Mystery Interview 'Practical Test' - Help!

simonaspinall

Hi all

I have an interview on Thursday for a finance capital company for a marketing exec role.

I've been informed it will be a 1 hour interview and a 1 hour 'practical test'. :?

My suspicion is either a case study/sceanario with a problem and "write a brief marketing plan' or similar or a presentation. I wouldn't have thought it would be a psychometric or numerical/verbal reasoning.

Any ideas? I'd like to think i would go armed with all potential options to avoid surprises.

Ta

RonB

Hi Simon

Do you feel as though you could be up-front and ask them for more details about this practical test. Tell them you're really interested in the post and you want to impress.

To be honest they should really be geared up to making sure they get the best out of the candidates, not trying to catch them out so to speak. Good luck on the day, Ron.

simonaspinall

RonB wrote:

Hi Simon

Do you feel as though you could be up-front and ask them for more details about this practical test. Tell them you're really interested in the post and you want to impress.

To be honest they should really be geared up to making sure they get the best out of the candidates, not trying to catch them out so to speak. Good luck on the day, Ron.

Thanks Ron - It's through an agency who have expressly told me they don't want the candidate to know - I enquired if I should bring my PE kit but they said that wouldn't be necessary. At least I know that it can't be something that I should know about indepthly. Naturaly i'll do my research on the industry, company and the role + skills, examples and so on.

Just quizzled me.

andyrm

Hi Simon,

I'd suggest they are going to ask you to put together a strategy for a hypothetical product (I work in business development in the media sector - this is the sort of thing we love to spring on people!!).

They're looking for a: an ability to think on your feet and be willing to do whatever is asked at zero notice, ie being happy to do the task with no complaints, and b: will more than likely be open minded as to how you can impress.

I'd suggest you CALL not email (this is really important as it shows you take the bull by the horns and are proactive - email is viewed as a bit of a weak option and suggests poor people skills) the person and say that you're really keen to do well on the practical section, are there any props etc you should bring, or anything they'd like you to put together in advance.

Good luck!

rick_chasey

You should check whether it's a verbal test (i.e. they sit in front of your and fire questions) or if it's written.

It's likely to be an in depth case study, which makes you do a simulation of what they do, probably with some 'how would you manage your time' stuff thrown in.

Also, if it's finance, they should throw some reasonably serious maths at you, even for a marketing exec.

The point is usually that you can't really prepare for them - they test you under pressure.

One recomendation I can make is do some maths an hour or two beforehand, say on the train, to warm your brain up - makes a big difference.

andyrm

simonaspinall wrote:

Thanks Ron - It's through an agency who have expressly told me they don't want the candidate to know

Hahaha just answered my own question there!

As per my post, this is all about testing your ability to work fast, think on your feet and show willing

simonaspinall

andyrm wrote:

Hi Simon,

I'd suggest they are going to ask you to put together a strategy for a hypothetical product (I work in business development in the media sector - this is the sort of thing we love to spring on people!!).

They're looking for a: an ability to think on your feet and be willing to do whatever is asked at zero notice, ie being happy to do the task with no complaints, and b: will more than likely be open minded as to how you can impress.

I'd suggest you CALL not email (this is really important as it shows you take the bull by the horns and are proactive - email is viewed as a bit of a weak option and suggests poor people skills) the person and say that you're really keen to do well on the practical section, are there any props etc you should bring, or anything they'd like you to put together in advance.

Good luck!

Oooo good call - I'd put money on being something like that. Fortunately I've just finished a year doing a Chartered Inst. Marketing Prof Dipl so have good revised theory. I'm alright at Maths and i'm pretty good on my feet.

I suppose it's more about how I act rather than what I produce - If i'm measured, calm and show logical thought and creativity it should be fine.

10m TT?!