4 Essential Interview Tips for Mid-career Sales Professionals -

4 Essential Interview Tips for Mid-career Sales Professionals -Yur palms are sweaty and theres a sinking feeling in your stomach. Youre about to walk into a job interview and youre feeling completely unprepared. Youre ordinarily confident during a schlussverkauf pitch why are interviews so tricky?Feeling nervous before a big interview is normal. Many successful mid-career professionals who I help distribution policy feel this way. When its been a few years since youve interviewed for a new position, brushing up on interview best practices can help you feel comfortable, confident and ready to land your dream job. Heres how to channel your fears into effective preparationThe fear Youll ramble and your answers will sound disorganized.The solution Practice your answers using the STAR method.Dont panic when you hear questions like Tell me about a time or Give me an example of These questions are asking for a short anecdote about your work experience. Organize your answer using the STAR m ethod Situation, Task, Action, Result. Describe the challenge, describe your responsibility, describe what you did, and quantify the outcome.For example our schlussverkauf were down 10% from last year, I had just been promoted to sales manager and needed to motivate my team, I put together a new incentive structure and talking points, and my team exceeded our sales goal by 20%. Brevity matters dont lose your audience on a lengthy tangent. Drill down to the essentials and keep your answers in the two minute range.The fear Your accomplishments wont sound impressive.The solution Quantify and contextualize your successes.Dont assume a hiring manager will understand the ins and outs of your current role. Its your job to provide enough information that they can appreciate what youve achieved. Do so by quantifying and contextualizing your success. For example, rather than saying, I exceeded my numbers, provide additional context. How many people at your company also exceeded their numbers? How did the company perform overall? How did the industry perform? Extra details, when appropriate, can make a huge difference. Its much more impressive to say I was the only regional sales manager to exceed my target goals three straight years and I did this even as industry sales dropped by 8%.The fear You wont say the right answer.The solution Know your numbers.People sometimes think interviews are a quiz and that theres a right answer for everything. The truth is a little more complicated. On one hand, its important to be an authentic version of your professional self. Theres no benefit to squeezing yourself into a position thats not a good fit. Even if you get the job, youre setting yourself up for professional frustration.On the other hand, there is a formula to a successful sales interview and it comes down to numbers. Percentage growth, revenue size, and territory size are all critical. Youll almost certainly be asked about these figures, so get ahead of this question and p repare your numbers in advance. Then, you can focus on letting your authentic self shine through.The fear Your job history is confusing.The solution Know your reasons for leaving past jobs.Dont worry most mid-career sales professionals dont have perfectly linear career trajectories. Maybe you started in a different industry or a different role, like operations or marketing. Maybe youve taken a few years off, worked part-time or stepped back from regular travel. Companies value candidates who arent jumpy. If youve switched positions several times in the last few years, this can be a red flag to a prospective employer they dont want you to leave them, tooI recommend preparing a short, two-sentence answer that addresses a career pivot and then refocuses on the job at hand. For example, After five years in operations, I moved to sales and my expert systems knowledge has been a tremendous asset for prospective clients. Since I understand their challenges and they trust my recommendation s, I grew our systems sales by 18% in just one year.How a Sales Recruiter Can Help You Prepare for InterviewsThink of your recruiter as your interview ally were here to help you be successful. Since were in close contact with hiring managers, we know what they expect and any idiosyncrasies that can impact interview performance.Heres an example I work closely with an HR representative who always insists on a short kontrolle call with candidates. The HR rep doesnt discuss much on these calls and she often leaves people with the impression that she isnt interested in them as candidates. As a recruiter, I know this low-energy approach is just her style, and I prepare candidates for that. Its part of the process and its not indicative of their hiring prospects. In fact, I had one candidate who told me, I think that went really poorly, and she sailed right through to the next round.