Job interviews for corporate sales positions are unlike other types of job interviews. These interviews are used to assess whether a candidate is suitable in the sales environment in addition to reviewing background histories and skills. Interviewers would often ask tricky questions that test the personalities of candidates in order to determine sales potential.

If during a corporate sales job interview and the reviewer asks you a question on whether you prefer to work alone or with others in groups, you have to be careful here. If you say a solo environment is definitely better, they may not see you as a team player. If you say that you prefer working in groups, they might think that you would not be effective in sales since most of the time, sales reps are out in the field on their own.

Therefore, the safest route to take here is to say that you like both environments and can be effective in both. When you are alone, you can be effective as an independent worker. Then when you are working with others in group projects or at meetings, you can also work effectively in teams.

You must convey the impression during a job interview that your skills enable you to excel in both scenarios. Don’t get fooled by the interviewer’s trick question. Here’s an effective response;

“I like both. I realize that most of the time, sales reps work alone and I certainly can be effective in this mode. Working with others at times will be a nice change and I can also be quite effective in teams as well. It’s a good working mix in my mind.”

Asking you about your strengths during an interview is an opportunity for you to sell yourself. Asking you about weaknesses is another matter and is another example of a tricky question. You must be careful here not to expose any specific weak skills that may hurt you during an interview. Whenever I encountered questions about my weaknesses during my interviews, I countered with something like this;

“In all honesty, the only weakness I think I have is perhaps a lack of industry specific experience since pharmaceutical sales (or any other field) will be new for me. However, I am strong on my communications and sales related skills. I am also a fast learner so I am certain that industry specific training that your company could provide will help me make up for this lack of industry experience. I’m sure that I would be able to get up to speed pretty quickly and start growing those sales for your company.”

Notice that I bring up the trainability fact in the above statement. It is extremely important that you convey the fact that you are an effective learner of new skills and environments. I use this attribute to effectively wipe out any weaknesses.

Be prepared to answer trick questions during interviews for corporate sales positions. They are designed to see if you really have what it takes to be in sales. Learn all you can about the sales job in the industry you are applying for and focus on selling your skills as well as personal attributes.

Clint Cora is the author of the book “How To Get A Dream Job In Pharmaceutical Sales - Direct Inside Advice and Guidance from a Sales Manager”. He had a very successful fourteen year career as a pharmaceutical sales representative, sales trainer, product marketing manager and a national sales manager. More information about pharmaceutical sales careers can be found at http://www.GetPharmaceuticalSalesJob.com

Tags: career, corporate, interviews, job, jobs, pharmaceutical, positions, representatives, salescareer, corporate, interviews, job, jobs, pharmaceutical, positions, representatives, sales

Share This

Many years ago, I hated what I was doing for a living and engaged a career coach. As a first assignment, she encouraged me to write down several short stories about times and events in my life where I influenced the outcome. I was stumped at first, but after a few days, I came up with over 15 pages of “stories”. These were about times in my life where I not only influenced the outcome but also grew myself and bettered the existence of others around me.

So what does this have to do with a job interview?

If you read other books on job interviews, you’ll notice they feed you lists of interview questions to learn answers to. An interview is not an interrogation, however, it’s a conversation. To make it that way you need to come armed with a multitude of small stories about both your business and personal life.

When you go into an interview, you need to leave your nerves at the door. The best way to prepare is to be yourself. The best way to be yourself is to tell your own story (or stories). So before the interview have your stories ready to go.

This is especially great for the competency-based interview being used more today. In a traditional interview, the interviewer will ask you questions focused on whether you have the skills and knowledge needed to do the job. A competency-based interview goes further by asking you additional questions about your character and personal attributes that can better determine whether you fit their corporate culture. These are called “behavioral competencies“.

A competency-based interviewer will spend about half the interview on your job skills, and about half on your behavioral competencies. He or she will be looking for evidence of how you have acted in real situations in the past. So having your stories ready to go plays very well for this type of interview.

A company wants to find out:

1. Are you an asset or liability? In other words, will you either make money or save money for the company?

2. Are you a team player? Will you fit into the corporate hierarchy or be like sand in the gears? Can you take and give (if appropriate) orders?

3. Will you fit into the company culture? They don’t want prima donnas.

The best way to do that is to take the initiative and have several personal stories that you can tell, taking maybe 30 to 90 seconds each.

You may want to start by developing your stories around these areas:

A. Times where you either made money or saved money for your current or previous company.

B. A crisis in your life or job and how you responded or recovered from it.

C. A time where you functioned as part of a team and what your contribution was.

D. A time in your career or job where you had to overcome stress.

E. A time in your job where you provided successful leadership or a sense of direction.

F. A failure that occurred in your job and how did you overcome it.

G. Any seminal events happened during your career to cause you to change direction and how that worked out for you.

I want to emphasize that an interview should not be an interrogation. It should be a conversation between two equals. When you accomplish this you come away a step closer to your goal of landing the job you really want, because

It’s the conversation that wins an interview, and

It’s the conversation that wins the job

To have a conversation, have your stories ready.

Copyright 2006 Joseph Turner

Joe Turner, the “Job Search Guy”, makes it easy to quickly land that next job. To claim your free 6-part Recruiter Secrets Minicourse, visit http://www.jobchangesecrets.com/Free_Job_Search_Tips.html

Tags: behavioral competencies, competency based interview, interview questions, job interviewbehavioral competencies, competency based interview, interview questions, job interview

Share This

It is so easy to sit down to complete an application and suddenly your mind blanks. You can’t remember dates or names or telephone numbers. If you have a varied work history, you can’t recall which job came first. If you have worked for the same employer for years, you forget when your duties changed or when you received a promotion.

Do your research on work-related paperwork at home and make up a list of everything you might need. List every job for the past 10 years including the company name, address, telephone number and the contact person to call, usually your immediate supervisor. Have a list of education, both formal college and any special courses, seminars, or in-house trainings you completed, with dates. Have a list of five personal references with names, addresses and telephone numbers.

Carry the sheet with you so you are prepared at all times. Not only will it make completing applications a breeze but it will ensure that the information you provide is accurate and consistent. That will avoid the embarrassment and negative reaction in an interview when you realize there are errors on the application the interviewer is using as a guide and you have to make quick verbal corrections.

Virginia Bola operated a rehabilitation company for 20 years, developing innovative job search techniques for disabled workers, while serving as a Vocational Expert in Administrative, Civil and Workers’ Compensation Courts. Author of an interactive and supportive workbook, The Wolf at the Door: An Unemployment Survival Manual, and a monthly ezine, The Worker’s Edge, she can be reached at http://www.unemploymentblues.com

Tags: careers, job search, psychological reframing, support, unemploymentcareers, job search, psychological reframing, support, unemployment

Share This