Using Sales in my Interview

I already wrote once about how to use sales techniques in an interview, but since I had an actual interview this week, I thought I’d share some specific ways I used points from sales class in my interview!

The first thing I did, long before the interview itself, was research the company website and the job description thoroughly. The biggest part of sales is figuring out what needs the customer has. Likewise, I knew how important it would be for me to have a solid understanding of what this company was actually looking for. I sought to understand their intent behind hiring for this position. All of this research gave me a good idea going into the interview of what the company’s true needs were.

Second, I was honest. Very honest, even when there was something that I know would have sounded better to my interviewers. If they were looking for experience x but I really didn’t have that experience, I told them so. Part of selling is being honest with your potential customers, even when it may not benefit you. This builds trust, which is much more important in the long-run. I hope that the company would prefer an employee who doesn’t fit every criteria perfectly but is honest about it over an employee who says what the company wants to hear but isn’t being sincere.

Finally, I read my interviewers’ body language from the first moment I met them. I had two interviewers, and could tell that each one of them was a little different in their level of formality. Their body language also gave me a good idea of which one was more interested in certain topics that I would bring up during the interview. I tried to use these observations to adjust how I responded to each interviewer and what I talked about.

Did these tips help me get the job?

I don’t know yet! Tune in a few weeks from now and maybe you’ll find out!