I read a short sales ad for a Sales Rep that was only 7 sentences long. But the brevity of the ad did not stop the author from being unconsciously contradicting.

The open:

Person must be an achiever, with excellent communication skills. Previous Marketing and Sales experience is a must with a proven track record and cold calling experience.

Later is states a Bachelor’s degree is required. Why? If there was a Bachelor’s degree for selling, I would deem this requirement important.

The contradiction comes in the last sentence:

No phone calls please.

I know I have mentioned this before but please don’t do this. The beginning of the ad is asking for a cold calling-experienced salesperson yet the end of the ad asks them not to do the very thing you will require them to do in the position. Take the call, listen to the salesperson, start qualifying them from the first contact.

Any candidate who calls in on this ad should get extra credit. Those candidates are displaying the very skills this company is requesting in spite of the poorly constructed ad.

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I never know if these stories are believable or not, but this one from monster.com struck me as something I would do:

Then, the client offers a cup of hot chocolate. As we get to the details of price, I take a gulp of my chocolate and it goes down the wrong way. I choke and spray it all over the client’s face, shirt and white trousers. I was numb. While I sat there, my bosses were running about trying to find napkins. I apologized profusely and wanted to cry. It was just one of those days.

I laughed at the story because I have experienced that immediate choke response on a few occasions. It is because of this possibility that I rarely accept coffee or other drinks at a client’s office. Better to be safe and avoid this possibility.

The client’s trousers were white - I love that part of the story.

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An ad continues to run for a specific sales position in our backyard that defines the job as an outside sales person, Account Executive and requires 25% travel. Yet the title of the ad is Sales/Customer Service. These two positions are almost mutually exclusive of each other. There are few customer service people who develop into strong outside business development salespeople. The opposite is true too, most strong outside salespeople do not make effective customer service reps.

The point here is that ad titles are incredibly important in today’s online world. The title is the gateway to garnering the click. Without the click, the ad does not get seen.

I have read a few sales ads that appear to be written in a printed paper “hangover” mode. There are many acronyms in the copy (”FT” for full-time). There are poorly constructed titles (the aforementioned example). There are fax-only response instructions (seriously - read one this morning).

Avoid these modern-day pitfalls. My remedial suggestions:

• have a strong title (position title and industry at a minimum)
• write to an online ad (no shorthand, use the space fully)
• request an email response (and phone number for sales - calls are good things)
• know why the position requires a Bachelor’s degree (if you do not have a compelling reason, don’t include it)

Yes, these are simple suggestions, but I am still surprised at the number of ads that do not follow these guidelines. In regards to the Sales/Customer Service ad, I would change to the title to Account Executive - IT Industry. Simplistic, but far better than a confusing combination of categorically different roles.

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More fun from the resume pile:

Sales, If your looking for a rock star.

I’m looking for a sale carreer with a strong base and benifits. I’m the best looking for the best.

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We have spent some time updating the look of the Select Metrix website. The home page has remained mostly intact but we have changed the layout to make it a faster read. We have also attempted to blend the blog into the site more directly. Please stop by, have a look at the new design and let us know what you think.

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Google brought me to this British site - Onrec.com and their article Interview Faux Pas. Here are my 2 favorites from the somewhat strange list:

1. Know the job you’re being interviewed for. After an otherwise quite successful interview for a telesales job, one graduate stunned the panel with the phrase: “Oh and by the way I don’t do cold calling.”

8. Prepare your questions. At the end of her questions, an interviewer posed the question; “okay, you can ask me one question and one question only” to the interviewee. After much procrastination, the young lady took a deep breath, calmed her nerves and asked “Are you going anywhere nice on your holidays this year?”

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Your website. Straight from Selling Power’s article Hiring Generation Y:

The most powerful recruiting tool for Generation Y is a company’s Website, says Lloyd. Websites need to be up-to-date, engaging, and constantly evolving. “If you demonstrate the latest technology, you will impress this group,” says Lloyd.

We just placed a salesperson for a customer who did not have a live website. They were reworking the site to tie in with their other companies and I can tell you it was a real stretch. Not only did this company not have a website, they did not have any noticable digital identity. They appeared to be ethereal. Thankfully they brought their new website up the same day they issued the offer to the sales candidate which helped close the deal.

