T
T

TWK2001

SDR

Fire Starter
Good Citizen
Contributor
+1

Job Seeker Interview Question: what can I state as motivations to succeed in sales besides money?

tl;dr : I'm interviewing for SDR/BDR jobs. Some recruiters have told me to bring up mental health and personal life as a motivation to succeed in sales (for their companies), but some companies say to keep the motivation related to the job itself, but NOT using money as a motivator. What could I talk about, if I have no prior experience in sales (currently in retail)?

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I have been interviewing with a few companies for BDR/SDR roles as I am really eager to break into sales. Today I had a short interview with a recruiter and when they asked me why I want to get into sales, and my answer had one theme: financial independence. I did not get too personal about my life and why I wanted to start making a lot of money, but I couldn't really mention anything other than that.


I've had some recruiters tell me, going forward in the interview process with hiring managers to be very open about personal life and mental health as a motivator behind wanting to make money and succeeding...this company loved those kinds of responses. This is easy for me to do.


I'm interviewing with another company (hiring manager and VP of sales) tomorrow, whose recruiter told me that I should focus a lot on wanting to make money...the VP of sales wants to hear that. But, I'm not sure if that would be enough...


After my interview today (different company; the one I was talking about in the first paragraph), the recruiter basically told me that I should think about why sales in particular besides wanting to make money and become financially stable when moving forward with the hiring manager interview.


That's where I get stuck. My honest motivations for wanting to get into sales are money related, and I have personal life motivations behind that I could talk about as well...but there's nothing I can think of inherently that motivates me to succeed in sales. I have no prior experience and am just looking to break into the industry from retail, so I think that has something to do with it. But if I don't have that prior experience, I'm not sure what I could talk about as a motivator, besides money. Could I get some tips?

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11 comments

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Pachacuti
Politicker
8
They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy
Say something like:
"I have always been very competitive and I feel the only career path to truly make what I'm worth is Sales. At the same time, I also have to believe in what I sell and I'd like what I sell to make the world a better place as well. So if I hit all 3 of those criteria, then the sky's the limit"
poweredbycaffeine
WR Lieutenant
6
☕️
Be blunt and honest. You want to gain financial security and a career that will set you up for success over the next 30 years.

I don’t give a hoot if you’re competitive or whatever other superlative you want to give yourself. If you’re on my team I want you eager to succeed and grow. That’s it.
Kosta_Konfucius
Politicker
4
Sales Rep
I would add how you are competitive.

I usually mention how in sales, there are typically org wide/team emails on who has made the most calls/set the most meetings/has the best conversion rate. And I am a person who is motivated to be on the top of those lists. **Ad story how you are like that in retail.

However, make sure its showing how its more like a friendly game, where you are pushing each other to be better, so they dont get the impression you are a lone wolf
TWK2001
Fire Starter
1
SDR
I am a cart-remover at a supermarket (I bring the shopping carts back into the store after they've been used). I guess I could talk about pushing my coworkers to work harder when it gets busy, but it's not a super competitive job since there's no metric to work towards or anything. I could try to make it all up, but it wouldn't sound real, in my opinion.

Does competitiveness have to be career related? I am still in school and I have friends in the same program, and I am pretty competitive with them when it comes to getting good grades, and that includes pushing each other to do better. I guess career wise as well, we all have our aspirations for different fields, and there is a certain friendly competitiveness there; I want to succeed in sales, some want to get into marketing, web development, etc., there's definitely a lot of competitiveness there, to see who succeeds at their roles.
Kosta_Konfucius
Politicker
2
Sales Rep
The main thing is your answer needs to be honest, it can be goal oriented. And it doesn't need to be career related, so school can be a great way to tell a story.

It can be also you are motivating be overcoming difficult challenges.
AnchorPoint
Politicker
4
Business Coach
If you don't know that answer, you need to spend time figuring it out.
oldcloser
Arsonist
2
💀
"I'm tenacious, competitive and hate to lose. Especially when I can solve a business problem and have real impact. If I truly believe I can help someone, I put up a good strategic fight to prove it. There's nothing more gratifying than a win when it's truly a win-win. Let's face it, nobody is going to put a face on Mt Rushmore or erect a monument for anyone who does what I do for a living. But sales is a noble profession. We help people if they let us!"
WheelofCheese
Opinionated
2
Sales Executive
What motivates you specifically about money? Providing for a family? Wanting to buy a house? If you’re going to bring up the financial aspect, it might help to explain the “why”. Beyond financial gain, you can always lean into something along the lines of wanting a new career challenge. Just some thoughts.
Maximas
Tycoon
1
Senior Sales Executive
My answer will be like "I'm interested in sales because I have great interpersonal skills and I'm passionate about providing excellent customer service. I have experience working with people in previous positions, and your company is appealing since you seem to value putting clients first".
CuriousFox
WR Officer
1
🦊
It's complete bullshit to want true sales peeps to not be motivated by money. We ain't in marketing.
LegacySales
Politicker
1
Account Executive
Say something like:
"I really enjoy making a difference and curing the pain of my customers. Sales does this the more so than any other position and I have been lucky to make my career out of it!"

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