Campaign Manager

Focus on your ability to co-ordinate and delegate activities in an efficient and practical way. Detail how you defined and divided project roles and responsibilities, kept personality clashes and conflict to a minimum and monitored and fed back to the project team.

Outline your particular management style and why it was successful. Focus on the management skills that you utilized to ensure success.

You should have done some research into the average salary and remuneration that this type of position will pay. Try to deflect the question by turning it around and asking the interviewer about the salary on offer. Typically, they will start with a lower figure than they are prepared to offer because they want to keep their costs down. So if you are pressed to give a number, its best to give a range to avoid pricing yourself out of contention.

For example:

I'm sure whatever salary you're paying is consistent with the rest of the market average of £23,000 to £25,000.

Short of telling your interviewer that you are motivated by the prospect of earning a footballer's salary, driving a Bentley or having a holiday home in St Tropez, try and give a constructive answer that will excite your interviewer into understanding what benefit you will bring to his business.

For example:

I get a real kick out of seeing my team exceed their sales targets and completing the project on time and within budget.

The marketing brief can be viewed as a planning tool for designing and implementing a marketing program or project. Writing a brief is about clarifying the outcomes of the campaign or project and providing focus on what needs to be achieved.

Common elements include marketing objectives, primary audience and target market, attitudes and behavior of the target market, influencing the target market's behavior and the key message of the initiative. In answering this marketing manager interview question focus on how detailed and specific the brief was and the research it was based on.

You win an election by consistently outworking your opponent. Ask your potential hire, how many times did you pull an all-nighter or sleep in the office? It shouldn't be every day or you'll have an exhausted team, but any staffer worth his or her salt has made walk books or call sheets all night in order to meet their goals.

► What awards or honors have you received?

► Why did you choose the career for which you are preparing?

► What motivates you in a job and in personal life?

► What do you feel were the most significant things you got out of going there?

► What can you do for this company?

► Why do you want to work for us and not for our competitor?

► Why do you want to change jobs?

► Do you know anyone who works as Marketing Campaign Manager at this company?

► How did you go about making Marketing Campaign Manager assignments?

► What irritates you about other people?

► Have you ever had to deal with conflicting deadlines?

► Did you have faults as a leader? Describe the situation.

► Did you ever postpone making a decision? Why?

► What are you most proud of?

Career manuals abound with ways to tackle this question. And most of them seem to suggest that you should take one of your strengths and portray it as a weakness. For instance, I work too much. But this will actually work against rather than work for you because it may imply that you do not organise your workload effectively, or that you have poor time management skills. Instead, opt for a genuine weakness.

For example:

I used to struggle to plan and prioritorise my workload. However, I have taken steps to resolve this and now I have started using a planning tool and diary system on my laptop.

► What was the name of your most recent employer?

► Who was your best boss and who was the worst?

► Why did you choose our company?

► What were your responsibilities?

► What can you do for this company?

► Which of your jobs was the best?

► What motivates you?

Your ability to evaluate a situation, problem or opportunity and understand the action that needs to be taken is key to success as a marketing manager. Gaining a clear perspective is necessary before deciding on the focus of your innovation.

Taking into consideration the available resources and how they can be best used is important in determining the best course of action. Your ability to capitilize on the situation should be highlighted.

► How do you handle a heavy workload? How do you prioritize day to day tasks?

► What three character traits would your friends use to describe you?

► Give me an example of a high-pressure situation for Marketing Campaign Manager.

► Examples of strategic thinking in past situations.

► How would you describe your presentation style?

► Give me an example of when you involved others in making a decision.

► What was your best learning experience?

You know this question will be asked at some stage, so have your answer ready in advance. The rule of thumb is to always remain positive about your current and previous employers because you never know when your paths may cross again. Besides, who are you going to turn to for a reference?

For example:

I learned a lot from my previous employer and enjoyed my time there. However, promotional opportunities were few and far between and I am keen to advance my career sooner rather than later.

► Do you work well under pressure?

► Do you think that your school prepared for practical working tasks in a real company?

► How have you gone about making important decisions?

► What are you looking for in terms of Campaign Manager career development?

► Are you willing to relocate?

► Tell about a Campaign Manager training program that you have developed.

► What have you done to contribute toward a teamwork environment?

► Situation where others disagreed with your ideas.

► Tell me a suggestion you have made that was implemented.

► What is the most enjoyable part of Marketing Campaign Manager job?

► What did you do to prepare for this job interview?

► How would you decide on your objectives?

► Tell about a problem that you solved in a unique or unusual way.

► Describe a difficult work situation and how you overcame it.

Think of recent strong strategic examples of work you've done. Let the interviewer know how the company's mission reflects your values.

If you have changed careers make a logical argument as to why you did so.

In your marketing manager interview answer show how cultural factors, social factors, personal and psychological factors all impact on consumer behavior. Provide an example of a marketing campaign or project you developed and how you utilized these four key factors to develop and optimize your project.