Trainee Research Executive - MB Corporate Practice
Interview process
My phone interview was with one of the HR leads, and lasted approximately 20 minutes. I was incredibly nervous about this, and because the call was delayed by half an hour past my scheduled time, this made me even more anxious. We talked about my C.V and dissertation, and I had to answers competency questions about team-building, and my marketing experience so far. Conversation flowed really well because I had prepared myself as how to answer this questions on a word document.
Most difficult question
Describe a situation where something went wrong, and you had to quickly make an appropriate judgement to resolve this situation.
Interview tips
Prepare as much as you can. Differentiate yourself from the other candidates - like I did with the survey. Anticipate interview questions and enjoy yourself!
Experiences at the assessment centre
10 candidates attended the day, and it was stated that there were two positions up for grabs. There were 5 tasks in the day. The first task tested our ability to extract data from tables, and relate this to three different televised adverts for Cravendale Milk. We were separately asked to critique these adverts and choose our favourite, justifying this answer using our marketing knowledge.
The second task involved an interview about branding. I spoke about a survey I had made myself based on the public perception of luxury brands. I was asked how the examples I had used could be segmented to different markets. I found this difficult because I thought that they would all be suited for the same audience. After this we had lunch and spoke to candidates who had been employed for the take role the year before. We then performed an attention to detail proofreading task, as well as a task that tested our abilities to prioritise clients and responses to emails. These were both administered under time constraints. Our next task was done as a whole group, and tested our ability to collaborate as a team, lead the group, offer input etc... using a 'What items would you keep if you were stranded on the moon' survival task. The final interview asked personal questions about career aims and goals and experience.
The second task involved an interview about branding. I spoke about a survey I had made myself based on the public perception of luxury brands. I was asked how the examples I had used could be segmented to different markets. I found this difficult because I thought that they would all be suited for the same audience. After this we had lunch and spoke to candidates who had been employed for the take role the year before. We then performed an attention to detail proofreading task, as well as a task that tested our abilities to prioritise clients and responses to emails. These were both administered under time constraints. Our next task was done as a whole group, and tested our ability to collaborate as a team, lead the group, offer input etc... using a 'What items would you keep if you were stranded on the moon' survival task. The final interview asked personal questions about career aims and goals and experience.
Interview steps
Interviews:
- Phone
- 1:1
- Group / Panel
- Senior Management
- Video
Tests:
- Numerical
- Personality
- Verbal reasoning
- Psychometric
Other:
- Assessment centre
- Group exercise
- Background check
- Presentation
- Competency based questions