If you’re looking for an exciting, fulfilling career in tech marketing, HubSpot might just be for you. Currently ranked by Glassdoor as the fourth-best company to work at, this major customer relationship management software firm dedicates itself to helping businesses – and employees – grow better.

With perks like unlimited paid time off and remote work availability, Hubspotters seem to have it all. But for marketers looking to get hired there, what does it take to get in? 

Techie ToFu sat down with two HubSpot marketers, Christina Garnett and Natalie Gullatt, to help answer this critical question.

Christina Garnett has worked as a Senior Marketing Manager in Offline Community & Advocacy for the past nine months. Previously, she worked closely with SMBs, non-profits, and agencies on inbound marketing strategies – so her transition to HubSpot – the essential creators of inbound – made perfect sense.

Natalie Gullatt has worked as a Marketing Manager on the Customer Evidence team since May of this year. Beforehand, she worked in Customer Marketing at several firms before securing her dream job at HubSpot. 

Both Christina and Natalie found themselves at HubSpot in the past year and want to help other early career marketers join them. Read on for advice on what it takes to join HubSpot’s stellar marketing team.

You need more than a love of HubSpot to get hired

Before they started marketing at HubSpot, Christina and Natalie were superfans of the company. In fact, Christina credits HubSpot with teaching her what she knows about marketing.

Their love of HubSpot certainly helped them during the application and interview stage – but it’s not what got them hired. As Christina puts it, “your fandom might get you an interview. But it’s your ability to do the job that’ll get you the offer.”

So, what skills do Christina and Natalie have that helped them land offers at HubSpot?

First, going above and beyond matters. For Natalie, “going the extra mile and thinking critically is an underrated skill, especially in marketing”. If your application materials demonstrate this sort of can-do attitude, it will make a difference during recruiting.

Second, your creativity matters – a lot. Since inbound marketing touches every corner of the firm, you need to consistently think of new and exciting ways to engage customers. 

At HubSpot, several marketers work exclusively on fostering meaningful relationships with customers – including Natalie, who affirms that “if you can’t think outside the box, you probably won’t be as successful as you would like – especially in customer marketing.”

As you work on your application materials, ask yourself whether it reflects your creativity. If you find yourself struggling to think of anything, consider pursuing several side projects you can do to demonstrate your innovative thinking.

So while loving HubSpot and its mission will convey to recruiters your passion for the brand, you need to flex some critical marketing skills. Make sure you embed in your application a sense of creativity and strong work ethic – as Christina and Natalie credit these skills for their roles at HubSpot.

During the interview stage, you will have several opportunities to demonstrate these skills. In the next section, Christina and Natalie help break down the best way to stand out when speaking with HubSpot recruiters.

Focus on identifying gap opportunities and your subject-matter expertise

Most candidates want to work at HubSpot because of its culture and people. But the company has so much more than that – and recruiters want to see how much you really know about HubSpot.

For Christina and Natalie – who have conducted interviews before – they recommend candidates focus on two strategies: finding gap opportunities and identifying subject-matter expertise.

Finding gap opportunities helps them see you in the role

Candidates always have a dream company in mind when job hunting. For them, these firms have it all figured out – and nothing really needs to change.

But this is wrong. Companies make mistakes all the time – and an open role usually means they need someone to fix or optimize something. Identifying these gap opportunities  – areas where a company can do better – can help you stand out as a candidate.

Instead of only practicing how to tell a recruiter about your experience, try thinking of what you would change if you got the role. As Christina states, “it’s not enough to say ‘hire me because I’ll be great’. I will tell interviewers how to better something at the company.”

To find these opportunities, try social listening to see what people are saying about HubSpot. What do people like? Are partners running into problems? How can HubSpot help resolve these issues? 

Being able to identify and solve problems that have not been dealt with will make you extremely marketable at HubSpot. After all, Natalie credits gap opportunities for her current role in customer marketing.

During the interview stage, a hiring manager handed Natalie case studies to analyze. Rather than taking them at face value, Natalie asked questions about the process of creating them. She then identified how HubSpot could improve them in the future. When she got the job, she ended up implementing her recommendations.

But how does identifying gap opportunities make you more marketable? It helps recruiters see you in the role. As Christina accurately notes, “your resume will tell you what you have done, but it does not tell you what you will do. That’s what the interview is for.”

Even as an entry-level candidate, your subject-matter expertise matters at HubSpot

In a field as vast as marketing, professionals can get lost in trying to gather as many skills as possible. But HubSpot wants you to limit yourself. They want to see you specialize in a specific subject area. 

Natalie recommends refining and defining your niche. For her, she knew her strengths were in customer marketing – and her career reflects that. Before HubSpot, she worked almost exclusively in customer marketing within tech. 

While knowing your strengths helps you identify your subject-matter expertise, you should also know your weaknesses. For example, Natalie prefers not to write – and she will tell interviewers this. While this limits the number of jobs she can apply to, she knows exactly what role she wants.

At HubSpot, which has marketing roles in brand & creative, content & community, flywheel marketing, global events, and more, you should know exactly what you want to do. In other words, stop trying to be a jack of all marketing trades. Instead, become a master of one.

Follow and engage with HubSpotters on social media

Natalie and Christina recommend following and engaging with HubSpotters on social media platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn. Not only will you stay in the loop on HubSpot news and events, but you will also better understand how HubSpot leaders communicate. After all, leaders at HubSpot help drive its coveted culture. 

Here are some notable HubSpotters Natalie and Christina recommend you follow:

• Yamini Rangan, CEO
• Dharmesh Shah, Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder
• Brian Halligan, Executive Chairman, Former CEO, and Co-Founder
• Katie Burke, Chief People Officer
• Kipp Bodnar, Chief Marketing Officer
• Jon Dick, Senior Vice President of Marketing
• Kieran Flanagan, Senior Vice President of Marketing

If you want to become a marketer at HubSpot, Christina really advises on following Kieran, Jon, and Kipp. For her, they are non-negotiable if you want to know how HubSpot’s marketing leaders talk.

They also recommend following The Hustle, a place for “fresh business and tech news served daily,” which HubSpot recently acquired.

So there you have it – the ultimate guide to becoming a HubSpot marketer as an early career professional. HubSpot finished its yearly annual event, INBOUND, today – be sure to check out recordings of the sessions to get a better idea on how the company engages its partners.

To learn more about Christina and Natalie – and to stay up-to-date with them – follow them on their socials below.

Christina Garnett: Twitter, LinkedIn

• Check out HubFans, a customer advocacy program Christina and her team developed

Natalie Gullatt: Twitter, LinkedIn

• Watch out for Natalie’s session at RevCon on her socials and check out the Product Marketing Alliance for more great resources

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