(Date published: 25 January
2002)
Stephen Gordan
UKPharm.com
This document is aimed at helping you
prepare for your forthcoming interview. It is deliberately simple in its format
and contains three main parts:
- What Is The Interviewer Looking For?
- What Questions Do Interviewers Use?
- The Major Do's And Don’ts In An Interview.
What is the interviewer looking for?
The interviewer is simply looking for you to show them that you are
capable of being their next top performing representative. The question is,
"What makes a top representative and how do I display that I have these
skills". The answer lies in 'key skills' (often known as Critical Competencies,
Critical Behaviours, etc.). Every character has different key skills, this
makes different people suitable for different jobs i.e. the key skills required
for a computer analyst would be very different from someone who has to deal
with customer complaints every day.
A successful representative will
usually have a well-developed range of the following key skills and this is
what the interviewer should be looking for:
- Concern for success. A desire to be successful in everything you do
- Organisation. The ability to effectively plan your time so that you are in control and do not waste time.
- Customer Service. Adding value to the customer so that the customer appreciates seeing you and they obtain value from working with you.
- Persuasion / Communication. The key to any sales position, being able to influence people of all different levels.
- Teamwork The skill of getting the most from the team you Work in.
- Self Motivation / Enthusiasm. The behaviour of being able to set challenging goals and achieve them with the art of picking yourself up when times are not so good.
- Focus. You are able to establish what is important and provide appropriate answers and solutions. The skill of cutting out unimportant issues and waffle.
In an interview the best way to show that
you posses these skills is through using past examples that demonstrate the
behaviour. It is therefore a very strong suggestion that for every Key Skill
discussed above, you prepare at least two examples from your experience that
demonstrate you posses the specefic skill. If you can support these examples
using hard copy evidence i.e. sales figures, letters of praise from your
managers etc., then we would strongly suggest that you do so.
What
questions do interviewers use?
Interviewers will be looking to use
questions that elicit whether or not you can demonstrate the key skills
required. There are two distinct styles of interview questions:
- Evidence based - i.e. "Can you give me an example of when you have demonstrated" or "In the past what have you done in this situation………?"
- Hypothetical - i.e. "What would you do faced with this situation……?"
Modern interviewing techniques tend to
favour the evidence-based approach. This is because hypothetical questions will
result in hypothetical answers, often based on exaggeration and non-truths. In
both cases though it is important that you are aware of what key skill the
interviewer is looking to find and answer using your appropriate prepared
examples.
Example: The interviewer needs to know how you go about
planning time and how well organised you are. They will therefore ask a
question related to time management and planning skills. The interviewer has
one of the two approaches to use either, evidence based or
hypothetical.
Taking evidence based first:
Question - "I'd like you
to think of a major event that you have had to organise in the past, can you
take through how you went about planning for the event to be successful."
For the hypothetical approach:
Question - "If you had to plan a
major event, how would you go about doing it?"
As you can imagine if you
have an example up your sleeve for the first question then answering it is much
simpler. Take the interviewer through your example in a logical, systematic and
focused way.
The second style of question means there are a million and
one answers, most of which you would never do and run the risk of massive over
exaggeration. The interviewer will pick up on this! The best way to answer this
style of question is again to turn the hypothetical question around and use an
evidence based answer from your examples.
Answer - "That is an
interesting question because only last month I had to plan my brothers wedding.
This is how I went about planning and organising my time to ensure it was a
success…."
Below are some standard interview questions. After you
have thought of the best examples for each key skill, try building them into
the answers below. It may be worth asking yourself which key skill is the
interviewer looking for with each question asked.
- What are your biggest successes to date and why are you proud of them?
- I'd like you to think of a time when your view has been the opposite of someone above you.
- How did you handle the situation?
- Did the person come round to your way of thinking?
- Can you think of an example of when you have worked in a successful team, what made it a success?
- If you had to do it again what would you change to make it a bigger success?
- Take me through how you plan your day and the week.
- Has a customer (either internal or external), ever asked you to do something which is over and above what is expected?
- How did you handle this request and what was the outcome?
- Give me some examples of when you have been particularly motivated. What was it that got you motivated?
- In your present job what do you enjoy the most?
- What do you enjoy the least?
- Taking your present territory as an example how do you go about targeting it to maximise sales?
- Why do you want to move from your current role?
- What attracts you to this position?
- What was the last objective your manager / trainer set you and how are you progressing with implementing it?
- What gives you a buzz?
- Think of a time when you had to juggle various tasks at once, can you take me through how you did this?
- What do you find frustrating about your job?
- What do you understand by the term customer service, can you give me an example of when you have gone the extra mile for a customer?
- What outcome did this have?
- What is successful to you and why have you been successful in the past?
- What do you contribute to your current team?
- What is your greatest disappointment in the last five years?
- Can you give me an example of when your motivation and enthusiasm has positively affected others
The Major Dos And Don’ts
I am sure that many of the items listed below are second nature to you
and basic common sense. Unfortunately we all know that when your stomach is
full of nerves, common sense can often leave us. Please read the lists below,
you may just think of it before delivering your fateful clanger!!!
Do's
- Prepare your examples based on key skills, support them by using hard copies in a file if possible.
- Know as much about the company, products and your future role as possible.
- Have positive bode language (i.e. sit upright, slightly forward in the chair and unfold arms). Eighty per cent of our communication is via body language.
- Speak positively at every opportunity.
- Be enthusiastic as many interviewers will recruit on enthusiasm over existing skills or experience.
- Find out where the interview is and get there early to settle your nerves.
- Have a few relevant questions to ask - this shows interest.
- Look professional i.e. conservative suit and clean shoes - if you can't be bothered with your own appearance then there is a good chance they will not be bothered with you.
- 'Close' the interviewer at the end, they are sales people and will be waiting for it! Ask them in a nice way for some feedback and if you need to clarify any aspect of the interview.
- Waffle - A key skill is the need to be focused, preparation will help with this.
- Speak negatively - If any negativity comes out support it straight away with a positive comment.
- Give any of your previous companies/bosses a going over - the interviewer will think that they are next in line if they employ you.
- Be over-friendly and drop your guard too low i.e. answering your mobile phone in an interview does not look too good (a true story!)
- Start negotiating package on first or second interview. If asked, give a ballpark figure but wait for the offer of the job to be made before negotiating exact money.
