As if interviews weren’t nerve-wracking enough, the days of securing a position with a sharp suit and a unique answer to “what’s your biggest weakness?” are long gone. High-pressured sales positions demand more from their candidates, and it means that tasks and presentations are as much part of the recruitment process as a firm handshake. How does any aspiring sales executive rise to the challenge, though?
Organisations are increasingly creating interview tasks that are unique to them. It goes without saying that sales executives need to be able to sell, demonstrate good communication, think quickly, display confidence and understand a product, and all of these attributes are tested at interview. Yet those doing the hiring also want to know that candidates match the staff’s work ethic, goals and culture.
David Boothby, the director of organisational development at Octopus Investments, agrees. “We have eight core values, and we set behavioural tasks for candidates that are related to those values. We have a passion for great service, innovation and employee development and want to be sure that our recruits have these passions too.”
The tasks and presentations that Octopus sales candidates face include anything from practice sales or service calls through to selling a product back to the interviewers, as well as numerical challenges.
“We like to push people outside their comfort zone,” says Boothby. “That’s how we measure their performance. The tasks that candidates face are nothing to do with our business or their previous work, and that means we can see how they tackle the unexpected. The answers do not have to be right, but they do show us whether candidates go to pieces, take a logical approach, gather information privately or ask lots of questions. It all tells us whether they are right for the job.”
It also gives candidates less chance to prepare. If interviewees know exactly what a task comprises of then there is a danger that they’ll be too rehearsed and won’t give an honest account of themselves. Such tasks are all about revealing the reality behind slick responses.
Competency-based tasks are now extremely common, as are assessment centres. The latter are especially popular where call centres need to embark upon volume recruiting, enabling them to see as many candidates as possible. A number of candidates arrive at the assessment centre and are asked to tackle anything from role plays through to group discussions, all of which determine their suitability to move onto the next stage of the recruitment process.
Presentations are also a key part of recruiting sales executives. They give interviewees the chance to perform, and they allow interviewers to judge the candidates’ attention to detail, body language, preparation and eye contact.
“Presentations are very revealing,” says one recruiter. “They even tell you about the candidates’ level of spelling and grammar. We see presentations that haven’t been spell-checked, and that immediately tells you something about the candidate.”
Presentations usually involve the candidates receiving a brief about a product or service they need to sell. They’re then given time to digest the information before presenting it to the interviewing panel. It doesn’t just demonstrate the ability to sell but it also indicates who is best suited to phone work and face-to-face client contact.
“We always ask a candidate to sell a product back to us,” says Boothby of Octopus Investments. “We take a number of guises when they do it, too. We may act inquisitive, as if we don’t understand or even as if we want to know every detail of the product. We never give candidates enough time that it just becomes a memory test, but we do give them the information long enough for them to be able to discuss the product. It really does show us what their behaviours are.”
All of which means that as much as you may brush up on facts and figures, it’s your performance that needs to be polished. And even though you can’t predict the task, you can predict how you’ll handle it. Imagine yourself in various sales scenarios and ask yourself how you’d deal with them. Picture tough customers as well as accommodating ones or imagine how you’ll pitch a product that’s completely new to you. It all helps you get to grips with the unexpected.
“Use colleagues, friends and family, too,” advises Boothby. “Get them to ask you tough questions or interview you in different ways. It means that when you get to the interview, you’ll be used to being reactive, and you’ll have an even better chance of getting that job.”
For help with the actual interview, see our guide Before, during and after the interview.
