Position Name: Sales & Marketing
Interviewer
Candidate Name
Interview Date
Introductory Questions
– Interviewer(s) share name, role, tenure, and hand business cards for thank you messages – Share a brief overview of the company
– Give Candidate the Job Description, highlight Job Purpose, Schedule/Travel, Major Challenges & Key Decisions, and Physical Requirements
Tell us about yourself.
Walk us through your professional background.
What type of environment do you thrive in? What type of management style do you enjoy most?
What are your short and long-term professional goals?
What do you know about our organization?
Transitional & Verification Questions
– Clarify any unclear information from resume or application
– Verify availability for work hours and schedule, start date, and other important details
What interests you about this role?
What interests you about working for us?
What accomplishment on your resume are you most proud of?
Technical Questions
– Ask job related questions, based on skills and competencies needed for the role
– Ask open ended questions that allow candidates to tell a story about a specific example
– Ask 5-10 questions based on the role and how much time you have (~3-4 minutes per question)
– Listen for recent examples, details, consistency, the candidate’s role in the story, and teamwork
– Take notes and ask clarifying questions as follow-ups
Can you tell me in general terms how your technical skills meet the requirements of this position? In which specific areas do you need to come up to speed?
What specific areas (related to the position) do you consider yourself the most knowledgeable? What areas have you had less experience or do not feel as comfortable with?
What has given you the greatest sense of achievement at work and why?
Behavioral / Situational Questions
– Ask job related questions, based on skills and competencies needed for the role
– Ask open ended questions that allow candidates to tell a story about a specific example
– Ask 5-10 questions based on the role and how much time you have (~3-4 minutes per question)
– Listen for recent examples, details, consistency, the candidate’s role in the story, and teamwork
– Take notes and ask clarifying questions as follow-ups. Follow up questions may include:
- Tell us more about the action you took and the outcome.
- What did you say at that point?
- How did you react to that situation?
- Explain your role in more detail.
- Tell me in detail what steps you took.
- And what was the result?
- Describe the obstacles you faced in getting it done.
- What other options did you consider?
- Why do you think you reacted as you did?
- How do you think others felt about your actions at the time?
- Were you satisfied with the outcome of your actions?
- If the same or a similar situation presented itself, what would you do differently?
Sales
How do you prepare for a cold sales call?
Situation:
Action:
Result:
How do you prepare to call a past or current customer?
Situation:
Action:
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What has been your most difficult sales situation?
Situation:
Action:
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Share a time when you or the company could not deliver on a promise to a customer.
Situation:
Action:
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Relationship Building
How does one go about building rapport quickly and maintaining successful business relationships? Give examples of how you made these work for you.
Situation:
Action:
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Tell us about a customer relationship that was challenging to establish and maintain. How did you resolve the situation?
Situation:
Action:
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Give a specific example of a time when you had to address an angry customer. What was the problem and what was the outcome? How would you asses your role in diffusing the situation?
Situation:
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Tell us about a time when you built rapport quickly with someone under difficult conditions.
Situation:
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Negotiation
What makes an effective negotiator? Give me an example of an effective situation you’ve negotiated.
Situation:
Action:
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How do you compromise in negotiations? Give an example of where this has been effective.
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Conflict Management
Give me an example of a time when you confronted a negative attitude successfully.
Situation:
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Tell me about a time when you successfully challenged another’s idea.
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Communication
Describe your most recent conflict within a team setting because of a miscommunication and how you were able to solve it.
Situation:
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Give me an example of the types of writing that is required of you in your current position. How do you go about beginning the writing process?
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Tell me about a recent time when an e-mail or verbal conversation was misinterpreted by your team or employees. What was the situation and the outcome?
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Give me an example of a time when circumstances changed the way you needed to communicate to others. What did you do and how did you do it?
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Tell me about a time when you had to give instructions to another person who was having difficulty understanding. What did you do?
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Do you tend to take an observer/listener role or be an active participant in meetings? Tell me about a time when your preferred style worked well and a time when it didn’t.
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Collaboration
What collaboration tools do you find the most helpful for working on team projects and why? How do you use these tools?
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Describe a high-pressure work situation and how you handled it. Tell me what happened, who was involved and what you did in terms of problem solving.
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When circumstances are more difficult (i.e. tight deadline, lay off, labor negotiations, pulling a team together quickly)? Walk me through an example of how you worked with others to solve those difficult circumstances.
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Describe an example where you enlisted active participation of others to solve a problem.
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Tell me about a time when you worked with people outside your work group to get information or ideas. What did you do? What was the outcome or result?
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Tell me about an experience when people outside your work group asked for your help in solving a problem or meeting an objective. What did you do? What was the result?
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Learning Agility
Describe a time when you needed to analyze facts quickly, define key issues, or develop a plan that produced good results.
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Describe a time when you anticipated potential problems and developed preventive measures.
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Describe a situation when you had to get started on something but didn’t know what to do.
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Candidate’s Questions
– Be sure to leave time for their questions, generally 1-3
– Paint a positive but honest view of the pros and cons of the work and culture
Notes
Closing Questions
– Describe where you are in the process, next steps, and when they can expect to hear back
– Ask if they have any final remarks
What is one thing I should know about you that I haven’t asked?
What could you bring to this position that other candidates could not?
What do you hope to find in our organization that you don’t have now?
Interviewer Assessment
Enter your overall assessment about the candidate’s knowledge, skills, abilities, and fit for this position.
Would you recommend this candidate advance in the process?