I had a sales candidate ask an excellent, subtle question yesterday – “What other positions is this company currently hiring?” Again, the subtlety of this question provides a view into a company’s needs, growth and possible turnover. It is an excellent question to ask in any interview.
The second part of this equation is for the hiring manager to appreciate the question. What I mean is this – listen carefully to the questions being asked by the candidate. We often watch hiring managers trip over themselves to answer a good question without appreciating the question itself. Some times the hiring manager cannot even recall the questions asked in the interview. This is problematic for successful sales hiring.
Someday I am going to capture every question asked by a candidate in the interview and put them in a document, in order, and then present them to the hiring manager. The questions themselves and the sequence of questions is important for successful selling (read: qualifying). This ability is observable in the interview process…if you are looking for it. Don’t miss it.