Apply early to avoid disappointment! 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 and entry criteria).
Criteria for entry and allocation of spaces
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 before
the competition.
If you're unsure
whether you’re eligible, please contact admin@bhbia.org.uk or submit an entry form with details of the primary
responsibilities and dates of all your previous roles. We will review each
application individually to ensure it's fair and then discuss your entry with
you if we need clarification. The BHBIA makes the final decision.
Entrants from
full BHBIA member organisations will have priority over non-members if the
competition is over-subscribed.
The examples
below may help you:
Example 1: An entrant spent a year as
a trainee researcher before being seconded to a healthcare communications role
with another company. They returned to the market research agency and have been
a research executive for 1.5 years. STATUS: ELIGIBLE: The communications role
doesn’t count, so they have 2.5 years of experience in business insights and
3.5 years in healthcare.
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 the sales and marketing roles don’t count towards their business
insights experience, their healthcare experience is over five years.
Example 3: An entrant spent three
years working in an automobile manufacturing company’s business information and
analytics department before moving to a healthcare analytics agency, where they
worked as an analyst for a year. STATUS: MORE INFORMATION IS REQUIRED: This
entrant appears to have been in business insights roles for over three years. However,
the first job may have little relevance to the type of tasks involved in
healthcare business insights, and they may be able to participate. We would
contact the entrant to discuss this.
Before
entering, please discuss the competition with your line manager and secure
their approval. Please check out the points below about multiple applications
from the same company. Your manager should also check whether anyone in your
company plans to enter and agree on how best to manage this. For example,
managers may wish to prioritise an entry for an individual close to the experience
limit who won't have another chance to participate.
There are a maximum of two places per member organisation* subject
to availability. If two people from the same organisation enter, only the first
applicant will initially be allocated a place (subject to eligibility and entry
criteria). The second person will be added to the waiting list in case another
place becomes available.
*Member organisation = corporate member, affiliate member
or corporate certified non-member of the BHBIA. If a company has multiple BHBIA
memberships, e.g. a corporate member and one or more affiliates, each will be
counted as a separate organisation for the purposes of BOBI entry eligibility
criteria.
Frequently Asked Questions
No, being eligible does not guarantee a spot in the competition. Places are limited and allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. If the number of eligible entries exceeds the competition's capacity, a waiting list will be created.
If any further spaces become available, the organisers will allocate them based on when applications were received and whether another entrant from the same organisation has already secured a place. The organisers may also consider entrants' length of experience to ensure that applicants with close to three/five years' experience can participate.
Each organisation can have a maximum of two participants. If two people from the same member organisation enter and the number of eligible entrants exceeds the event’s capacity, only the first applicant will initially be allocated a place. The second person will be added to the waiting list.
No, working in an agency won’t put you at a disadvantage. The range of tasks is carefully designed to ensure a level playing field for agency and client-side participants. While some exercises cover ground that may be more familiar to those on the client side, this is balanced by other tasks in areas that may be more familiar to agency people.
Yes, you’ll still be able to make a meaningful contribution. The exercises are designed to be inclusive of various business insights roles, including sales analytics. They don’t require specialised knowledge in any one area as we recognise that people's job roles vary greatly. Sometimes, you may have a choice of an analytics or market research-focused version of the task.
Everyone is likely to find some tasks play to their strengths, while others are more challenging. Whilst different people find different elements harder, they tend to even out throughout the day.
Yes. The exercises are planned so applicants in all types of business insights roles can participate. 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 tasks play to their strengths, while others are more challenging. Different people find different elements harder but it tends to even out across the whole day.
You do not have to be based in the UK but your role should impact UK business. If there is a Global/European element to the role, it is OK as long as your role 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, you won't be eligible if your total time in business insights, including the time spent in fieldwork roles, is more than three years.
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.
No, you cannot automatically transfer your place to a colleague if you can no longer attend. Instead, please notify the organisers as soon as possible. If a spot opens due to a dropout, the organisers will reallocate it based on the waiting list. They’ll consider factors like when applications were received and whether a company already has a confirmed entrant.
While your company doesn’t automatically have the right to send a substitute, the organisers may offer this option at their discretion, depending on the existing waiting list.
We will keep entrants fully informed of any preparation requirements in the run-up to the competition. There may be a short task to complete in advance.
No, you won't be "put on the spot" in front of your colleagues, clients or suppliers. The competition consists of individual exercises, meaning you will only present your work to one or two judges at a time. Other entrants will not be privy to your performance 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 Ceremony. We understand that securing approval to attend the Conference can be challenging, especially since participants typically need to attend at least one day to join the Awards. To help with this, we’ve introduced a ticket option for the Best Newcomer Awards: a ‘dinner only’ ticket, which can be purchased with or without accommodation. This option aims to ensure that more entrants can attend the awards ceremony, maximising the chances of the winner being there to accept their award.
Only the winner and runners-up will be publicly announced and no rankings beyond that will be disclosed.
Yes, please email the admin team at admin@bhbia.org.uk with your query and one of the team will contact you.
