Comments on: From the newsletter: Interviewing for a Sales Evangelist – The Wants and What Not’s of the Methodology http://salesblog.karlgoldfield.com/2008/05/from-the-newsletter-interviewing-for-a-sales-evangelist-the-wants-and-what-not%e2%80%99s-of-the-methodology.html Tue, 30 Mar 2010 21:37:39 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Skip Anderson http://salesblog.karlgoldfield.com/2008/05/from-the-newsletter-interviewing-for-a-sales-evangelist-the-wants-and-what-not%e2%80%99s-of-the-methodology.html/comment-page-1#comment-217 Skip Anderson Sun, 01 Jun 2008 21:15:20 +0000 http://salesblog.karlgoldfield.com/2008/05/from-the-newsletter-interviewing-for-a-sales-evangelist-the-wants-and-what-not%e2%80%99s-of-the-methodology.html#comment-217 I like your suggestion of asking a candidate what they would be doing for a living if they weren't in sales. I think this can offer tremendous insight into a job candidate. I also like your question "what is your greatest accomplishment." I was doing a second interview for a job candidate a number of years ago. She had graduated from an Ivy League school, had held a job for a few years at a leading company in her industry. "This is good," I thought. When I asked her what her greatest accomplishment was, she told me it was getting married. I asked her questions about this, then I gave her another chance and asked her what her second greatest accomplishment was. She said, "planning my wedding." I did not have the good fortune of graduating from an Ivy League school, but if I did, I suspect my answer to that question might somehow relate to that, or to some other accomplishment in school or in my career. Her answer to this question led me to ask more probing questions (I am a salesperson, after all), and I was able to determine that her main goal at that time was to have kids and stay home with them. That's not a bad goal, in fact that's a great goal, but I needed someone who was going to generate lots of revenue for my company. I decided she probably wasn't the one who was going to be able to do that. I like your suggestion of asking a candidate what they would be doing for a living if they weren’t in sales. I think this can offer tremendous insight into a job candidate.

I also like your question “what is your greatest accomplishment.” I was doing a second interview for a job candidate a number of years ago. She had graduated from an Ivy League school, had held a job for a few years at a leading company in her industry. “This is good,” I thought.

When I asked her what her greatest accomplishment was, she told me it was getting married. I asked her questions about this, then I gave her another chance and asked her what her second greatest accomplishment was. She said, “planning my wedding.”

I did not have the good fortune of graduating from an Ivy League school, but if I did, I suspect my answer to that question might somehow relate to that, or to some other accomplishment in school or in my career.

Her answer to this question led me to ask more probing questions (I am a salesperson, after all), and I was able to determine that her main goal at that time was to have kids and stay home with them. That’s not a bad goal, in fact that’s a great goal, but I needed someone who was going to generate lots of revenue for my company. I decided she probably wasn’t the one who was going to be able to do that.

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