BOBI AWARDS

Entry Tips

Apply early: 

To ensure that candidates get the most from the day, numbers are strictly limited and places are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, subject to eligibility criteria - so don’t delay! 

Entrants from full BHBIA member organisations will have priority over non-members if the competition is over-subscribed.

Criteria for entry

You must have less than three years total experience in business insights roles and less than five years total experience in healthcare by 31st December the year prior to the competition, 

If you're in doubt about whether you are eligible, please submit an entry form giving details of the primary responsibilities and dates of all your previous roles. We will go over each application individually to make sure it's fair and will then discuss your entry with you if we need clarification. The final decision rests with the BHBIA.

The examples below may help you:

  • Example 1: An entrant spent a year as a trainee researcher before being seconded into a healthcare communications role with another company in the agency’s network, then returning to the market research agency where they have since been a research executive for 1.5 years. STATUS: ELIGIBLE: because they have only had 2.5 years in business insights (the communications role doesn’t count towards this), and 3.5 years total healthcare experience 
  • Example 2: An entrant worked in a pharma field sales role for two years. They then spent one year in marketing with the same company, before moving to a market research agency where they have been a Research Executive for the last 2.5 years. STATUS: NOT ELIGIBLE: Although they have less than three years’ business insights experience (the sales and marketing roles don’t count towards this), their overall healthcare experience amounts to more than five years ·
  • Example 3: An entrant candidate spent three years working in the business information and analytics department of a automobile manufacturing company, before moving to an healthcare analytics agency where they have been working as an analyst for a year STATUS: OPEN TO DISCUSSION Strictly speaking this person would not be eligible because they have been in business insights roles for more than three years in total. But it may be that the first job has little relevance to the type of tasks involved in healthcare business insights and they may be able to participate.  

Before entering, please discuss the competition with your line manager and secure their approval to take part. Please check out the points below about multiple applications from the same company: 

It would also be a good idea for your manager to check whether anyone else in your company plans to enter and agree how best to manage this. For example, managers may wish to prioritise an entry for an individual who is close to the three/five year limit and won't have another chance to take part. 

A maximum of two places are available per member organisation, subject to availability. If two people from the same member organisation* enter, only the first applicant will initially be allocated a place (subject to meeting other entry criteria). The second person will be added to the waiting list in case another place becomes available once the deadline has passed.

*Member organisation = corporate member, affiliate member or corporate certified non-member of the BHBIA. If a company has multiple BHBIA memberships - i.e. a corporate member and one or more affiliates, each will be counted as a separate organisation)

Frequently Asked Questions
Places will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. If the number of applicants exceeds the capacity of the event, entrants will be put on a waiting list. If any further spaces become, the organisers will allocate these, based on when applications were received and whether a company already has a confirmed entrant. The organisers may also take into consideration entrants' length of time in business insights/healthcare to ensure that applicants who have close to three/five years' experience are able to take part. A maximum of two places are available per member organisation, subject to availability. If two people from the same member organisation enter, only the first applicant will initially be allocated a place (subject to meeting other entry criteria). The second person will be added to the waiting list in case another place becomes available once the deadline has passed.
The range of tasks is carefully designed to ensure that there is no advantage whether you are in an agency or client-side role. Some of the exercises cover ground that may be slightly more familiar to those on the client side, but this is balanced by other tasks in areas that may be more familiar to agency people.
Yes. The exercises are planned so that applicants in all types of business insights roles can take part. They do not rely on specific knowledge or experience, as we recognise that people's job roles vary greatly. In some cases you may have a choice of an analytics or market research focussed versions of the task. Everyone is likely to find some of the tasks play to their strengths and others are more challenging. Whilst different people find different elements harder, it tends to even out across the whole day.
Yes. The exercises are planned so that applicants in all types of business insights roles can take part. They do not rely on specific knowledge or experience, as we recognise that people's job roles vary greatly. Everyone is likely to find some of the tasks play to their strengths and others are more challenging. Whilst different people find different elements harder, it tends to even out across the whole day.
Your role should impact UK business. If there is a global element to the role, this is okay if it involves significant UK work.
Yes it does. The BHBIA recognises fieldwork as an integral part of the market research process and as such it counts towards your total business insights experience. So, if your total time in business insights, including the time spent in fieldwork roles, is more than three years. you won't be eligible.
Sorry, no. You must be available on that date.
Sorry, no. You must still be working in a business insights role on the day of the competition.
Sorry, no. You can only take part in this event once. We would encourage you to consider entering other BOBI award categories instead.
Please notify us as soon as you possibly if you find you will not be able to make it. Should a space become available, due to an entrant dropping out, the organisers will allocate the space at their discretion to someone on the waiting list, taking into consideration 1. When applications were received 2. Which companies already have someone on the list of confirmed entrants. The company whose entrant has dropped out does not have the automatic right to send a substitute – though this opportunity may be offered at the organisers' discretion, depending on what applications are already on the waiting list).
We will keep entrants fully informed of any preparation requirements in the run-up to the competition. There may be one short task to complete in advance.
The competition is based on individual exercises so you will only be presenting to the judges (one or two judges at a time) or completing tasks on your own. None of the other entrants will be aware of how you have performed in any of the tasks.
We strongly suggest that you don’t come with any expectations of getting any other work done. It will be an intense day and you will probably want to take advantage of the opportunity to relax over lunch and network with colleagues from across the industry.
Yes, the judges will record their comments and scores for each task and you will get detailed personal feedback to help with your development.
We won’t be revealing who the winner might be until the Awards night. However, we appreciate that it can be difficult for companies to prioritise who attends the Conference (and normally people have to attend at least one day of the Conference to come to the Awards). We have now introduced a new ticket type specially for those taking part in the Best Newcomer Awards: Entrants will have the option to purchase a ‘dinner only’ ticket (with or without accommodation). We hope that this will allow a majority of entrants to be there on the night, as well as maximising the chance of the winner being present to collect their award. Of course, it would be even better if you can convince your boss to let you attend the whole Conference!
Only the winner and close runners-up will be announced publicly. Beyond this, no rankings will be publicised.
Yes, please simply email the admin team: admin@bhbia.org.uk with your query and one of the team will get in touch. We welcome enquiries, as there may be some flexibility in borderline cases, depending on capacity.