Gentry

Sr. Manager

New to hiring - anyone have advice on interviewing candidates?

I've recently gotten to a level that I'm a part of the hiring process for my previous sales role. Mostly just doing the "drool test" phone screenings and passing the better candidates onto my boss who conducts the real interviews.

Anyone have good tips on non-corny interview questions to ask? Once we wrap up talking about their work experience, I don't feel like I'm diving deep enough.

Similarly, for those candidates that you immediately rule out (let's be real, we have all been there), any tips on letting them down easy and not wasting everyone's time?

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BigCheese

Notorious Answer

Agency Recruiter

Definitely could have some tips for you. What are some of the questions you're asking? In what part of the conversation do you feel you're lacking questions?

Gentry

Sr. Manager

My standard cadence is:

1. Walk through their resume and ask them about their experiences and ask targeted questions depending on their explanations (typical).

2. Ask why they think their current experience fits for this role (lets me know if they actual read the description of the job or not - For context, the industry I'm in gets a lot of people applying just to get into it, regardless of the department/job).

3. Ask about their sales process - IE. How many calls/emails/meetings are they making before giving up on a prospect.

From there I don't have much. Granted this usually fills the 15-30 minute time slot, but just think I can get a little more creative.

BigCheese

Notorious Answer

Agency Recruiter

My apologies, Gentry, I thought I replied.

Sounds like you have a good foundation. I'll ask character questions, or for examples of themselves in situations - ie. give me an example of overcoming a problem in your sales process or examples of working in a team and the role you played. Ask what motivates them, where they want to be in 5 years, what current goals they have, etc. Are they just looking for a job or are they wanting this specific position and why? Questions like that. Experience and speaks for itself, but I like to dive deeper into the type of person I'm interviewing.

Gentry

Sr. Manager

Very helpful. The "just looking for a job" question will be a good implementation. That's a good way to get through the candidates I mentioned that just apply to get into the industry

Chep

WR Officer

Bitcoin Adoption Specialist

Asking questions that include why, what, when, where, and how so you get open-ended answers. The same can be said for cold calling ;)

Salespreuner

Big Shot

Regional Sales Director

Ruling out : strategy questions, be it calls or proposals or navigation through deals (handling objections, too!)

Progress : attitude, mindset, keenness (something like, would you be interested to pursue with 30% quota achievement? How'd you go about that?)

Gentry

Sr. Manager

Thanks for the tips. Love the battling objections idea, can learn a lot there

Salespreuner

Big Shot

Regional Sales Director

Cheers. Yes

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

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Gentry

New to hiring - anyone have advice on interviewing candidates?

9 comments

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