Some more information on Gen Y:

“Generation Y is very energetic and they expect to succeed,” says Lloyd. “They’ve grown up in a culture where they’ve mostly experienced success, yet they have very different values and expectations. They shoot for the moon and they want it right now. It’s a tremendous contrast from the oldest group in the workforce, the traditionalists.”

An example of this expectation. I like the confidence as long as it is properly balanced by humility. Lastly, some advice from the expert:

“Generation Y believes in their own worth and they expect rapid advancement a challenge for organizations with the traditional pyramid structure,” says Lloyd. “Organizations are going to have to be creative to recruit and retain this generation. They have to be much more focused on the individuals and their needs, rather than trying to sell this group on how good their company is. This generation is looking for a place where they can be creative, challenged, have fun, and make a contribution.”

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Selling Power discusses behavioral-based interviewing in On Your Best Behavior. The article covers the main points of this interview approach and it is certainly an approach we incorporate - to some extent.

First, if you are relying on the face-to-face interview to make a strong sales hire, you are taking unneeded risks. Even bad salespeople can be good at building rapport. Other salespeople may be silky smooth talkers but nothing more - they can shine in the interview but never close a deal once they make it on to your payroll. An over-reliance upon the interview is the number one reason for a bad sales hire. You must use a system for screening and assessing candidates before you meet them face-to-face.

To prepare for a behavioral-based interview, Opton says to research what characteristics you want from a candidate…what’s the one thing that this person has to have? This will help you to determine the “must-haves” versus the “nice-to-haves.” Focus questions around those characteristics. Center questions on specific examples of strengths and weaknesses without specifically asking people, “What are your strengths and weakness?”

Objectively assess them first. Our view is heavily influenced by salespeople since that is our expertise. Many weak candidates are still able to “read” a behavioral-based question and adjust their answer towards the interviewer’s preferred response. Take a look at this example question from the article:

Can you tell me about a time when you were able to penetrate a major national account with a new product?

As a crafty sales candidate, I know that I need to shade my responses towards new business development with a strong emphasis on large accounts. I would also know that I need to incorporate pieces of a new product or service in my responses. If I have been in sales long enough, I can come up with examples of these scenarios, and I may even embellish them. Unfortunately, these scenarios may not be my strong suit. No matter, I’m going to overplay my skills on these topics and minimize the fact that most of my experience revolves around selling existing products to repeat customers.

Too easy for the candidate. If the interviewer has a detailed report on this candidate’s skills, motivations, talents and style, they can probe for specific traits within the behavioral-based question. Clearly, the more data you have going into the interview, the better read you will get on the salesperson’s true abilities.

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An encouraging sign from M.B.A. programs as reported by CareerJournal.com - M.B.A. Programs Hone ‘Soft Skills’. From the article:

The schools are responding to employers’ growing interest in soft skills. Executive suites are increasingly composed of managers running far-flung operations who must attract and retain knowledgeable workers. That puts a premium on skills such as communicating and brokering compromises, says Warren Bennis, a professor at the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business and author of a best-selling book on leadership.

“It isn’t just nice — these interpersonal skills,” Mr. Bennis says. “It’s about stuff that’s necessary to lead a complex organization.”

We’ve been observing this shift first hand over the past 5-6 years (I suspect the shift has been going on longer than that time frame). We work with many Presidents and CEO’s and have found a distinct shift towards people-oriented leaders.

The previous stereotypical leadership mantra was a hard-charging, task-oriented driver who led the company through dictate (a bit of hyperbole, but you get the point). Nowadays, we have seen a dramatic shift towards team-building, people-oriented steadiness amongst leaders. These leaders have a long-term outlook and affect change through their teams.

Click here for more information regarding our leadership assessments.

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I just found this cover letter and red flags went off everywhere:

College student nearing completion of a Computer Sciences degree looking for a full or part-time entry level position in a technical environment such as software testing, hardware installation, database development, or data entry.

Get me secured in your company while I’m still sans degree, because there will come a day when my time will be very valuable.

I would run the other way from this candidate. Again, confidence is good, cockiness is bad. Take a look at the close:

Tuition reimbursement a plus, but not required. Please e-mail with any openings available for a resumé.

Remember, this is a college student. “Required?” Who is hiring whom here? And the last sentence, well, I’m not sure what to make of it other than he is trying to get his resumé hired. This guy may be an excellent programmer and a good employee, but the cover letter screams of an entitlement mentality.

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