Interview Tips

Be Prepared

• Research the company - This is easier today than it ever has been. Use the company’s own website and read the Trade press to give you some background information.  If your interview has been arranged by an agency they may be able to supply you with company literature too. 
• You will be expected to demonstrate knowledge of the company and their ethos.  After all, you are likely to be asked ‘How do you see yourself fitting into our company?’ or ‘What contribution do you think you can make to our organisation?’.
• Make sure you are happy with the interview arrangements – who is interviewing you? Where is the interview being held and do you know how long it will take you to get there?
• If you have been told to expect testing at the interview you might want to revise on any product areas that you are not advising on regularly. Again an agency should be able to advise you on the format of an interview, so an FPC style test or competency based questions should not come as a surprise to you on the day.
• Competency Interviews are becoming increasingly common with the FSA tightening up on compliance with regards to recruitment. The basic premise of this interviewing style is to ask open, example-based, questions to get a feel of relevant experience you may have had. It may be helpful to read through a few of the following sample questions to get you thinking along the right lines before your interview:
  • Tell us about a time when you have influenced people?
  • How have you influenced things in a work situation?
  • Tell us about your greatest achievement/success?
  • Tell us about a time you have helped a colleague?
  • What difficulties have you encountered in your job & how have you overcome them?
  • What achievements have you made that have helped others? 
  • Tell us about a time you went out of your way for a customer?

Make an Impression

• Make a positive impression immediately by arriving on time, dressing smartly and shaking hands firmly and confidently with the interviewer
• Remember that when interviewing someone for a client-facing role the interviewer will be considering how you will interact and build ongoing relationships with your clients - first impressions count.
• During the interview make sure you answer the questions quite succinctly. Expand on opening statements with examples that back up your point but don’t be tempted to ramble on.  The interviewer will prompt you if he feels you are not giving enough information.
• Try to answer honestly but positively.  You will be asked why you are looking to leave your current employer and this could lead you to complain about changes etc at your current firm which could put a prospective employer off.  Try to be positive about why you want to move – if the reason is essentially a negative comment on your current employer, try to balance this with the positives about what you feel this new company can offer instead and indeed what you can bring to them.  You want to emphasise that you are taking a positive step forward in your career not just running away from problems with your current employer.
• The above also applies to your career history. If you have had a number of job moves in quick succession prospective employers may be wary of employing you.  You must be ready to explain the reasons for leaving a company in a positive manner. 

Evidencing Achievements and Sales Track record

• Use ‘I’ rather than ‘we’ when answering questions and giving examples.  Taking credit for your personal contribution to a team situation isn’t necessarily demeaning the role of others and shows that you are aware and proud of your individual role and successes.
• Use figures eg commission statements, P60s and league tables, to evidence your achievements. Ideally these will be recent documents and cover a reasonable period of time eg 6 or 12 months, to demonstrate recent and consistent performance.  Successful sales people are goal orientated and are therefore expected to be enthusiastic about keeping track of their own performance.
• Be positive and confident when explaining your achievements to date but ensure that the interviewer feels that you remain keen to learn and wish to achieve more in the future. 

Aspirations

• You are likely to be asked about your aspirations for the future – ‘Where do you see yourself in 5 years time?’ is a very common interview question.
• Be aware that whilst Companies want to see drive and ambition in their sales people, they don’t necessarily want individuals who will doggedly pursue their own career aims with no respect for colleagues working alongside them.
• Show commitment to ongoing development especially further qualifications and training.  If you have already started studying for AFPC for example this is worth mentioning although if you haven’t actually taken the cellophane wrapper off the study material yet you can’t feel too smug about it!
• Be realistic in terms of timescales for promotion with a new company. For example, if you are applying for a sales role and show a strong desire to move into a management position within 6 months, this may be a cause for concern for the current manager.
• Don’t feel that you have to aspire to a management role if you are happy to progress in a sales position.  You can still have aspirations of earning more or moving into specialist sales roles that will show your desire to continue to progress.
• You may be asked about your salary expectations should you be offered the position.  Be realistic as you will be asked to justify your request.  If you currently have a Basic Salary of £20,000 and earned £30,000 overall last year, a basic salary request of £30,000 from a new employer could seem greedy.

Questions

• Always prepare some questions, as it is inevitable that the interview will draw to a close with an opportunity for you to ask about anything that hasn’t been covered during the course of the meeting.
• Make sure you use this opportunity to obtain any specific information that will be important to you personally in formulating an opinion on this company as a prospective employer.
• Questions also give you the chance to show an interest and demonstrate enthusiasm about the role you are being interviewed for. A candidate who asks no questions at all could come across as disinterested.
• Areas that you might want to ask questions about could include; The format and duration of the initial training, Ongoing career opportunities, Targets and bonus structure and the next stage of the recruitment process.