Professional Sales Job Interviews

It happened to most people, that particular time where you thought you were the most foolish person on earth because you did not ace the interview. It may have made you depressed or you may have felt rejected due to the unwanted incident, but hey, it was not that bad. Or so you should believe.

Recovery from a bad interview is self-induced. You and you alone can help yourself in the process. You can start by accepting the failure and tell yourself to move on. Write down the mistakes you committed and learn from them. Read interview articles online and offline or seek advice from career counselor. I say the earlier your recover from a bad interview, the better for your job search and self-esteem.

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In my previous post, I discussed panel interview and how it is conducted. Now, let me share with you some tips to help you get a high grade on the panel interview score card:

1. Establish eye contact. Look in the eye of the person giving the question to show your sincerity and alertness.
2. Make sure you know what’s on your resume. They read your resume and therefore, interview questions may come from it so make sure you know your resume well.
3. Show confidence. The most important thing of all is to appear confident in front of the panel.
4. Prepare good questions for the interviewers. After you have been questioned, it will be your turn next. Make sure you have good questions in mind that could impress them.

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Many fail the interview because of their overall composure, unable to answer questions they fidget and squirm like catfish on a red hot skillet. Use what you have to eliminate the butterflies in your tummy, be say, standing in front of the mirror at home and trying to anticipate the questions that can be asked. Seasoned job hunters fail to use their past experiences in interviews for sales jobs by not showing their good sides. Personality is one of your best assets in sales and this is often tested by your answering abilities. Practice again and again till you lose your fears and develop confidence in yourself.
You might not get the job but you’ll fell better than a beat up dog, stand tall an thank them for their time. Maybe next time round you’ll get it right. try and try till you exhaust all openings, sometimes it may be necessary to re-apply, but let some time pass before you do for you may end up getting turned away for too much persistence.

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It is natural to be terrified or to be nervous when you are supposed to have an interview in a few days time. One thing to do is prepare yourself. Your whole self. By that i mean, physical preparation and mental preparation. You prepare the materials that you might need when you’re in the interview. Your clothes should speak highly about you. So dress well. You get nervous because you think of negative things. So the best way is to think positively. Think happy thoughts. You can even practice at home in front of a mirror. Interview yourself, that one way of taking away the fear out of an interview. Visualize yourslef talking to the panel of interviewers. Practice smiling, practice breathing deeply through your nose. And lastly, sip warm water. It clams the nerves and the brain.

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When you are looking to hire a new employee, you would want to get the best person for the job. But you need to be aware that while you are interviewing them, they are also interviewing you. You need to create a good impression of your company. Interviews should be about bringing out the best in each applicant. You should not trick them, and this is not a game or a power trip. Interview in itself is stressful both to you and your applicant. A little courtesy and consideration on the interviewer should be in place.

• Show them that you are “present” at the interview.
  Its wise not to be interrupted during the interview by a sudden emergency call etc.
• Lay out the job detail so everybody they will know their role in the scheme of things.
• Pick out the right person for the job. Never be too emotional.
• Never discriminate directly or indirectly.
• Make sure you provide a suitable place to wait because some of them arrive half an hour early.
• Finally, ask if they have any questions for you and for the company, development opportunities and promotional possibilities.

(cont…)
Don’t respond with comments about your hobbies, spouse, or extra curricular activities. Instead talk about your strengths, achievements, and qualifications for the position. Just remember to support the skills you mention with concrete examples. For example, instead of saying “I’m a hard worker,” go into detail by mentioning that you always make sure your projects are above standards and meet deadlines, and then cite any commendation that complements this. And don’t be too much proud in answering the questions, for it may leave bad impression to the interviewer. Get rid of one’s interview jitters by asking a friend to conduct a mock interview with you. It’s a chance to practice your answering technique and how’d you formulate your responses-live. Plus, you will get constructive feed. This will guide you towards improving your interview styles and presentation.

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According to Alyson Doyle, the guide to job searching at About.com, a behavioral interview “is based on the premise that a candidate’s past performance is the best predictor of future performance.” Given that, you have to prepare for it by making a mental compilation of your skills, values and interests. Emphasize these things during the interview as a way of assuring the hiring manager of your good future performance.

As much as possible, try to be precise in the information you will give. Detailed responses are more appropriate than short and direct ones. Be confident and relate to the hiring manager your work experiences and how this could help you be an asset to the company.

Another type of job interview that is being employed by hiring managers is behavioral interview. So, what exactly is behavioral interview? It is a kind of interview that seeks to get a clear view of the past work experience of the interviewee. It aims to know the behavior of the interviewee during his past jobs and how it has contributed to his success or failure. It is done to get a snapshot of how the interviewee will fare as a worker if ever he gets chosen for the job. Today, ore and more hiring managers are using this kind of interview to better facilitate the screening of job candidates.

Just like any endeavor, job interviews require preparation. With preparation, we mean physically and psychologically. It also includes acquiring interviewing skills that could make your job interview successful.

According to Deborah Walker, a career management coach from QuintCareers.com, one of the essential interview skills is finding the interviewer’s hot buttons.

These are the unspoken concerns or wishes of the interviewer that you must be able to uncover and ask to him. Walker shares two magic questions that will reveal the interviewer’s hot buttons:

1. What do you see as the greatest challenge for this position?
2. What qualities do you see as most important for this position?

After the interviewer has enumerated his hot buttons, tailor the information to your answers to his questions. This way, you will be more confident that your answers are what he wants to hear. Certainly, this interview skill could increase your chances of approval.

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According to About.com, a panel interview is a type of interview where there are two or more interviewers. The main objective is to test the interviewee’s stress tolerance. It also aims to know how the interviewee will initiate an interaction with his future bosses and workmates should he get hired.

At any given point, a panel interview consists of multiple interviewers who belong to the different parts of the organization. They take turns in throwing questions to the interviewee. Questions here range from easy to difficult as there are more people that work together in squeezing out knowledge and information from the interviewee.

Although the frequency of getting a panel interview is little as one-on-one interviews are more common, it is highly advisable that a job seeker be prepared for this kind of interview.

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