Presentation as part of job interview?!

[Babymoose2727]

Hi all, a little advice please! I have a job interview on Friday in marketing for an agricultural company and as part of the interview, they want me to give “short presentation related to our industry and help illustrate why you should be the successful candidate”. I’ve never been asked to do this before and I’ve no idea where to start! I’m so desperate to leave my current job and really want this job, so any advice on what TF to put in this presentation would be appreciated

You could ask ChatGPT for some talking points and go from there.

do they say how long? 3 minutes? 5mins?

i think you need to show that you
. know stuff about the company and what they are selling
.can identify a challenge for them, like how do we market product Y to a new group of customers
. show you have the skills etc yo take on that challenge.

try to be concrete and go well beyond ChatGPT junk.

I hate these.

Ask the recruiter how many candidate goes final stage.

This sounds pretty easy as its just, "sell yourself'
Gemini makes nice slides

Look at the company website for its vision, mission and values. Explain how you align with those and give examples to illustrate. Finish with a ‘this is how I’d be great for your business’ slide.

This is great advice.

Try and minimise ChatGPT

Agree look at what the company campaigns on or what their role is in the sector. If they are selling products then how do they do this, how do they communicate currently and how could your style maximise what they do. What do others do in their sector? Pick one thing to illustrate as easy to make it too busy for a short presentation.

This and who is their main target audience. Age, background, etc tailor your slides around this and challenges in connecting/ ways of connecting with this audience.

Put the job description and the details of the presentation exercise into ChatGPT and ask it for some brief talking points. If you need to make slides, Co-Pilot or Canva is ok for this.

Also, as it’s a marketing role, they might ask if you used AI for your presentation and if so, don’t be tempted to say no. AI use in marketing and comms is usually encouraged as long as you use it as a tool and not as a ‘cheat’.

I love doing presentations as part of an interview. It’s your opportunity to control what you say and drive the discussion, rather than trying to hang your experience on their questions.

You’ve had lots of good advice on how to do it.

Good luck x

edited for spelling

I’d also search for references to the company and its main competitors in the press to see what’s going on in the wider industry and where the company is positioning itself.

I usually draw a big mind map of my skills and experience and the issues I want to address and see how things link up. Then use that as a way in. ChatGPT can help with slides etc but your ideas are likely to be better. Like pp, I love this sort of thing in interviews as it’s your chance to talk about your strengths and direct the conversation.

My tip is to rehearse by recording yourself giving the presentation on Teams - this helps get the wording and timing right and also gives you a transcript which you can refine as a script. Good luck!

It sounds a bit vague and mixes two topics ( the environment they operate in and why you would be good for the role) which is rather muddled.

As a fellow marketing and communications manager this would make me think that the company is rather disorganised...

I would use the interview to make sure I find out what they expect a marketing specialist to bring into the mix and whether their expectations are reasonable.

As for the presentation I would use AI and basic research using the company website.

Hate these as it hugely increases interview preparation time! Worth it if you’re keen on the job.

Also agree that the topic is not ideal - mash up of different things!

Have you an example of some work you have done that you can present and try and make the %success rate /no of users engaged etc. as something you could do in this new role ? Outline something useful you did to sell yourself. Obviously if you are working in a different sector - they will be aware that it won’t be directly comparable,…but the tools/approach could be transferable.
these things tend to take a lot of time but I know I got my last role because of a good presentation (Although it took me days to make and research it).

I’d use it as an opportunity to sell myself, talk about my past experience and weave some stuff about their company and why marketing for an agricultural firm is important in.

And give exactly the same presentation as everyone else? Yeah, great plan!

Do NOT use Chatgpt. You can count on the recruiter having done so.

Definitely use the website. Ask for a copy of the company strategic objectives.

Focus on how you will support driving these forward based on experience. I’m soooo bored of candidates telling me all the marv stuff they’ve already done. I’m far more interested in how that’s going to work for my company.

You work in marketing, but you can’t write a presentation to market yourself?! That doesn’t bode well.

How long is ‘short’? You should work on 2 minutes per slide.

Keep copy on slides short, so you’re not just reading out what you’ve written.

Make sure your charts look good too - avoid clipart and too many whizzy effects.

You need to say:

• what it is about the company that particularly appeals to you (which will enable you to reference their particular areas of distinction/skill/differentiation)
• why this is a good fit for you and your skills (allowing you to give a little bit of your background - not your whole CV, just the most important/relevant stuff)
• what personal characteristics/qualities you would bring to the role

Personally I’d try and avoid ChatGPT - you need to make it original and fresh.