Are you aware of all of the interview questions being asked behind close doors at your company?  There are many hiring managers who are unaware of what constitutes a good interview questions.

Most managers know enough to avoid questions regarding marital status, religion and ethnicity, but how about the oddball questions?

Don’t ask, don’t tell from MarketWatch discusses some of the odd questions that occur during an interview.

“Why aren’t you married yet?” “Would you join a church to get a job?” Those are just two examples of questions job seekers said hiring managers asked them in a job interview, according to a new survey of more than 3,000 job seekers and 1,000 hiring managers worldwide by Development Dimensions International and Monster, the career-resource arm of Monster Worldwide.

Others included “Are you happy in your relationship?” “Who is your favorite Beatle?” and “What is your perception of the painting in our lobby?”

Who is your favorite Beatle?  Ouch, that is bad.  But wait, there is more:

“If you could be a dog, what kind of dog would you be?” and “What would you do if I gave you an elephant?” are two examples of the bizarre questions asked, according to survey respondents.

Bizarre.  This approach does create an image of your company that may not be accurate.

Forty-three percent of job seekers surveyed said “asking questions unrelated to job skills” is among the most annoying of managers’ interview habits. Thirty-eight percent said “asking personal questions” was annoying.

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ManageSmarter.com offers this article – If You Want to Improve, Train Your Brain – regarding the need for salespeople to have a broader skill set in today’s market.  That is a trend we have seen over the past few years and one that is sure to expand.

Ok, I know sports analogies can get tiresome, but I did appreciate the “subtitle” of this one (emphasis mine):

“Selling is like golf: You will never be perfect but you can always get better,” Johnston explains. “Even the pros lose their swing at times, and it is good to get coaching when that happens.”

You can always get better at selling – how true.  We encountered many salespeople who don’t subscribe to that axiom – they do so at their own peril.  Unfortunately, this fact is probably the driving force behind sales trainers who offer never-ending training programs also.

Here is a quote I don’t quite track:

But as times change, sales teams need to adjust to them. One such change that has taken the market by storm in recent years is communicating the value of a company’s products and solutions. So if your team is still focused on pricing, they could use a refresher on modern techniques.

Clearly the price-focused sale is still around and many salespeople take that approach (especially when they are uncomfortable discussion money).  However, selling value has always been the soul of successful selling.  I’m glad to see this value-based selling approach is “taking the market by storm in recent years.”

One truth we have always known is that prospects make a buying decision based on price only when they cannot perceive any significant difference between solutions.  If your salespeople are still attempting to sell on price, it is probably time to make some changes on your team.

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That is an excellent turn of phrase from Dave Kurlan’s recent blog post.  He provides an excellent explanation of how hiring processes regress to the stereotypical approach that leads to “safe” hires that don’t produce sales.  I know Kurlan is accurate because we see this regression occur first hand.

Companies often become frustrated with the process itself.  Some would rather hire anybody than wait for the right person to come along.  When they get frustrated they don’t follow the process and won’t listen to expert advice, defaulting instead to their old position of taking somebody they like, who fits the industry profile, rather than the other compromise, taking someone who was recommended by the assessment that they don’t particularly like and may not fit the industry profile.  What’s the difference?  Candidate number one hangs around too long because he fits so well both culturally and industry wise, despite failing to meet expectations.  Candidate number two performs well but doesn’t get the support he needs because the company doesn’t like him and their expectations are too low so he voluntarily leaves.

The latest Topgrading study of 507 managers that hire $100,000+ people revealed that, on average, companies waste $1.5 million and 150+ hours every time a C Player is hired.  Is it really that important to hire somebody when being patient and hiring the right person could save you $1.5 million and the frustration of having to start all over again in several months?

I couldn’t agree more with that summation.  What is interesting in our business is that we are often approached by companies to help them hire stronger salespeople.  Many times we have a discussion about how we do what we do and then the prospect will often disappear.  The unique process and different approach seems to scare them away.

The prospect then continues hiring salespeople who “taking somebody they like, who fits the industry profile.”  Unfortunately for them, they continue to hire mediocrity.

After that approach continues to produce the same marginal results, they contact us again.  This time they are open to our approach and usually become our customer at that point.

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