Have you brushed up on those interview skills?

February 3, 2011

Have you been practicing your interviewing skills? What is your strategy?

Interviewing is a tactical game, but having a strategy before you walk in the door will certainly make things a little more predictable. For most of you in sales, interviewing is sales 101. And yet for some reason, many people with a sales background don’t use a similar process for selling themselves as they would selling their product or service!

Quick example: if you had only 10 minutes in which to present yourself and secure a second interview with a company, what percentage of that time would you want to use asking questions (about the job, what they’re looking for, etc); and what percentage would you use spelling out who you are, why you’re a fit for the role, your accomplishments, etc? If you’ve been in sales long, you know where I’m going with this; you’ve got two ears and one mouth — use them proportionately!