How to hire a communications manager

Hiring the right communications manager is tough. You need someone who’s creative, a pro at handling crises, and a digital whiz. But, they must also be a strategic thinker with great management skills. And they should be able to easily switch between thinking creatively, making data-driven decisions, and leading a team.

Hiring the wrong person for this role could lead to confused messaging – resulting in wasted time, poor team performance, or even a damaged company reputation.

This article guides you through assessing communications manager candidates to find the perfect fit. Let’s begin!

What is a communications manager?

A communications manager – or “comms” manager – oversees and manages an organization's internal and external communications.

A top-notch communications manager works hard to keep your company's messages clear, consistent, and true to your values and brand. They act as a bridge between your company and the people you're trying to reach, putting together engaging stories and keeping information flowing smoothly. Their work helps shape how the public sees your company and keeps a positive vibe inside the organization.

They often lead a team of communications pros. This means they assign tasks, offer advice, and make sure the comms team's work is top-notch.

Communications managers often handle media relations by connecting with journalists and media outlets, pitching stories, answering questions, and setting up interviews or press events.

In addition, they often use social media, email newsletters, and other online tools to spread your company’s message far and wide. This digital know-how helps engage with audiences directly and gather real-time feedback to refine future communications. Whether you’re launching a new product or managing a crisis, their digital strategies and campaigns help your message hit home with the right people at the right time.

These pros usually work for larger businesses as part of a communication department. Smaller businesses might not have a dedicated communications manager. Instead, they often have general managers or marketing folks take care of their communications needs.

However, even for smaller businesses, comms managers can make a world of difference in connecting with your audience and team members.

10 skills to look for when hiring a communications manager

The skills your communications manager brings can make or break your organization’s ability to communicate effectively. Here are ten essential skills to look for.

Hard skills

• Communication skills. Excellent written and verbal communication skills are at the heart of the communications manager’s role. Their ability to convey complex ideas simply and effectively is crucial. They must also be able to adapt communications to your brand’s voice.

• Media relations. Building and maintaining strong relationships with media outlets is a vital part of their job – especially if your business frequently features in the media. The strongest candidates will have a proven track record of successful media interactions and be able to showcase past press releases.

• Digital and social media savvy. In today’s digital-first world, proficiency with social media and digital marketing tools is a must. Your communications manager should be able to create engaging online content, know internal communications software inside out, be able to analyze digital campaign performance, and engage with your online audience.

• Project management skills. A good communications manager can handle several projects at once, making sure everything gets done on time and stays within budget. They need to be organized and know their way around project management tools to keep all the different tasks and deadlines straight.

• Analytical skills. They should be comfortable with analytics tools and able to show you how they've used data to improve past communication campaigns.

Soft skills

• Creativity. Great comms managers are creative and can develop compelling stories and engaging content.

• Crisis management. Handling crises with calm and clarity is a critical part of the job. A lot can go wrong in communications, and the best candidates can stay composed under pressure and give consistent messaging during crises.

• Adaptability. The communications landscape is always changing. An adaptable communications manager can mix up strategies quickly and embrace new tools and trends.

• Empathy. Understanding and addressing the concerns of different stakeholders – whether they’re employees, customers, or the media – requires a strong sense of empathy. This skill helps comms managers craft messages that resonate on a personal level.

• Interpersonal skills. Your communications manager needs strong interpersonal skills to work closely with teams across marketing, HR, and executive levels.

Tips for writing a communications manager’s job description

The type of candidates you attract are only as good as your job description.

Try following these three top tips for writing a great communications manager job description.

1. Show – don't just tell – your company values

Communications managers dig real stories. Instead of just listing your company’s values, get some current team members to share what it’s like working in their department and why they’ve stuck around. Let them use their own words – it’ll speak volumes to potential candidates about what makes your communications team special.

2. Describe a day in the Life

Forget a dry list of duties. Paint a vivid picture of what a typical day might look like for your comms manager. Highlight the specific skills they’ll use and the types of projects they’ll handle.

For example, instead of saying “Coordinate internal newsletters,” you could say: “Use your expertise with [newsletter software] to design and send out engaging newsletters. You’ll need strong writing and editing skills to craft updates that inform and motivate our team. Gather content from various departments and turn it into compelling stories that reinforce our company’s culture and keep everyone on the same page.”

3. Be clear about goals and metrics

Communications managers thrive on challenges. Share the specific goals they’ll work towards, and if possible, spell out the metrics. For example, instead of a vague “Monitor engagement,” get specific: “Analyze engagement metrics to boost our social media interaction by 20% over six months.” This helps set expectations and shows candidates you’re serious about performance.

You might not always want to disclose every detail – like exact metrics – especially if it could tip off competitors or unsettle new clients. But when you can, give a clear picture of what success looks like in the role. This might mean improving team satisfaction scores through better internal communications, growing your follower count on social media for external reach, or reducing response times during a crisis to protect your company’s reputation.

Where to find a communications manager for your business

Increase your chances of finding a great communications manager by posting your job description in all the right places.

Specialized job boards

Specialized job boards, like PRSA Jobcenter and the IABC Job Centre, give you access to various comms professionals.

