How to Answer: The technical team at Marketo is made up of people with a wide variety of technical skills, some of who are highly specialized. How would you manage a technical team like this in order to successfully build a competitive Marketing Automation platform?
Advice and answer examples written specifically for a Marketo job interview.
26. The technical team at Marketo is made up of people with a wide variety of technical skills, some of who are highly specialized. How would you manage a technical team like this in order to successfully build a competitive Marketing Automation platform?
How to Answer
Marketo finds that bringing together people with diverse skill sets to accomplish a goal is important when developing or improving upon a Marketing Automation platform with a wide array of capabilities. The challenge is taking full advantage of each person skills and talents in an effort to build the most competitive product.
On a general level, talk about how you would go about accomplishing this difficult task, and if possible, touch upon any hurdles you may need to overcome along the way. Be prepared to answer possible follow-up questions as the interviewer may ask for details in your response.
Written by Helen Lee on January 18th, 2019
1st Answer Example
"Based on my experience working in different technical departments over the years, I know there is a wide variety of skills people with a technical background can have. It will be important to outline the technical needs of the Marketing Automation platform before building the team and assigning specific tasks. Once the needs are clearly defined, technical team members would be matched up to tasks based on their skill set and past experience. There would be some difficulty balancing skills and experience with interests. We may be faced with situations where the needs of the project will have to override the personal interests of the individual. I believe we can reach a level of compromise where, team members can work collaboratively with others on different tasks but they would still have a main task for which they are responsible."
Written by Helen Lee on January 18th, 2019
2nd Answer Example
"As a preliminary step, I would conduct a thorough review of the product development process for the Marketing Automation platform. This will give the technical team members a clear picture of what technical needs will arise and how their skills and experience will fit into the larger pictures. After giving the team time, I would gain individual feedback on where they believe their technical skills would add the most value. I understand that the initial assignment of roles may not be perfect and require adjustments over time based on outcomes and individual feedback. Despite what roles they are eventually assigned to, it's important the team members continue to learn technical skills from one another as the development process progresses."