a guide to

ensuring interview success

Congratulations on securing your interview. This guide is packed full of useful interview advice and tips to ensure you know how to prepare, execute and successfully close your interview.

We have broken the guide into 3 key areas:

PREPARE.

EXECUTE.

CLOSE.

Preparing for your interview well is the first step to ensuring your success. As the old saying suggests, “Failing to prepare is preparing to fail”.

The following steps will ensure that you have prepared effectively for your interview:

Fully Research the Company (Website, Blog, Brochures and Competitor Companies).

Fully Research the Person Interviewing You (Linkedin, Company Website).

Research the Role you are Interviewing For - Read the job specification, make sure you understand the role you are interviewing for fully.

Dress Correctly - Traditional Business Dress, Smart Hair and Clean Shoes, might seem obvious, but first impres-sions count.

You’re fully prepared and feeling confident, it’s essential now you know what to expect during your interview. We are going to cover everything in this section from Frist Impressions to Competency Based Interviewing.

First Impressions Count:

Be 15 minutes Early.

Firm Handshake.

Build Rapport.

Smile. Body Language:

Posture (no slouching).

Keep eye contact, confidence is key.

Use hands to emphasise.

Try and address all interviewers.

Speak clearly and concisely.

Ensure you are positive and enthusiastic at all times.

Be professional, but relax.

Interview Questioning:

Remember, the interviewers purpose is to determine if you have the potential to do the job you are interviewing for. In addi-tion they will be trying to ascertain if you will fit into their organisation.

Open vs Closed Questions:

It’s essential that you understand the best way to question effectively. Your ability to do this will centre around knowing the difference between ‘Open’ and ‘Closed’ questions.

OPEN - Used to find out information (who, why, what, when, where, which, how) - Cannot be answered with a YES or NO.

“Where do you see yourself in 3 years time?”

CLOSED - Used to qualify information (Questions that can be answered with a YES or NO).

“Do you think I would be successful in the role?”

In sales your ability to successfully question will be a key determinate of your success.

Foundation Questions (you will always be asked..)

Why have you decided to pursue a career in sales?

Why do you think you will make a strong sales person?

Why are you in interested in working for our organisation?

Why should we hire you?

Possible Questions you will be asked

Why did you choose the degree you studied?

What did you enjoy most about University?

What do you want from your career?

What motivates you?

Where do you see yourself in 5 years time?

What’s your biggest weakness/strength?

If I gave you £10,000, what would you do with it?

How do you spend your spare time?

Whats your biggest achievement to date?

How would your friends describe you?

What types of people do you work best with?

What causes you stress?

What do you do in your spare time?

Have you got any questions for me? (Number 1 Question you will be asked).

Questions you will be asked and, should prepare answers for:

Competency Based Interviews

Most interviews you will attend will take a competency based approach, so we want to provide you with a solid frame work for success. This type of interviewing will usually consist of a sequence of questions designed to investigate your current or past experience.

This type of interview is great for you. It provides you with the opportunity to give great examples about how you have demonstrated the relevant behaviours the interviewer is looking for.

Before the interview, you should be aware of the competencies the interviewer is looking for. It you don’t have this infor-mation, please ask for it. You should make sure you fully understand what each competency means so you are able to pro-vide relevant examples. We would recommend preparing 2 examples which clearly demonstrates strong evidence of each competency. PRO TIP: when deciding on your examples, don’t focus too much on university based experiences. You need to think outside the box, demonstrating your extra-curricular activities, previous employment, travel and sporting achieve-ments. Clients are looking for all-rounders.

The following model provides you with a great way to structure your answers:

S.T.A.R Is a universal competency based interview technique

Situation What situation where you faced with?

Task What did you need to do?

Action How did you achieve completing the task/end result?

Result What outcome did you achieve?

The key is to be clear. Avoid using generic answers like, “during university I had to manage my time effectively”, as it doesn't tell the interviewer anything. Employing S.T.A.R will allow you to focus on: What did you need to manage your time effective-ly? Why was it important? How did you achieve it? How did you track your progress to ensure you achieved your end goal? Did you complete your goal? How did that impact you/your degree?

We want you to be successful at your interview. We will be happy to

answer any questions you have at anytime, so just call your Turnstone

contact on 020 3667 1444.

Your Opportunity to question the interviewer.

Preparing your own questions to ask an interviewer is your opportunity to stand out from the crowd. Here are some examples of questions you can ask. It’s important that you don’t just copy these, as this document sadly hasn't just been sent to you, so put some originality into your questions.

Questions you could ask about the company:

What growth plans does your business have?

If I joined (company name), where could I be in 6 months time?

What makes (company name) stand out from your competition?

How many people work within the sales team?

Ask about a recent award or client the company might have won.

Who is your top sales person? What makes them the best?

Questions to ask about the role:

What do you think makes someone successful in sales?

What level could I reach within my first 18 months?

What training and development do you offer?

How much can I realistically expect to earn in my 1st year?

What incentives can I work towards?

How will I be targeted in my role? Questions to ask about the company culture:

How would you describe the company culture?

Typically, what type of people make up the team?

Do you see me fitting in?

Is there an active social side to the business? What types of things do you do?

Good sales people are closers, so it is essential that you try and close the interviewer before you finish your interview. Not sure what we mean by this? Call your Turnstone contact and we go through effective closing techniques and how to effec-tively implement them.

How to CLOSE:

1. Ask the interviewer if they have any reservations about you.

2. If they say NO, then say great and ask when you can start.

3. If they say YES, then ask them what their reservations are? This is your opportunity to overcome their objections.

4. Always end the interview re-iterating your interest in the role and back it up with why it’s interesting. ENTHUSIASM IS

KEY.

This is your golden opportunity to demonstrate your sales skills. Make sure you don’t forget to take advantage of your oppor-tunity to leave the interview on a high by making sure you have stuck in the interviewers mind for all the right reasons.

IF YOU WANT THE JOB, MAKE SURE THEY KNOW IT