Interview Tips to Land Your 1st Sales Job
Searching for a career in sales? The most important sale you will ever make is getting a great sales job that launches the sales career of your dreams. Selling yourself during a job interview is a skill that can be taught. I'm not a sales recruiter: I'm a sales expert! I have a successful career in sales, and I've hired and trained thousands of sales professionals to become SALES ASSASSINS!
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1st Interview
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Know Before You Go: Do your homework. Google the company, the product, the CEO, the recruiter conducting the interview, and find out everything you can.
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Practice: Great salespeople continually practice and refine their pitch. Practice your pitch - introducing yourself, your qualifications, and your experience.
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Prepare: Create a list of questions to ask and write them down. Not just any questions: intelligent questions that demonstrate you understand their product and target audience.
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Dress for Success: Appearance matters. Research the company's and their corporate culture. Your 1st impression lasts; a sales job involves selling yourself as well as your product.
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Stow your Devices Don't check your phone during a job interview: you're sending a message that your priorities are elsewhere. If you use your phone to take notes, tell the interviewer.
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Virtual Interview: Phone or Skype interviews are more common, be prepared to conduct a virtual interview in a quiet spot where you won't be interupted or have background noise.
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Listen: Spend 50% of your interview listening to what the recruiter is telling you, and 50% of the interview explaining how you can meet their specific needs.
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Name-Drop: Don't boast or brag, but clearly identify your contacts, resources and references who can be useful getting and performing the job: as long as it’s all true and accurate.
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Don't Talk Money: Focus on the job requirements and your qualifications, not how much the job pays or how much vacations you're entitled to.
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Send a Thank-You Note: After the interview reaffirm your interest in the job with a thank-you note, and add any information you may have forgotten to mention during the interview.
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Follow-Up: A week or 2 after the interview, call or email the interviewer, repeating your interest and availability.
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Remind Your References: Make sure references know that you gave their name during the interview, and to expect a call. If they provide a reference, be sure and thank them.
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Know When to Fold 'Em: If you get no response of any kind after several attempts, accept that the job is not yours, and move on. Who knows: they may call you again for another job.
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2nd Interview
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Ask Who You'll Interview With: Typically a 2nd interview is with a different person, or even a group of people.
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Follow-Up: Ask in-depth questions about the job responsibilities and company culture that you learned during the 1st interview.
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Request a Tour: If your interview is conducted at the company, ask to be shown around the office.
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Find Out the Hiring Timeline: Now that 2nd interviews are being conducted, ask the interviewer when they expect to make a job offer and have a new person on board.
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Sell Yourself: For a sales job, a 2nd interview is your opportunity to demonstrate you're a closer.
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Plan Your Strategy: Review what you discussed - or didn't discuss - at the 1st interview, and provide any missing qualifications or critical expertise.
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Keep Your Schedule Open: 2nd interviews can take some time, and if its going well, could lead to more interviews the same day. Don't double book yourself!
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