Job Interviews: I’m Confused.

I have a question for everyone who has recently applied for online marketing roles and either got a job or has experience hiring in this field.

(It will be a bit long)

I’m looking for a role focused on managing websites, creating landing pages, maintaining product content, and working with email marketing. I have around three years of experience in these areas. Unfortunately, my last position did not offer what had been promised, which is one of the reasons I also completed additional training in the field. At the moment, I’m unemployed and urgently looking for a new opportunity.

I’ve already had several interviews, and each time I was rejected because another candidate supposedly had significantly more experience. In interviews, I usually focus on explaining what I have done, what results I achieved, and how I helped the company reach its goals.

At first, I thought: “Okay, what can I do to gain even more experience and present myself better?” Assuming the feedback about experience is actually the real reason and not a polite way of hiding something else.

But the more I reflected on my interviews, the more I noticed something that confused me. In several cases, I got the impression that some of the companies I spoke with did not actually know how to build or optimize their own digital channels effectively.

For example, one company had a website with very poor UX. Their B2B and D2C shop experiences were mixed together, and as a consumer I couldn’t even clearly understand why I wasn’t able to purchase anything. During the interview, I was asked what I would improve on the website. I diplomatically pointed out the issue and suggested a solution. Nothing extreme, just fairly standard UX principles. The CEO became very defensive and aggressive, saying he had built the site himself, that he was the expert, and that everything I said was wrong. So the interview was set to fail from then.

For other interviews, I spent hours preparing case studies and presentations. During the discussions, I was also asked how I would solve specific business problems. Then, after receiving a rejection, I noticed that some of my ideas were actually implemented. It felt as if they were looking for free consulting rather than a candidate. Yet the feedback was still that I lacked knowledge or experience compared to the selected person. I wonder and will look out if the play my campaign idea, I was asked to present.

Another company told me that I was “too theoretical.” When I asked what exactly that meant, they couldn’t really explain it. I was confused because I usually answer questions based on practical examples from my previous roles. Yes, I’ve completed additional training, but most of what I learned there was already aligned with how I had worked in practice before.

In another interview, an agency asked how I would explain the use of GEO to a client. I summarized the current guidance from Google. They kept pushing back because apparently that wasn’t the answer they were looking for. It made me wonder whether the agency itself was fully up to date on the topic.

I always believed that in interviews I needed to provide the most accurate and optimal answer possible. Since the recurring feedback was that I lacked experience compared to other candidates, I focused heavily on giving technically correct answers. But now I’m starting to wonder whether companies are not necessarily looking for the objectively best solution. Maybe they’re looking for something else.

How do you figure out what interviewers actually want to hear? How do you react when the “correct” solution doesn’t seem to be the one they want? Am I misunderstanding something?

I do try to adapt to the role and understand whether they are looking for someone operational, strategic, hands-on, creative, or process-oriented. But despite that, I haven’t been able to land a job.

I’m genuinely wondering whether I’m approaching interviews completely wrong or presenting myself in the wrong way.

Has anyone experienced something similar? Do you have any advice? How do you present yourselves in interviews?