Sales Job Interview Guide

One common mistake that applicants make is that they don’t specify which position or what job they are particularly interested in. Companies want the right candidate for the right job. They want to get people who will be focused on the job. In your resumes, you should clarify and specify your objectives based on what position you are applying for. Your rich experience in different areas might help you land the job you specifically want.  But some applicants don’t even know what the job descriptions in a sales job are. In the next entries, we will know some of the job titles and their descriptions.

In a sales job interview or in any interview, you will more likely expect to be asked questions. These are not just ordinary questions, not your yes or no questions, but more of open-ended questions. Open ended questions are questions which will make the interviewer know you more. You might be asked about your strengths and weaknesses, where you are five years from now, what was the biggest challenge you faced so far, and other questions that will make the interviewer measure you and how you present yourself in an interview.   Remember that in a sales career, personality can transport you to higher levels.

In a sales job interview or any job in that case, there is a process of selection called sifting. Sifting is the process wherein the company looks matches the applicant as close as possible to the requirements of the job. Even before the interview stage, applicants go through sifting. The personnel in charge of sifting may be the human resource specialist and their staff. Then, the most important thing we should remember is to customize our resumes based on the company or the job description we are applying for. You don’t need to have a long 10 page resume, but a resume with the relevant information would be your ticket in even landing an interview.

Before army people go to any mission or operation there is the process they have to undergo which is briefing. A mission briefing will set the objectives and goals of the mission. These objectives and goals would determine if the mission would be a success or a failure. In a sales job interview, an applicant must know the mission of the company he or she is applying for. It will be good to know this when it comes to the interview. This will impress the one interviewing you because they know that you took time to research about their company, but more than that they would know how serious you are.

It has been said that you are what you eat, but in the case of sales job interviews, you are what you wear. First impressions will definitely last. These first impressions will either let the interview take place, or maybe you won’t be interviewed at all. Coming to a sales job interview is also like selling yourself. So, if you cannot package yourself properly, then why would a customer, in this case a company, get you? What you wear in a sales job interview is equally important to what is written in your resume. You must dress for success.

In a commercial of a body deodorant it says, “First Impressions Last.” I definitely agree with this and it has truth in it. According to a study by former UCLA professor Albert Mehrabian on first impressions, half of every first impression comes from how you look. He said that first impressions are formed in 7 seconds and 38% of the first impression comes is based on how you say things, 7% is based on what you say, and a thundering 55% is comes from non-verbal clues. So it doesn’t matter what you say at first, it is how you look.

It is always good to be true. One good thing that we need to find in a sales job applicant is that if he is a believer of the company. You would know this if that sales job applicant were a product of the products. In other words, he must be a user of the products. Nothing beats a personal testimony. This way the sales job applicant would be more enthusiastic and motivated to sell whatever the company has to sell if he himself is a believer of the products. In an interview, a tip for the applicant is that he must at least have used or have availed of what the company had offered.

One may find this ridiculous that the customer would do the selling for you. According to Brian Tracy, you can be part of the top 10% of the salespeople in your industry if you can get your customers to sell for you. Statistics show that 84% of sales in America take place as a result of word-of mouth marketing. He said that the most important sales promotion activities take place between customers and prospects, between friends and colleagues, in the form advice and recommendations on what to buy and from whom. This kind of promotion will open wider opportunities for your sales career.