Marketing Interview Questions & Answers

I first had to complete a proofreading and editing test which consisted of editing a news article of 400 words. You also had to re-write headlines and sub headings. After this, I had a face to face interview with two managers that I would be working closely with. We first talked through my CV and my experience up until now and then talked about how the skills I had acquired would help me with this job role. They then went on to ask me some competency based questions such as, " Can you give us a time when you had to deal with a difficult colleague." The overall interview lasted one hour.

"If you had longer to work on the test, would you have done anything differently?"

Come prepared with examples as they really back up your answers! It also encourages a conversation with your interviewers. It is also a warm and friendly firm, so go in with a smile and you'll fit in fine!

I had to do a proofreading and editing exercise before the initial interview. You has 30 mins to edit, re-write and proofread a 400 word article.

We we invited to a graduate assessment day and were given a week to make a presentation on direct marketing of a particular shop. We were also told to prepare for a test, a group activity and an interview. The presentation was in front of all the candidates and staff. The test was mostly numerical based, which I found surprising. I had prepared mostly for verbal reasoning, and didn't expect about 90% of the test to be on maths for an admin/ marketing job. There was no group activity in the end and then there was an interview which was really short and informal, I asked them more questions than they asked me.

The 'name your strengths and weaknesses one' is the one I always dread.

Make sure you spend an equal amount of time preparing the presentation, revising tests and preparing interview techniques. I was so worried about the first two and it was the interview I ended up failing, though I thought it went well at the time because it was quite casual.

Test, presentation, interview

Without a doubt one of the hardest interviews I've had.

Aside from your usual competency questions, this interview was held by two senior employees and they grilled you on todays current events and economic climate. This was then followed by asking you to detail different methods of advertising and what you think is most suitable.
Finally they pressed you on salary and expected you to very much lower your expectations.

It was a tough interview.

Without using any social media or internet methods, how would you plan media coverage for a client?

Do plenty of research on current events before hand.

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Describe a time where you worked with someone difficult and how you overcame it.

Make sure you voice your opinion in the group task, don't be quiet!

Only two rounds, first stage application form second stage assessment centre.

The centre was held at their Wimbledon head office and started with a brief introduction to the group and the 9 members of senior management who were assessing us.

We then had a 40 minute verbal reasoning test.

Next was a group task where we were divided into buyers and sellers and had to negotiate a deal across the board room.

Lunch was an opportunity to question those who are currently on the grad scheme.

We then had a numerical reasoning test and 1 to 1 competency interview with a series of about 8 questions lasting 40 minutes.

The last task was a presentation to the group where you were given a topic and 1 minute to prepare and 2 minutes to present.

Overall it was a great and very friendly experience.

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.

Describe a situation where something went wrong, and you had to quickly make an appropriate judgement to resolve this situation.

Prepare as much as you can. Differentiate yourself from the other candidates - like I did with the survey. Anticipate interview questions and enjoy yourself!

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.

After emailing the co-owner of Heald Ltd with my CV and Cover Letter I got a swift reply telling me that I'd been accepted to progress forward to the interview stage. A time and date was agreed upon that was mutually beneficial. Upon arriving at the destination, I was greeted by a secretary who granted me a seat and glass of water and told me my interviewer would be with me shortly. 5 minutes later I was invited into the interview room and met the co-owner of the business. We discussed at length Heald Ltd, the role I would play in the company, and what skills I would bring to the business. I was asked in a friendly manner any suggested changes I would personally make to the company leaflet and any marketing tips I had for the company. Finally I was asked if I had any questions about Heald Ltd, the Marketing position, or just general questions about the daily activities of the role. This made the interview friendly and relaxed. Once the interview was finished the co-owner explained that I would receive an email in a couple of days as to whether I had been successful or not. This was excellent as it is sometimes the case that if unsuccessful you do not receive a notification from the company which can leave you feeling in suspense for along period of time.

"What criticisms do you have of the current company brochure?"

Be confident, calm, relaxed and friendly. The organiser makes the interview process relaxed and fun with a light-hearted nature. Know the facts about the business and have ideas of where you could improve elements of their marketing.

No assessment centre. Which is useful because the days can often become a "who can shout the loudest" competition.

After emailing my CV and a covering letter explaining why I would be suitable for the Marketing and Sales Assistant role, I was invited by the company's Finance manager to attend an interview the following week. Upon arriving at the company HQ, I was greeted by one of my interviewers and invited into one of the conference rooms. After a brief and friendly chat about the weather and how my journey to the office was the second member of the interview team arrived, the company CEO. Initially I was given a brief about the company, how successful they have been, what areas of business they work in, and all of the general information about the firm. After this, numerous questions were raised by my two interviewers asking me to describe myself, why I want to work for the company, and what my career aspirations are. The interview was conducted in a friendly manner which helped to lower my nerves and improve my confidence and lasted around 30 minutes in total. After the questioning it was illustrated that the business would contact me again within 4 days as to whether I progressed to the final stage of the interview process, a verbal presentation in front of the CEO, Personnel manager, and Managing Director.

