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Sales Interviews

Interview questions for sales roles will include the standard questions already mentioned but depending on the company they will want to possibly do some kind of role play scenario so for example if you are selling cars they will probably do a customer, sales associate role play to see what answers you would give if you were face to face with a customer looking to spend a lot of money on a new car.

The key is always to do your research, you need to know as much as humanly possible about the company you are going for an interview with. The last thing you want to do is admit you don’t know.

The interviewer will be looking for your attitude and appearance. How do you handle yourself in any situation, do you get flustered, stay calm, are you smart in your appearance?

They will want to know what drives you, is it money and meeting targets? They will want you to be  a careful balance of someone who wants to hit their targets every month but someone who is also very considerate and a good loyal employee. Learn the product you are hoping to sell and maybe to wow them demonstrate how you would do this, you want to stand out from the others. Good Luck.

Careers in Sales

Did you know that one of the most frequently advertised job vacancies are the ones in Sales however those jobs are not job seekers’ favourite ones due to following reasons:
Most times you have a target to achieveYou need to sell things that are usually not popular otherwise they wouldn’t need a sales person!You make money when you sell somethings!Most of them are commision based!Despite all the negeative things above some sales jobs are pays really high commissions and wages when you are working a big company and has great products to sell and people are into it.

Most Sales interview questions will be performance related, they may start with:
Sell me your phone!Sell me this penGive an example of dealing with a difficult customer.How would you describe the role of the "Sales Associate?Most asked interview questions:

Tell me about yourself
Why should we hire you?
Why do you want this job?
What is your greatest strength?
What is your greatest weakness?
What are your salary expectations?
What motivates you?
Give some examples of teamwork
Are you willing to travel?
What can you contribute to this company?

  
Tell me About Yourself

This interview question can be a bit tricky to answer. It is one that most people will ask and it is important to be honest because, like with all questions, you want to make sure that you will fit in with the team you will be working with. It is important to give a positive impression though and this is really your chance to describe your personality. It can be worth trying to fit in some traits that you have that might be suitable for the job, but generally anything that will show your positive qualities.
You could make it more about you or about how you are in a work environment. It could be good to change it depending on what else you have said in the interview so far. If you have discussed a lot of things about your approach to work, then something more personal could be better. If you have not had a chance to talk about everything you wanted with regards to your working style, then you could include.

If you are asked the question at the beginning of the interview, then you will need to approach it differently to if you asked at the end. At the beginning you will need to focus on the skills you have that fit in with the job. Never ask back ‘what do you want to know’ as it makes you look unprepared.

You need to highlight important achievements that are relevant to the job and keep it short. It is not an excuse to give your whole life story.

An example could be : I have a PhD in psychology which gave me the skills that I needed to do the research role at the University of Wolverhampton that I have just completed. I was able to build on my theoretical studies and now feel I have the necessary practical skills to take on many more research projects such as this one. The fact that this job is working in a similar field of child behaviour means that I already have many of skills as well as background knowledge necessary for the role.

Another example : My previous work in retail has given me the skills needed to know what it is to be in this environment. My management qualification has given me theoretical understanding of leading a retail team. I feel that this job as a retail manager will combine both my experience and qualifications to give me the perfect opportunity to show what I have learned.

So tell us about yourself!

  
Cashier Interview Questions

You will be asked basic questions such as:
Are you reliable?Are you loyal?Are you trustworthy?You need to think of good answers to these questions in relation to your previous roles eg: the last role I was there for x years as a very loyal employee until I was made redundant etc.

You will definitely be asked if you have handled cash before and on what till system, who for and how you did this process? Did you do it on your own, did you have a supervisor? Talk them through your typical day . The employer will want to know that they can trust you more than most roles as you will be dealing with money and have a very important role.

Depending on the role they will almost definitely ask you questions where you need to use your maths skills, work out discounts if its in a shop and what prices you would charge after applying discounts, or if in a bank they will ask you details on percentages or interest charges, read up on the role in great detail and write down some scenarios you could be asked to practice.

Due to nature of this business you will have numerical questions and tests during your interview and application however you will receive typical interview questions too.

Cashier Interview Questions
How many different till systems have you worked on?How would you handle a difficult customer?What would you do if a product was damaged and you had to change the item?Do you manage to learn about the products and prices that you are selling or do you rely on the till doing the work?How many customers have you served on a busy day?What would you think was a quiet day in terms of customers?Who do you think are our biggest competitors and why?Most asked interview questions:

Tell me about yourself
Why should we hire you?
Why do you want this job?
What is your greatest strength?
What is your greatest weakness?
What are your salary expectations?
What motivates you?
Give some examples of teamwork
What can you contribute to this company?

  
Cabin Crew Interview Questions

An interview for a cabin crew role will be focused on how flexible you can be such as: do you have a family or pets you need to attend to, who will do this in your absence? What is your home life like? How do you travel now, do you go on holiday a lot, if so with who and to where? They will want to know that you have experienced some of this lifestyle.

