"Rob was brilliant. He kept me fully updated and helped me secure the role I was looking for. Aaron Wallis is now the preferred recruitment agency for our business needs."
Samir Dungersi, Candidate
Securing Top Sales Talent
For any candidate that comes to interview at your business, it's imperative that you sell to them
There is a talent for war out there. I know it's an overused cliché, but there are as many good people in the market in 2013 as they were in 2005.
How do we go about doing that? Firstly, put the candidate at ease by showing that you've taken some interest in reading their CV beforehand. Have a look through their career history, bring out some points which perhaps need elaborating on and some gaps to probe and question. I find it helps to look at their hobbies and interests just so that you've got some common ground to talk about during the first five minutes of the meeting when you're just sounding each other out.
When you start the meeting, set the agenda. This meeting will take 45 minutes, an hour, whatever. Invite them to ask questions. A great interview is when it's two-way when they're asking questions, you're asking questions, and it's a two-way conversation.
It's imperative that you're able to articulate, in perhaps a minute, the great reasons why a great candidate wants to join your business. Similarly, why somebody would like to work in this specific role. You need to explain the reason for the vacancy, but at the same time, you don't want to badmouth the previous employee that's left the role.
One of the fundamental things that will help you interview is planning beforehand. Take half a day or at least a couple of hours out to set up an interview format with questions to follow and a form. It will ease you, which means that your personality will come across to the candidate a lot more. Having a set structure also means that you've got direction, you've got structure, and obviously, great candidates want to see that in a new employer.
Make notes throughout the meeting so that you've got them to refer back to when you're comparing one candidate against another, maybe in a few days time, that you've got those notes to refresh yourself. And I think it's actually a far more powerful way to interview is to have two separate interviewers in two different rooms interviewing separately, making notes, comparing and contrasting, than having two interviewers in the same room interviewing one candidate.
Finally, when you finish the meeting, invite further questions and explain the process from now on, but put a deadline on the recruitment process that I will revert to you within 48 hours with a decision as to whether it's going to move forward. So remember, it's as imperative for you to sell to the candidate as it is for the candidate to sell to you to ensure that you can acquire the very best sales talent for your business.
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Date published: 7th July 2024
by Rob Scott
Managing Director
About the author
Rob Scott
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