Advertising & PR Interview Questions & Answers

The 20 minute telephone interview took part with a Senior Digital Account Manager and it was general but also competency based and also a chance for the interviewer to describe the role in more detail and a chance to ask questions at the end. Questions started out like "tell me about your CV". Because I had completed 3 Internships over the past year after graduating, it was clear I had to explain my transition from a Mathematics degree to a career in Digital Marketing. Others were competency questions like "Describe which was the best team you worked in" and also "Describe the worst team you worked in and what would you do to improve the situation". There were also questions based directly on past work experience like "What is the worst task you've ever had to do"

I found the interview quite difficult because questions like "Why have you chosen Amazon" should have been prepared for but I was under prepared for this question. In the view of the consumer, Amazon is a strong and powerful brand. But it terms of why I would want to work for Amazon in the digital sense, it was difficult to answer without sounding extremely cheesy.

It would be very useful to prepare to be asked the question "Why this company" - the answers that best come to mind is that they are big or have high profits or a well known brand. Although this is true, it may not be the same as wanting to work for them and how the job that is applied for is actually more appealing because of the company it's for. There will be the same jobs over different companies, but the trick is to find reasons why that company appeals for that particular job.

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I got a prompt reply soon after submitting my application, being contacted through email and invited for an assessment day. On the day, I was in a group of 5 other girls and the whole interview lasted just over an hour. As soon as we got there we were given a presentation by three of the senior management about the company and the perks of working there which consisted of background as well as videos from current employees who started off as graduates. Following on from that we had an informal group discussion about interesting things happening in the media etc. After this, there was a one-to-one interview with a memeber of the management during which they asked about my university degree, my past sales experience and why and which sector of media I want to work in. It was all very informal and none of the questions were competency based, lasting only about 10 minutes. Some of the other employees also came to the conference room to give us more information and opportunity to ask questions. We were told we would hear back the next day or definitely in the next 2 days but didn't hear back from them at all.

What struck out the most to you having watched the presentation and why do you want to work for Mediaforce.

I would say definitely research the firm and industry before applying for it as it seems to me to be only the right fit for a certain type of person. Even though the entire recruitment team were extremely nice, it didn't seem like a proper interview and I don't know how they were hoping to recruit with so little information being obtained from us.

We only had to have an informal group discussion with all the other intervievees and the management. This included a discussion about the future of media, the different sectors, challenged faced by media and advertising companies etc.

How are you suited for this position?
What do you think will be challenging as part of this job?
Can you describe the job for which you are applying? What do you think you will be doing as part of this role?
What do you think is key to keeping clients satisfied?
Tell us a bit more about yourself.
Where do you seen yourself in 5 years?
Has someone ever been unhappy with your work? Why?
Tell us about a time when you missed a deadline? What did you do?
How would your friends describe you when you are under pressure?

Most of the questions were quite predictable. I was interviewed with the senior manager of the department and a future colleague who had just been promoted from the position for which I was applying.

The interviewed lasted 45minutes, then I was left with a 30minutes written assessment. One was a proof reading test, the other one was a verbal reasoning test.

Has someone ever been unhappy with your work? Why?

Prepare your knowledge of the company and of the role you are applying for.
Get ready to be asked common questions but also questions speifically related to the role and the industry.
Do not hesitate to ask questions prior to your interview, as the HR officers are really helpful and willing to help. This will also help clearing any potential misunderstanding of the role you may have.
Do ask further questions after your interview, showing a deeper interest in the company.
Honestly, I think the most important part is to have relevant experience and to demonstrate a genuine interest in the industry.

One 15 minutes proof reading test on a sample client report.
One 15 minutes verbal reasoning test of 60 questions (rapidity).