You will need to demonstrate how you operate on your own, ensuring that if you are away for periods of time that you will not be homesick and that you will view your job as the most important factor.

They will need you to demonstrate that you have experience of dealing with the public, how good is your customer service even in those tricky situations? Think of a past scenario that you can tell them about where you have been commended for your excellent customer service.

Demonstrate that you are always willing to learn and try new things. You may not always get to travel to somewhere on your hit list and factors such as heat/cold, different environments, food etc all need to be taken in account as to whether you can deal with different places constantly.

Envisage the role of cabin crewe from still being in the airport to arriving at the destination and what that entails – the plane is packed with the correct things, food, drinks etc, the safety equipment has been checked, you know your procedures inside out, think about the passengers and what questions they are likely to ask, duty free and working out prices quickly and dealing with other currencies. If you can envisage that role and you in it then you can walk into an interview and talk confidently about your subject and the role you have chosen to do.

You should be aware of some facts about working as a cabin crew such as:

– Being away from home most times
– Unsocial hours of working
– Pay usually not different than any other job.

Most asked interview questions:

Tell me about yourself
Why should we hire you?
Why do you want this job?
What is your greatest strength?
What is your greatest weakness?
What are your salary expectations?
What motivates you?
Give some examples of teamwork
Describe a difficult work situation project and how you overcame it
Are you willing to travel?
What can you contribute to this company?

Good luck.

  
Recruitment Consultant Interview Questions

Going to an interview for a position of recruitment consultant you will need to demonstrate good confidence and show that you are someone who thrives on making targets.

The recruitment industry is fast growing and most businesses fight for the same roles and the best candidates, you will be asked how you can bring new clients and candidates on board and keep them, placing them into many temporary positions or a permanent one and ensuring that you build up a good enough relationship that they will come back to you each and every time they are looking for a new role.

Are you self motivated – demonstrate how? Have you done a similar role? In what capacity? Do you know anyone who works in recruitment? Explain.

You will spend a big part of your role on the telephone leaving messages for candidates asking them to call you with an update or finding out if they would be interested in a particular role. The results are not always fast so you will need to show your employer that you can keep doing this over and over until you get the results and what tricks you could use to get these results.

Demonstrate your good communication skills, explain how you will research and find information, jobs and new candidates etc.  Above all be confident.

Most asked interview questions:

Why do you want to go into recruitment?
Is recruitment a sales or HR job?
What makes you think you would make a good recruitment consultant?
Why do you want to go in to recruitment?

Tell me about yourself
Why should we hire you?
Why do you want this job?
What is your greatest strength?
What is your greatest weakness?
What are your salary expectations?
What motivates you?
Give some examples of teamwork
Describe a difficult work situation project and how you overcame it
Are you willing to travel?
What can you contribute to this company?

Good luck.

  
Kitchen Porter Interview Questions

What made you decide to come for a kitchen porter position?

Why did you choose us as a restaurant/cafe etc?

Have you done this role before and in what capacity?

What do you enjoy about being in a kitchen?

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Are you looking for a move up in the restaurant?

You can draw on experiences in your own kitchen as well as any work experience by demonstrating how you keep your own kitchen clean and tidy and that everything has a home, pans in the pan cupboard etc.

Always attend an interview early and smartly presented for any role.  Even if you wait outside for half an hour before hand just make sure you enter the doors at least 5 minutes before your allotted time.

You will no doubt be asked about working times. If it is a restaurant you will be needed to work at night and maybe in the day too if they open for lunch so you will be on shifts, they will want to know how you will cope with this, is it a rotating shift etc, can you cope with different days, hours etc? Can you be flexible if someone calls in sick, stand in for them?

How do you cope in stressful situations? Kitchens are usually pretty full on and even if you are not flustered by the pressure the environment itself will be pressurised, how can you cope with this and have you had to do it before anywhere?

Research before you go on the establishment and who is already in the kitchen and where you will fit into the staff there.

Most asked interview questions:

Tell me about yourself
Why should we hire you?
Why do you want this job?
What is your greatest strength?
What is your greatest weakness?
What are your salary expectations?
What motivates you?
Give some examples of teamwork
Describe a difficult work situation project and how you overcame it

Good luck.

  
Receptionist Interview Questions

We have all had experiences of not very pleasant receptionists and its not nice. Not only will you need to look of a smart appearance and friendly but you will have to sound friendly too. If you speak down the phone smiling you can hear it at the other end!

For a reception role you will be asked the obvious questions of have you done this role before, where, for how long and what did you enjoy about it? Can you deal with multi tasking? You may have someone on the telephone and someone waiting to speak to you in the reception area, how will you cope with this, how will you decide what you priority is?

What have you done in previous roles, can you type and if so how fast, can you deal with the post, photocopying, filing? Can you ensure that people/visitors sign in and out? What experience have you got if this?

Where do you see your reception experience taking you, what would you like to do long term?
What qualities do you think makes a good receptionist? How should you answer the telephone? How would you deal with an irate person?

