an event, what could you do to diffuse the situation?
- What do you find challenging when responding to reporters’ inquiries?
Role-specific questions
- How does your background make you a good fit for the role?
- What media outlets do you follow?
- What’s your experience organizing events?
- What are elements of interactive public relations?
- Describe how you use social media for corporate communications
- Are you familiar with our PR efforts? What would you change?
- What do you know about our products/firm? Why do you want to work here?
- How is content important for communications?
- What are things you should consider when planning a press conference?
- What methods can you use for effective internal communications?
Behavioral questions
- Recall a time you successfully used your crisis management skills
- Have you ever had to deal with a challenging PR problem? How did you do it?
- Describe a time you were successful in delivering the company message to a target audience. What was the key to its success?
- Tell me about a time a campaign didn’t perform as well as you expected. What should you have done differently?
- Recall a time you had to deal with a difficult external stakeholder. How did you manage?
Pro tip: Remember that writing and editing skills are important for this position. You can ask candidates to complete an assignment before the interview such as produce a piece of content or edit a mock press release.