You can also use TestGorilla’s remote jobs board to find talented candidates from all over the world with the exact skills you need. Candidates have pre-created job profiles where you can check out their names, backgrounds, and more. Post your job there, and candidates can ask to take your assessment as the first step of the application process (we talk more about assessments in a bit).

Industry events

Prefer face-to-face interactions? Try attending industry events. Conferences, workshops, and networking events focused on communications, public relations, and marketing are great places to meet potential candidates. These include local networking events or marketing seminars – where you can see candidates in action, listen to their ideas, and understand their passion for the field.

Social media

Platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok are great for helping you find digitally savvy communications manager candidates. You can interact with candidates, see their profiles upfront, and even schedule times to chat through the direct messaging features.

How to test your future communications manager’s skills

Resume-screening is dead. Ninety-eight percent of employers believe pre-employment testing is a way more effective way to find your next hire.

Our talent discovery platform, TestGorilla, offers various pre-employment tests, and you can combine up to five test questions to create your own custom assessment. What’s more, you can customize individual test questions – or create your own – to really understand your candidates’ abilities and traits.

TestGorilla also benchmarks your candidates against one another. This makes it easy for you to select the best person for your team.

When hiring for a communications manager, consider using the following tests:

• Communication Skills test. This will help you measure a candidate’s written and verbal communications skills. It can also help you measure how professionally they communicate and whether they pick up on non-verbal cues.

• Social Media Community Management test. This test can give you a peek into how well a candidate can manage your social media community. It looks at their strategic planning, content management, and analytical skills.

• Leadership and People Management test. This test measures how well applicants can delegate tasks and support those around them. It also sees if they can provide guidance and feedback in a timely and respectful way.

• Project Management skills. This test helps you measure how skilled a candidate is at defining, managing, and delivering high quality work. It also measures their understanding of managing schedules and budgets, plus their ability to communicate well throughout each stage of a project.

Want more tests? Check out our other recommended tests for communications managers.

Pro tip: We know the roles for communications managers look different from organization to organization. Depending on the nature of your role and the tools your comms manager will use, we have various other tests in our test library that you might find useful.

These include software-specific tests (like Microsoft Project), tests on analytics tools (like Google Analytics), marketing-focused tests (like email marketing and Instagram marketing), and so much more.

We also have tests for measuring candidates’ personalities and ability to enhance your company’s culture.

Check out our test library to see everything we offer.

Top interview questions for a communications manager

You might not learn everything you need to know about your candidates from assessments alone. This is why it’s a great idea to interview your top-scoring candidates – to make sure they can show off the skills you haven’t yet seen them demonstrate. Ask them about their past experiences or made-up scenarios.

Here are some key interview questions to ask your next communications manager candidate:

• “How do you ensure that all employees are engaged and informed about company developments? Can you provide an example?”

  The best candidates will be able to share real examples of how they keep everyone in the loop, like using regular email updates, company meetings, or an internal website. They should also explain how these methods helped keep employees interested and aware of what’s going on in the company.

• “Can you talk me through how you handled a communications disaster? What happened and how did you resolve it?”

  Strong candidates should demo how they remain calm under pressure, come up with strategic responses, and manage real-time communication. If they don’t have an example of a crisis they’ve dealt with, ask them to explain what they’d do in a communications emergency.

• “How do you measure the success of your communications efforts?”

  Top candidates will have specific examples of analytics tools they’ve used, plus explanations of how they’ve used them.

• “What’s your approach to creating engaging content for social media?”

  Strong candidates will give examples of successful social media campaigns they’ve managed, the platforms they prefer, and the reasons they prefer them.

Looking for more interview questions? Check out these 20 questions to assess a candidate’s communication skills.

2 mistakes to avoid when hiring candidates

Don’t make these two mistakes when hiring your next communications manager:

1. Assuming they’re a great writer because they’ve got impressive experience

A post by the Forbes Communications Council on hiring communications professionals says:

Writing clear, concise and efficient prose is a skill set. Writing a message that resonates with many different consumers is hard. Simply writing content will have minimal impact on your business; there's a lot of noise out there already. Writing good content and telling good stories is what moves the needle.

Don’t assume that a candidate’s a great writer just because they’ve got an impressive resume. Do this, and you might wind up with someone who can write content but can’t write it well enough to make your message stand out amongst the noise.

2. Not checking if they can stay on-brand

If you don’t make sure your candidates’ communications can match your company’s unique voice and style, the things they write or say might not fit with the image you’ve built. This can make your messages seem off and confuse your customers and team members alike, resulting in lost trust in your brand.

For example, if your brand is known for its friendly and approachable tone but the communications manager uses a formal and distant style, it can create a disconnect.

FAQs

What skills does one need to be a communications manager?

Communications managers need great project management, analytics, and crisis management skills. They also need to be creative and empathic – and obviously have great communication skills.

Are communications managers team managers?

Yes, communications managers are usually team leaders. However, they can occasionally be standalone workers.

Find your next communications wizard with TestGorilla

Finding a great communications manager isn't easy. They must be clever with words, really get your brand's style, and handle all your communication projects smoothly. Plus, they must support their team and keep up with the ever-changing digital media landscape.

TestGorilla can make your search easier. Our platform enables you to create custom assessments that test all the skills you need in a communications manager.

Ready to give it a go? Check out our library of 400+ tests, schedule a live demo, or start a free TestGorilla account today!