As a Marketing Communications Manager, budget management can be a significant challenge. How do you handle a situation where you cannot remain within budget?

The interviewer would like to see that you can be creative and mindful when working around marketing budgets. Whether you are working with an internal or a client budget, you must respect those funds and find the best way to work around those restrictions.

Now, we know that marketing professionals often face completely unrealistic numbers. There is no need to address this type of example in your response. Focus on a time when you were just shy of meeting a budget but made a significant tweak to save the day.

"I worked with a client last year who needed a social media campaign overhaul. Their budget was modest but do-able. I quickly realized, after analyzing the budget breakdown, that the design work allocation was unbalanced. I approached the client about using our internal design personnel rather than the third party contractor he had insisted on in the beginning. He agreed, and I was able to bring his project in around 5% below budget."