Get Your
SEO Candidate Assessment
Make sure that the SEO you're about to hire, has the right amount of SEO experience to do the job.
Hire with confidence
Competence interviews
Interview conducted by a seasoned SEO expert allows to truly asses what is the actual knowledge and experience of the candidate in the field of SEO.
Practical tasks
Anyone can say that they can do anything. A practical task is a good indicator of one's ability to perform the task required in the new role.
Tailored approach
No two companies, no two roles and no two candidates are the same. The approach to evaluate each candidate is tailored to each specific situation.
SEO assessment areas
To be truly great at SEO you need to be skilled in a multitude of disciplines: technical, data, analytics, web psychology, search engine algorithm, content and similar. The roles may required a person to be a specialist in a specific SEO sub-discipline or to be an SEO generalist. To cater for each situation, the areas covered in interviews are:
- Technical SEO. Technical SEO involves assessing the candidate's ability to understand and optimize the technical part of SEO optimization. This covers topics such as server configuration, HTTP codes, redirects, site architecture and crawlability.
- On-page optimization. On-page optimization focuses on the techniques used to enhance individual web pages performance in organic search. This covers topics such as keyword research, content brief generation, content quality evaluation, meta tags and internal linking.
- Off-page optimization. Off-page optimization evaluates the candidate's ability to generate external links pointing to the target site. This covers topics such as back-link profile philosophy, back-link profile evaluation, tactics and success evaluation.
- Data and analytics. This area assesses the candidate's ability to collect, analyze, and interpret data to make informed SEO decisions. This involves evaluating their proficiency with tools like Google Search Console (GSC), understanding key performance indicators (KPIs), and their ability to adjust strategies based on data insights.
- Tools and automation. Tools and automation focus on the candidate's familiarity with various SEO tools and their ability to leverage automation to streamline processes. This includes assessing their knowledge of different kind of SEO tools, ability to use them, understanding how to use them and the limitations behind the data-set.
- Search engine algorithm. Understanding search engine algorithms is crucial for staying ahead in SEO. This area examines the candidate's knowledge of how search engines like Google rank pages, their ability to adapt to algorithm updates, and their strategies for maintaining and improving rankings in a constantly changing environment.
- Cross-channel integration. Cross-channel integration assesses the candidate's ability to create a cohesive SEO strategy that works in harmony with other marketing channels. This includes evaluating their skills in aligning SEO efforts with paid advertising, social media, content marketing and email campaigns.
- Troubleshooting. It involves evaluating the candidate's problem-solving skills in identifying and resolving SEO issues that may arise. This covers their ability to diagnose technical problems, address drops in rankings, fix indexing issues and correctly interpret data reports.
The assessment carried out is purely around SEO competency and doesn't cover other candidate evaluation areas such as interpersonal skills, cultural fit and similar.
Qualities of a great
SEO professional
During my career I've had the opportunity of working together with a few hundred SEO professionals. At some point I a pattern became apparent of those that were truly great at their job. They all had the following qualities:
- Pro-active. There are always things that haven't been sorted on the website. The changes in search engine algorithm provides hints on what is about to happen. Great SEOs are pro-actively communicating with CTOs, Product Managers (PMs) and other stakeholders to ensure that things required are in the pipeline to be implemented.
- Inquisitive. A website is never finished. New web technologies become available. Search engine algorithms constantly change. New tools and data sets are introduced to the market. A great SEO is constantly seeking out knowledge to maintain his edge and provide the best work possible.
- Strategic. With so much changing and at the speed that is changing a great SEO has to be able to separate the wheat from the chaff. Identify what is important and what is not. And create a plan that will bring value in the long-term without sacrificing the immediate needs of the business.
- Independent. A great SEO doesn't wait for someone to tell them to do something. They constantly are looking for areas of improvement. Once they find them, they build a business case to convince all the relevant parties to take advantage of the opportunity discovered.
- Consistent. SEO is a marathon and not a sprint. Great work has to be done persistently. Keeping the technical side at a high level. Keeping the on-site content fresh and valuable. Ensuring that external sites are wanting to add new links. Cooperating with other departments, such as social media, to find new ways how to deliver even more value. This doesn't stop.
- Attention to detail. A single character in the robots.txt file can remove a website from search engines. Every detail matters. Great SEOs typically love order and are borderline obsessed with order. They create systems to regularly check important aspects of the site to ensure that nothing has been broken. That everything is as it should be.
