Preparing for Your Klaviyo Interview: Tips From a Senior Recruiter

Hello! My name is Kyle (that's me in the picture above) and I am a Senior Recruiter who has helped to build out most of the Marketing team here at Klaviyo. I want to help you be as prepared as possible for an interview with us! While these tips are designed with Klaviyo’s marketing interview process in mind, you can also think of them as best practices that can serve you in any interview at Klaviyo, regardless of the team.   

Learn about Klaviyo.

Do your research about Klaviyo and why you want to work here. Take the time to  gain an understanding of the industry we operate in; SaaS & MarTech. This knowledge will help you tailor your responses to better align with the organization's needs and showcase your genuine interest in the role. Know what excites you (or even leaves you with questions!) and come prepared to discuss that in your conversations.

Are there any videos you can watch? Check out this Why Klaviyo  video. Are there any demos you can sign up for? Take a look at Klaviyo Academy!  If you are really interested in Klaviyo, become as knowledgeable and engrained in the product as you can before your first chat with the team. I also recommend asking open-ended questions about things you can’t learn online. For example, consider asking “How has the company changed during your time there” instead of “how long have you been at the company”.

Understand Klaviyo values and how we live them.

At most companies, values are important, but this is especially the case at Klaviyo. We like to hire folks that live and add to our values, which is why we don’t keep them a secret. If you go to our career page – you will be able to see all of our values and how we define them. Come prepared with various, specific examples of how you are living these values, and work them into those skill and experience examples.

For example, one of Klaviyo’s values is that we’re “Always Learning”. When you think about how you live and relate to this, try to think beyond just corporate settings. What is something you learned recently? Maybe it was work related, but maybe it was a book you read and applied learnings? Maybe it was a new language? Did you pick up a new gardening hobby during the pandemic that has grown into something more? Have you begun to learn about AI? We just want to know how you live these values in and out of work. 

Use your recruiter as a resource.

Your recruiter is there to help you and partner with you throughout your interview process. Ask us all the questions you want even if you’re not sure we’ll know the answer- if we don’t, we likely know who does. Use us to your advantage and feel free to share what’s going on in your job search, i.e. other interviews, offers, etc. We WANT to help you get the job so being transparent with us helps us to move quicker and overcome any of these obstacles and equip you with  everything you need to make a decision based on opportunity not timing. Hopefully the recruiter has helped you to see that ours is the best opportunity! 

Come prepared to answer AND ASK a variety of interview questions.

Hiring managers and recruiters will typically ask a mix of common and role-specific interview questions. Be ready to succinctly answer general questions such as "How do you build cross functional relationships," "How do you build an omni-channel marketing strategy?" and "Why do you want to work for Klaviyo?" To prepare for role-specific questions, identify the key responsibilities of the job and think about how your experience matches these requirements. Practice answering these questions concisely and confidently.

Something folks can forget is that the interview process is as much a chance for you to learn about us, the role, and the team as it is for us to learn about you! Come prepared with more questions than you could possibly ask in these conversations because it is very likely that through the natural cadence of the conversation you will get answers to some of these questions and what you don’t want to do is end an interview with no questions, it comes off as lacking interest.

When coming up with your questions, be intentional. Ask questions for understanding and keep in mind who you are talking to ensure the questions are relevant. For example, you might want to ask the hiring manager how they like to manage, give and receive feedback, etc. Avoid asking questions that can be easily answered through a quick online search.

Send a thank you note.

Following the interview, send a personalized thank you note to the hiring manager, recruiter, and interview teams. Taking the time to express gratitude for their time and to reiterate your enthusiasm for the role and also share some of the specifics you discussed and how you continue to think about them can have a big impact. Example; If you were discussing building out Web Strategy with an interviewer, take the time to think about everything you learned and talked about during your interviews and share how you would continue to think about that strategy. This small gesture can leave a lasting positive impression, setting you apart from other candidates and showing that you are already putting yourself in the role.

Prepare bullet points for each line in the job description with your experience.

The most important thing I can tell you to prepare is this: make a copy of the job description and take each line, pull it out and write out three to four examples of the experience that you have had that pertains to EACH bullet point. By the time you are done this will feel like an exhaustive exercise but, this will allow you to recall examples much faster in your conversations and help to not repeat the same examples with each interviewer throughout your process; you can even go as far as to cross them out once you have used them.

If you find that there is a skill that we are looking for in the job description that you don’t have, think of what experience you DO have that speaks to the skills asked for or that demonstrate your ability to ramp up quickly in that area.

As you move through the interview process, you will start to meet with more teammates and cross-functional team members. When getting ready for these conversations, take some time to critically think about how those relationships have looked to you and worked in your experience and use that to your advantage. For example, let’s say you are a Product Marketing Manager, and you have an interview with a Product Manager. Think about how you have partnered with PMs in the past, thinking about cross-functional collaboration, relationship building, technical understanding and ability to manage conflict. This exercise will help you to prepare for those interviews and can usually give you an idea of what type of questions you can expect.

Preparing for any interview can feel daunting especially if you haven’t done it in a while, but by following these tips and strategies, you can confidently navigate the conversation and present yourself as the ideal candidate for the job. Remember, thorough research, practice, and coming as yourself are all key to acing the interview and securing that dream job here at Klaviyo!