If you’re looking for a sales job, a sales staffing agency is a great place to start. Sales recruitment firms have extensive contacts in the sales world and can match you with a sales culture that suits you.
But first you have to get through your interview with the sales staffing agency. Here are four tricky questions any sales staffing agency is sure to ask, and how you should try to respond to them.
- “Tell Us About Yourself”
This is a common enough question, but it’s easy to get frozen up on it if you’re not prepared. It’s not as simple as it looks, especially since it’s so open ended. Many interviewers use questions like this to get a real sense of you, so try not to just reiterate what you have on your resume. Give them a personal sense of who you are, including strengths, motivations and skills that will relate to the job. Give concrete examples whenever possible that highlight why you’re the right one for the job. - “Why Are You Interested in Sales?”
This is a chance for you either to shine or to crash and burn. Don’t say something simple, along the lines of “I like sales” or “I want to get paid a lot.” Try to answer in a way that will tell the interviewer something about you. Focus on your sales history and try to describe the exact moment that you felt motivated to get into sales: a summer job, maybe, or an extracurricular activity. Show that you have passion for the job with real-life examples. - “What Made You Leave Your Last Job?”
Even if it’s difficult to do so, stay positive when you get this question. If you ramble about how awful your boss was or how bad the environment was, you’ll come off as a downer even if you’re being completely obvious. Try to think about what the job you’re interviewing for will give you that your previous one didn’t, like more responsibility or a different location. Try to say at least one positive thing you took away from your last job to frame your answer.
Stay positive and tell a story about yourself and you should have no problem impressing your interviewer.
