Early on in my career, I was awful at interviewing; probably still am today. I’m not sure why but I would get nervous and end up saying something stupid during those awkward moments of silence. Looking back at it I was probably trying too hard to show my personality as opposed to my professionalism. I have not interviewed for a job in over ten years but I am pretty sure I still stink at it. Truthfully, interviewing should be a piece of cake for most sales people. We sell; so selling ourselves should be easy. If not, you might be in the wrong career field.
Take a look at things from the recruiter’s position and ask yourself “What’s it going to take to sell them?” I don’t think there is any person harder to hire than a sales person because we all tend to be good at interviews, except for me, of course. When you interview for a sales position you need to stand out. A good interview and resume alone is probably not going to get it done and especially right now. Everyone who is interviewing for the same job as you is most likely very good at interviews, has a polished resume and many will have sales qualifications that meet or exceed your own.
When I was interviewing for sales positions, I would prep for the interview with a memorized rehearsed speech. I wrote up four or five reasons why I was the best fit for the job I was seeking. This was my closing, if you will. When the interview was nearing the end, I would state “In case I missed anything, (i.e. said something stupid) I wanted to take an opportunity to explain why I believed I was the best candidate for the position”. This rehearsed speech was delivered at the end of the interview to hopefully, overshadow some of the dumb things I said when I had to respond off the cuff. My goal was to leave the interview on a high note. I wanted to send a very positive message at the end of the interview. Hopefully, by doing so the recruiter would remember my rehearsed bullet points as opposed to my answer on what type of pizza topping I would be and why.
The bullet points should correlate directly with the qualifications for the job you are seeking. If they said they were looking for a “performance proven achiever,” I would point out actual percentage of quota accomplishments in prior sales gigs. If they were looking for someone with HR software sales experience, I would point out the number of years of experience or actual sales numbers. The concept is pretty simple, take the qualifications for the job and show in your rehearsed speech exactly how you meet the qualifications. How many times after an interview have you said “Man, I wish I would have said this or that”? This rehearsed closing speech should make that question less of an issue and hopefully land you the job.
The tactic works. I saw raised eyebrows when I started my speech and received job offers for 2 of the 3 positions I applied for using this tactic. It’s been a long time since I have interviewed but, if I remember any additional tactics, I will make sure to write them up. Make sure to add a comment if you have any tips that may help others.