Interviewing can be one of the most stressful parts of any new job. Especially sales jobs if you don’t have much experience. It can be very intimidating. Some interviews can even involve more than one interviewer. I have seen as many as five members of management sitting in on the interview. Talk about intimidating! But the key to doing well in an interview is being prepared. So in this section I’m going to go into some detail about different types of interviews, what to expect in an interview, and even some questions that might come up. Also, I’m going include some videos of some example interviews. Those should be very helpful.

Different Types Of Interviews

So, let’s start with different types of interviews. And what I mean by types of interviews is how is the company you are interviewing with viewing the interview. There are really just two types of sales jobs. There are sales positions that are hard to fill and the company just needs some bodies to make the calls. You may work out or you may not, but their main goal is hire some new people. You will be able to tell because they will ask you minimal questions about your qualifications and more about selling their company and why you would like working their. Usually this means they will not be honest about the opportunity and they will usually over sell the potential to get you interested. And I will go into more detail about that a little later. The other type of sales position is one where the company is looking for a highly qualified candidate and that interview will usually by rather intense. These companies are usually looking to fill a position that is open and they are not in a hurry to fill it. They want someone who is the right fit.

Let’s take a deeper look into the first type of interview. And let’s assume that you don’t have much if any sales experience. This actually may be a good type of company to start with. Yes, it might not be the best opportunity but it might be a good company to start with to gain some experience. The type of companies that may fit into this category are insurance companies, financial companies, furniture companies and also some inbound phone sales companies. Remember, these companies are looking to fill positions so they are going to be selling their position more than asking you to sell yourself. To start off they may ask your background and what you are looking for. They may ask if you enjoying meeting new people, if you are okay with talking with strangers on the phone, and a few other questions like that. Then they will usually turn to their position and try to sell you on it. But you want to go in prepared with some questions of your own with this type of interview. For example, you might want to ask them what type of income is reasonable to expect with someone with little sales experience. And how long it might take for a new person to learn enough to earn what your minimum number is. Everyone has a minimum number. That is the income that is needed to survive. The bottom line is that you may not feel entirely comfortable with this opportunity, but if you are in a position that you need a job right now you may need to accept it until you can find a better opportunity.

Now let’s take a look at the other type of interview. Usually, a company that is looking for a highly qualified candidate will make that know in the ad that they placed. But occasionally it might not be exactly clear what they are looking for until the actual interview. This type of interview will focus mainly on you and your qualifications. They talk about the company and the position that is open, but you may need to ask some additional questions during the interview to make sure you understand exactly what they are looking for. This type of interview will usually be pretty intense and may involve several people from the company. Be prepared to answer a lot of questions about your qualifications. They may ask about how much sales experience you have and what type of sales you have done. They may even do a little role playing with you on some basic objections. Be prepared for that and practice some objections before the interview. You may also be asked some questions about your personality. Some companies are looking for more aggressive sales people that can excel in one call closing. If that is the case and you are not an aggressive type of salesperson it doesn’t mean that you cannot succeed. But you need to be prepared to explain to them how your type of sales approach can work with what they are selling. My personality is anti high pressure selling but I have succeeded in many types of industries that you may consider high pressure. I sold Yellow Pages for crying out loud. So it can be done. You can learn more about how to prepare for this type of interview in one of our courses. Check out our courses here.

Conclusion

The bottom line is that if you take the time to prepare for your interview you will not be nervous and you will be confident in your answers. And the manager who is interviewing you will take note of that and even if they don’t hear what they want from you, that confidence will stand out enough for many companies to take a chance on you. Remember, know your strengths and weaknesses and be prepared to be honest about your weaknesses. Also, be honest about your sales experience. You will not do yourself any favors if you try and fake it and say you have more experience than you actually do. Companies will see right through that. And if they don’t up front, it will show in your first few days and it will probably not end well. I hope this has helped you understand what to expect. You can learn more by taking the courses we have put together. You can find them on the home page on the menu at the top. Just click on the tab courses and you will nail your next interview!