My experience at IDM Summer School Assessment Day 2015!

Back in November, I was lucky enough to go to a talk at UWE by the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) and the Institute of Direct and Digital Marketing (IDM) about a career in marketing and agency-side focus, which I personally lack experience in and therefore found really rewarding and interesting. I was able to network with a couple of the speakers afterwards and was told about the IDM Summer School- an opportunity for graduates to spend 5 days immersed in the industry with the IDM in London and work to create live briefs for real clients and meet top agency contacts- what could be a better opportunity! I was dying to apply and wrote up my application almost immediately! The application was a long document summarising not only work experience but also university studies. I also had to write a brand review of a campaign I really liked which provoked a direct response- easy! I wrote about Kraken rum, a campaign I actually worked on myself and therefore knew inside out and really loved!

I submitted my application in December and didn't hear anything back until March! Such a long wait but I was so happy to be invited to attend an Assessment Day in London! I wasn't told much around what to expect apart from to prepare a presentation on something I was passionate about.

Once I arrived at the assessment day, I was greeted by 13 other candidates who were all absolutely lovely- I would genuinely be so happy if I made it through to the summer school alongside them- they were ace! We then took part in an ice breaker where I was asked which one person would I like to be for the day and I said "Obama or Simon Cowell".

Then we were given a brief for a group task which we had to compare two pieces of direct mail and identify the strengths and weaknesses of each, having studied and worked in marketing I found this really interesting and relatively familiar territory- nothing too challenging! I really enjoyed working with my group and I didn't experience the usual sense of tension or competition that can arise at some assessment centres, we were really collaborative and worked great as a team!

Then I was called to present my topic I was passionate about- I chose the lack of industry and development in the north and the lack of GDP that is created outside London and the South East. It really is a topic I'm passionate about and I did a lot of research to back everything up! I also used prezi for the first time to make it look super swish!

Then I was given an initiative test, which was a really interesting assessment method I haven't experienced before. I was given a scenario and had 15 minutes to prepare what I would do faced with it. I then had 10 minutes to present my findings to an assessor and I was able to compare the scenario to some event management work I have done and therefore found it quite interesting to see their response!

We were given lots of time in between the tasks to chat and I got to know the other candidates really well which was nice! I hope to see some of them again!

Then came the bit I dreaded the most- the maths test!! But actually it really was OK! It was basic percentages etc. applied to real-life marketing situations and therefore I found it much easier to think logically about the questions before I answered them. I hate it when assessments use questions like "What would the conversion rate between x and 9 be?" Name a time within marketing when I would actually ever use such a ridiculous calculation!? The questions at the IDM assessment day where much more applied and relevant which helped me do well (I think!)

Then we had a proof reading test which was to correct any spelling or grammar errors within a letter which was OK and we had lots of time to work through both tests so my panicking really was wasted!

Then my favourite bit of any assessment day... the interview! Mainly as I love talking about myself and I really do think selling myself is one of my main strengths! We spoke about my dissertation, work experience, agency culture, my career aspirations and placement year. I really liked all of the assessors and felt really comfortable talking to all of them!

The day ended with a summary of the week itself and what we could expect should we be lucky enough to get a place on the week long summer school in June! I should be hearing back in May whether or not I have a place- I can't wait to find out!!

Feel free to drop me a tweet @stefclarkx if you have any questions about the application process or assessment day!

Stephanie