All these things that receptionists are faced with as first point of contact, think of the situations in your head, who have you ever spoken to, seen in a hotel, shop etc and draw from your experiences of good and bad customer service.

Check out following interview questions:

Tell me about yourself
Why should we hire you?
Why do you want this job?
What is your greatest strength?
What is your greatest weakness?
What are your salary expectations?
What motivates you?
Give some examples of teamwork
Describe a difficult work situation project and how you overcame it
Are you willing to travel?
Why do you think you would be a good person for this job?
Can you describe a time when you added something to a comapany?
What makes you best person for this job?
Are you available to work any shift? Do you mind working in any shift?
Do ou have any clerical experience?
Do you have any questions to ask?

Good luck.

  
Pharmacist Interview

During your interview you will be asked a lot of questions so it is important to mentally prepare for this.

Remember to make sure your answers are well thought out rather than learnt so it sounds like you are reading from a script, you must make your answers part of a further conversation.

For a pharmacy interview I would expect to be asked questions such as:
What practice areas are you interested in? Have you had any clinical experience? Have you had any hospital or retail experience depending on the setting and describe that? What is a major issue facing the pharmacy industry today? Make sure you know all about your subject. Have you ever had an incident in a clinic, with a doctor etc and how did you handle it? And more general getting to know about you questions such as:
How would your colleagues describe you? Are you interested in relocating for the right position? How do you handle stress/pressure? Tell me about yourself? What are your strengths and weaknesses? Please remember to think about this one carefully before any interview, its all most certainly going to be asked and its embarrassing when you cannot answer it. Where do you see yourself in five years? What makes you think you are best qualified for this role? Tell me about one situation you handled well and one situation you did not handle well and how you dealt with both of these situations? Some questions can seem very tough but its for the employer to know how you handle these situations which is why I cannot stress enough how preparation is the key.

Here are the basic requirements to become a Pharmacist in the UK:
a four-year Master of Pharmacy (MPharm) degreea one-year pre-registration training course in a pharmacya registration examMost asked interview questions:

Why should we hire you?
Tell me about yourself
What do you expect from a Supervisor?
Why do you want this job?
Describe a typical work week?
Give some examples of team work!
What are your salary expectations?

Good luck.

Related job guides:

– Pharmacist CV example
– Pharmacist salary

  
Call Centre Interview Questions

Before your interview you must understand exactly what the role of a Call Centre involves. You will be expected and perhaps targeted on the number of calls you can handle a day this means dealing with each call as quickly and efficiently but maintaining the thorough values of the company throughout.

Depending on the type of call centre you could call them before your interview and see how they handle your questions and what things they ask, it will always give you an insight.

You will need to be an excellent communicator and your interview will explore this greatly.

You could be asked a few or all of the following types of questions:

What is the biggest challenge you have faced in work in the last 12 months and how did you handle this? Why do you want this job? How would your current Manager describe you? What is your biggest achievement? This question doesn’t have to be work related, you may have achieved something in your personal life which is your biggest achievement. Can you give me an example of? Then listen for the scenarios, think customer service and key skills they will be looking for. What are the key factors that make a call centre successfull? Again make sure you have done your homework and look at other call centres to maybe draw comparisons. How do you manage change? What have you done to promote good Customer Service? Remember because of the type of role you are being interviewed for they will want to know how you perform so they could ask you to do a role play and a good one would be for how you would deal with an unhappy customer on the other end of the phone.

Make sure you do as much research as you can so that you feel confident to answer anything that is asked of you.

Most asked interview questions:

Tell me about yourself
Why should we hire you?
Why do you want this job?
What is your greatest strength?
What is your greatest weakness?
What are your salary expectations?
What motivates you?
Give some examples of teamwork
Describe a difficult work situation project and how you overcame it
Are you willing to travel?
What can you contribute to this company?

Good luck.

  
What do you know about this industry?

Research is definitely the most important factor here.

You need to do as much homework as humanly possible on the company who you are being interviewed by so that you can impress them when they ask you this question but so that you can also draw comparisons throughout the interview.

If you know anyone who currently works there, a friend of a friend even then speak to them and find out information from the inside, how is it to work there, what are the advantages, disadvantages etc.

Remember to focus on the positives in your interview though!

By being able to answer this question you are showing an employer whether you are Proactive or Reactive, they will want to know if you are a curious person or not and exactly how interested in working with them you are.

How you answer this question shows whether you prepare before doing a task or not and an employer will almost always want someone who takes the time to prepare and think about what they are doing.

Research not only about the job or department you are applying for but the whole company for example:
Do they have other sites? Is that the Head Office? Where are the other sites? How many sites do they have? How many years have they been trading? How many staff? How big is the department? Can you find out about turnover? Quote their website, a company will always want to know you have looked and studied their website carefully. What ever the role you are applying for you want to stand out from the crowd so preparation and through research are the key factors to concentrate on prior to your interview, make notes, don’t be afraid to take them with you and use them during your interview. 

Good Luck.