The most difficult question I had to answer was based on my knowledge and expertise on the company's competitors. This was tough to answer because the business has a lot of competition and I had only researched one of the main competitors. I was able to give a detailed answer on one company, however when asked if I knew of any other competition I had to admit I did not. However my interviewers did not seem too off putt by this answer as they realise that this was an interview for their company, and not their competitors.

Be confident! Employers are not looking to employ timid, shy or nervous individuals. Also, have an interest in the area of business the company works in. It is much more interesting and appealing talking about an area of business that you personally enjoy.

The business does not operate using assessment centres when looking to recruit employees. I feel that this is a clever and appropriate decision as my opinion on assessment centres is that they do not accurately measure individuals' abilities, they merely measure who can shout the loudest. The face-to-face interview style that the company uses is much more effective at finding out how competent an individual is, as the organisation can spend 30 minutes asking detailed questions and receiving feedback from the employee. This is just not possible in an assessment centre where there are 15 people attempting to get their voice heard over everyone else.

The initial interview for the role was held at their office with the Head of Analysis and lasted much longer than any other interviews I had - about 90 minutes. I saw this position advertised on graduate-jobs.com and applied with my CV and cover letter.

Because the job position was maths based and a graduate role, the interview geared towards my mathematics degree and which modules I did - especially statistics ones. I thought it was quite casual so wasn't a typical style interview as the interview was mostly interested about what I had on my CV and getting more detail about the topics I covered to get an idea of where I was at. I really enjoyed this interview because it didn't feel like I was being tested to a standard, but more like what I'd already learnt and what level of training I would need on the job. The interviewer also went into a lot of detail about the job position itself and what the company actually did and how my degree is related to this field. As a keen problem solver, I really enjoyed on the spot questions like "how many airplanes are in the air right now" as it's all about how one would go about approaching the problem, rather than just getting the right answer. It was also quite insightful to compare our methods - we found one was qualitative and one quantitative!

The most difficult question ironically seemed the most simple. I was asked to describe the term "variance" to someone without a mathematical background. Fellow mathematics graduates may understand why this task wasn't as straight forward as it sounds. While studying for our degree we are so used to listening to lecturers teaching us, being asked questions but also asking each other for help using the mathematical language we've been using since A Level. There hasn't ever been a time where we would explain mathematical terms to someone without the background. Although a bit taken aback by this request, with some probing and the help of a pen and paper I was eventually able to give a correct explanation of the term.

As a tip, I wouldn't recommend mathematicians to start practising explanations for every maths term we've learnt after GCSE. I find that explaining terms work best when knowledge is raw and not rehearsed. It's not a test, so questions aren't looking at if you know what it is, but how you can explain in different ways to others. I would definitely use this tip to describe my entire interview; it was a conversation and therefore not rehearsed. There were no competency based questions but based on my cv, my skills, my answers and my questions. Interviews should be unique to the interviewee so the main feeling you should have when leaving should be weather or not you enjoyed the conversation.

After the initial interview, I was invited back, along with 3 other candidates for the final stage interview with the Founder and Operations director. After passing the round to ensure I was capable of doing the actual job, this was supposedly how I would fit in the company as a whole and if I could cope with everyday things like presentations or meeting clients.

One of the questions I was asked was if I feel I was more outgoing or - the opposite. As an Analyst, there's a lot of data and independent thinking with deep concentration. However it was important that the company employed an analyst who was also comfortable with presenting their ideas and findings to their team or to clients. This second interview was more about the "soft" skills and personality traits shows a candidate can fit into their culture and working environments. Another interesting question was like "do you consider yourself to be unique?". These interviews are definitely much harder than initial technical interviews as it takes candidates out of their comfort zones. Being a company, a new graduate employee would be given significant exposure to the entire business so I understood how important it was for them to select an all rounded candidate.

The interview was competency based, with a member of NIBE present as well as an assessment centre specialist. The interview consisted of 4 main sections, each with different skills and sub questions. Question were based around leadership, marketing experience, audience targeting, confidence and initiative.

Describe a time when you have been innovative?

Describe a time when you targeted a specific audience? How did you do this and why?

The best practical advice for the assessment centre is to be yourself, stay calm and listen to what’s being asked of you. To add to this, push yourself to the best of your ability rather than comparing yourself to other candidates.

The day started off with a brief introduction to NIBE as a company. This then led on to a group discussion which lasted about 45 minutes. After this the individual interview were conducted; lasting about an hour. Finally, an hour preparation time was given to make notes for an individual presentation. The presentation lasted 10 minutes, with time for questions at the end.

The interview was held at their offices in London. I was asked basic questions about my past experience and motivation for working at the company.
Before the interview I was asked to prepare for a role-play scenario where I would have to use my sales skills to sell a gym membership to a member of the public. The end goal was to get the customer to sign up for a free day pass and promote the longer membership. The role-play lasted for 5-10 minutes.
I was then asked some competency questions and about my availability. The interview lasted 1 hour in total.

How do you like to be managed within the work place?

Make sure you show your enthusiasm during the interview, you will be the face of the company so it is important that you show an interest in what the company does and how their business operates. The team are really nice and chatty so just show that you are really interested in the roll.

No assessment centre