Check out this article – Top Interview Questions – from CareerBuilder.com. It provides a handful of interview questions along with the rationale behind them. A quick taste: How do you alleviate stress? Every job has stress. So if someone says they are not stressed or claim to not do anything about it, then they are either lying or they do not know how to control it. Look for positive activities or hobbies, rather than substance use or dangerous activities as stress relievers. What was a major obstacle you were able to overcome in the past year? Problem solving is the major topic covered by this question. What kind of thinker… Read More
Continue ReadingBreak The Candidate’s Interview Routine
Here is a typical article about interview technique titled How to Keep Your Cool In the Interview Hot Seat from CareerJournal.com. The article promotes common advice regarding how to keep your nerves during an interview. Personally, I appreciate a candidate who has some nervousness in an interview. Granted, I don’t want them to curl up in the fetal position on the floor, but a bit of nervousness tells me that they have a desire to do well. Implicitly I then believe they are most interested in the position (not always true but a good way to hedge your bets). Now, here is the advice in the article that we derail… Read More
Continue ReadingWhat Does Success Look Like?
Earlier this week, myself and the President of one of our customers interviewed a sales candidate. We purposely put the candidate through an extensive interview to observe his ability to handle a lengthy discussion (similar to our customer’s typical call). After putting him through the paces, we gave him the chance to ask questions of us. This time is most valuable in an interview in that it gives you insight into the candidate’s thought process during the qualifying stage in a sales process. He did quite well in his questions – he learned who the competition is, what markets he would call on, the company’s value proposition and culture (including… Read More
Continue ReadingSnap Judgments Rule The World
I thought this was interesting from the StarTribune’s Old-Time Job Search: In 1937, Elmer Wheeler published the advertising classic, “Tested Sentences That Sell.” He wrote it after testing 105,000 word combinations on 19 million people over 10 years, to find the phrases and communications techniques that sold the most goods and services. Wheeler included a chapter on tested ways to get hired, and here’s his number one rule for getting a job: “Watch your ten-second approach. Our case histories showed that many employers judge the applicant during the first ten seconds. He catches a flash of the man’s appearance, his personality, and is or is not impressed by his first… Read More
Continue ReadingSigns Of A Qualifier
Heard a great question from a candidate interview this morning – “What reservations would you have putting me in this role.” Friends, that’s what we call stone-cold qualifying.
Continue ReadingFerret Out The Real Salesperson
I spoke to a sales candidate this week who took a couple days to get back to me after completing a phone interview last week. Her comments were almost unbelievable. The one that caught me most off guard was a statement that the General Manager of the company “clearly didn’t know a thing about sales.” This statement was not true, but even if it was, that is not something to blurt out in a follow-up discussion. She was a strong candidate who screened well, assessed well for fit to the position (with one anomaly) and phone interviewed well. In the end, she was not the right salesperson for the role.… Read More
Continue ReadingVideo-Conference Interviewing
I have been working through many phone screens and phone interviews over the past few weeks. These interactions are tough for the candidate and for the interviewer. I was at a communication conference this past weekend that restated something I already knew – 55% of all communication is non-verbal. This fact is never more obvious than during a phone interview. So SellingPower.com has an article in their latest hiring newsletter that caught my eye – Three, Two, One, Action. The article discusses video-conference interviewing. I am currently working on national positions in every region except the Southeast. Video conferencing would make this task much easier. Some points: Rooms can cost… Read More
Continue ReadingAwful Interview Questions
I have a weakness for this topic so I was pleased to read today’s ERE.net article titled Results-Focused Interviews. Remember, these are all questions that people submitted to the website as their best questions to use in an interview. I am not making these up: “If a spaceship were to land outside this office and you were asked to get in, would you? Why?” (Is an acceptable answer, “Because they had a ray gun?”) “Am I a good interviewer? Why or why not?” (Well, if you have to ask me, maybe we ought to switch chairs.) “If you were a part of a car, which part would you be and… Read More
Continue ReadingInterview Etiquette – When To Cancel
I am on the road this week in Dallas interviewing candidates with one of our clients and a situation came up in the last 24 hours that speaks to proper etiquette during the interview/hiring process. There are certain expected behaviors that should be followed by both the employer and the candidate in any process. Yesterday, I received a phone call in the evening from a candidate who wanted to tell me that she was canceling our interview scheduled with her for early this morning. She knew that I was traveling from Minneapolis to Dallas and had even confirmed her interview with us late in the afternoon the day before. So… Read More
Continue ReadingProof Of Thesis Interviewing
There is a style of interviewing that we encounter frequently that leads many companies down a hiring path they should avoid. I call it “Proof of Thesis” interviewing and here is how it works. The hiring company publishes a job description on a major job board or, heaven forbid, in a printed newspaper. The hiring company refers to the published job description as a “sales ad.” It is not, but that is a topic for another post. Phone calls are generally discouraged. Email copies or resumes are passable. Complex and frustrating navigation through an online applicant tracking system is preferred. So the applicants respond and resumes pour in to the… Read More
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