- Technical. While not all SEOs are able to program, understanding how web technologies work is crucial to be able to deliver SEO success. That in-depths understanding allows to more effectively communicate with the technical team, understand the cascade effect and to prioritize and sequence the changes that need to be implemented. The technical knowledge also enables them to effectively communicate and convince the senior stakeholders to support and approve the necessary resources to be allocated.
- Cooperative. To get anything done, virtually everything needs to be done via cooperation with someone else - tech team for technical developments, content - with technical team, links - with the PR team. A great SEO is able to establish effective working relationships with all the right stakeholders.
Part of your
recruitment process
While some involve Otisar even before the recruitment process begins to specify a role (or a team) that is required for the company, more often Otisar is involved at the Interviewing stage of the recruitment process.
This means that once the candidates are shortlisted based by their CVs and after an initial interview with the hiring manager and, in some instances, the talent partner have been concluded, Otisar is tasked to conduct the SEO competency assessment.
Otisar conducts an interview with the short-listed candidate according to the assessment plan you've chosen (see below). The Basic plan involves one 60 minute semi-structured interview without a practical task while the Premium involves two stage assessment process with a practical task.
After the SEO assessment interview(s), you get a report outlining wether, based on the interview, the candidate's skill-set matches that of the job description.
Why hire me?
Imants Krezins
- 10+ years SEO experience.
- Has worked with companies from Fortune 500 to start-ups.
- Experience in both agency and client-side environments.
- Has delivered work across North America, Europe and Middle East.
- Has managed SEO campaigns across various industries: FMCG, luxury, automotive, energy, finance, travel, betting & gaming, apparel, furniture, publishing, IT.
- Highly technical - experience with all three major JavaScript frameworks. This website was hand-coded by Imants.
- Teaches digital marketing at universities and business incubators.
- Has an MBA from Swiss Business School.
- Has managed multi-million USD SEO budgets.
Direct, no-nonsense, and backed by experience.
Pricing
Premium interview
- Two 60 minute calls
- Semi-structured interview
- Practical task
- One 60 minute debrief call
- Assessment report
Great for director or head of SEO level role for a company where SEO is a key customer acquisition channel.
Enhanced interview
- One 90 minute call
- Semi-structured interview
- Practical task
- One 60 minute debrief call
- Assessment report
Great for an in-house SEO manager role in a company where he'll be responsible for growing SEO.
Basic interview
- One 60 minute call
- Semi-structured interview
- Practical task
- One 60 minute debrief call
- Assessment report
Great for an in-house SEO manager position of a mature company with well established SEO processes.
Need a custom SEO recruitment support?
Get in touch and let's find a solution.
Brands I have helped grow
What others say about me
How it works
Discovery call
We set a time for you to share your unique challenges and to identify how we can best work together.
Statement of work
You get a tailored statement of work that is aligned to solving your specific business situation.
Quick start
I get started in days, working on key areas of improvement to unlock full SEO potential of your business.
Get in touch
Frequently Asked Questions
The assessment will differ based on the assessment package selected and the job description against which the candidate should be evaluated against. Typically, the evaluation will be a combination of the following topics: technical SEO, on-page optimization, off-page optimization, data and analytics, tools and automation, search engine algorithm, cross-channel integration and troubleshooting.
Once the SEO assessment call with the candidate has been concluded, you'll get a report within 1 working day.
Absolutely. While many use Otisar at the Interview stage. Otisar can help with defining the SEO needs of the company and can provide input on areas such as how much should be done in-house and how much in cooperation with 3rd party partners, what should be the setup of the team and similar.
We adhere to the strictest privacy and confidentiality standards. No information gained about your business or candidates are shared with any 3rd party or used in any other was than as per the agreed recruitment support engagement. Happy to sign an NDA if needed.
While the fundamentals for SEO are universal, each industry has some unique aspects that are valuable to know when evaluating someones experience. Imants has experience in the following industries - FMCG, luxury, automotive, energy, finance, travel, betting & gaming, apparel, furniture, publishing, IT.
Yes, I offer ongoing support to ensure your SEO initiatives continue to succeed. It can be as an-going SEO mentorship or if you need some specific tasks done - then as an SEO consultant.
Let's get started
On the discovery call let's explore how your business challenges can be addressed and how we can unlock your SEO potential.