Loading the searchable article library…
Browse published articles attributed to Peggy McKee, with full-archive search.
Tell me about a time when you disagreed with your boss about a way that something should be done. How did you handle that?
In the best possible world of job interviews, you asked about how well you did and what the next steps are during your conversation with the hiring manager and you got a clear answer on when a decision would be made and what to expect. But, maybe you didn’t ask, or maybe they put you off and you never really got a good answer. The next obvious step is to call…but maybe after a week or two you’re still not getting the answer you want, and you’re thinking that maybe they’ve decided not to move forward with you. What should you do? Should you just give up and move on?
How do you rate yourself as a professional? There are people who will tell you that your automatic response to rating yourself (on a scale of 1 to 10) should be “11”. They say that anything less would be admitting a weakness. I don’t agree. An over-the-top answer like that is bragging, which is a lot different than selling yourself for the job.
Did you ever wish you had the “inside track” at your interview? Or that you knew exactly how to explain that slightly difficult/embarrassing/sensitive situation in your job history? Or even the very best way to explain who you are and what you do in a compelling, “hire me” kind of way? Maybe you’re getting interviews, but you know that something’s not going quite right because you’re not getting called back for the second one. What’s your solution? Hire an interview coach.
Part of every sales manager's job is to add to the team. Hire new talent. You think you know what you're looking for: that "spark," that intangible "it" factor, that "something about this candidate" that tells your intuition that this is the one. You look at resumes and previous sales figures (if they have them), but you also look for personality, drive, determination, and people skills. Not an exact science, is it? There's lots of room for error. So how do you combat that uncertainty?
In job interviews, the language you use can make or break your chances—and that’s even more true in a phone interview, where your voice is all they have to focus on. Your conversation must be professional. Several very common speech habits you probably have will hurt your chances of getting the job. Text: Pop quiz: When you answer questions in a phone interview, which answer would hurt you the most?rn (A) “Um…I’m not sure…”rn (B) “I hated to leave that job. My boss was my BFF.”rn (C) “That customer was a pain in the _____, but I won him over.”rn (D) All of the above.
A 30/60/90-day plan is a guaranteed way to make a powerful impression on the hiring manager and help you stand out from your competition in the job search. It’s simply an outline for what you’ll do in the first 3 months on the job: how you’ll get your training, get up to speed, and attack the principal challenges associated with the job.
Tell me about a time when you had to give someone difficult feedback. How did you handle it? If you’re interviewing for a management-level job, you will almost certainly be asked this question at some point. Nobody likes to give negative feedback, but if you supervise anyone, it’s a necessary evil. Managers have to deliver both positive and negative feedback on almost a daily basis, depending on the size of the company and the group who reports to them.
Hiring Manager Alert: If you have a problem with candidates taking other positions during your interview and hiring process, it's likely that you've gotten your candidates from job boards, newspaper ads, and so on... which means that it's also likely that you've contacted them late in the job search cycle. To avoid this problem, the solution is simple: work with a recruiter.
Social Media Have you ever Googled your own name? What shows up? That’s what potential employers will see if they search your name (and they will). If there’s anything negative, now is the time to do some damage control. If there’s not much at all, now is the time to build your online reputation and establish your personal brand.
What excites you and scares you about this position? This is a tough question. I think it sounds like another version of “what are your greatest advantages and disadvantages?” or another way to ask about your strengths and weaknesses. They’re looking to see if you’ll tell them about any issues or problems you might have, while they’re assessing your enthusiasm and approach to the job. As with most job interview questions, you need to keep it as positive as you can. I don’t normally have a fear when I go into a job and I don’t think that you should voice one, either.
How should you follow up after a phone interview? If you think that your follow up is the face-to-face interview (if you get it), you are making a mistake.
Hmmm... Being unemployed stinks. Finding a job is a killer. How do I find the job? Why don't I begin by finding the hiring manager instead? If I can do that, I might be on my way to getting the position that I want. Maybe online social networks offer the key I need to unlock the doors to the job market? Could be. So the question is: Where do I start? Well... Don't go wide and thin. Finding a job requires concentration--and concentration means focusing your attention where it matters.
What is your ideal job? In a personality test, this question may not be so easy for you to answer. But in a job interview, it’s one of the easiest questions you’ll be asked. Question: What’s your ideal job? Answer: This one. As far as they are concerned, your ideal job is the one you’re interviewing for right now.
How did you deal with the situation the last time your boss chastised you or strongly disagreed with a statement, a plan or a decision you made? There are a lot of potential landmines lurking in this behavioral interview question. Maybe your knee-jerk reaction would be to say, “Why, I don’t recall that ever happening and I can’t imagine that it would.” Why? Are you a yes-man? That’s not a good thing. It could say that you can’t contribute in a way that means anything.
Have you ever had difficulty working with a supervisor/manager? When your interviewer asks, “Have you ever had difficulty working with a supervisor or manager?” they’re not really asking about your past supervisors. They’re asking about you. They want to know how you are to work with. The answer you choose to give them will tell them more about you than about your previous boss. So if you launch into a story about how your old boss yelled at everyone or was unreasonable in his or her demands or was a bad manager, the only message they’ll get is that you badmouth people.
Why do you have a big gap in your employment history? A gap on your resume can be anxiety-inducing for a job seeker, and for the employer who’s looking at them for a potential hire. But it’s really not as bad as you think. Actually, many people have employment gaps, and they have them for a lot of reasons ranging from the poor economy and mass layoffs in recent years to family obligations of the sandwich generation. It’s not that big of a deal. You just need an explanation. The company wants you to explain the situation to them in a way that makes sense:
Here are links to 22 videos designed to guide you through the job search and interview process and give you your best chance for success. I’ve put them in order for you here, so that you can build your knowledge as you go and see how it all fits together. About Medical Sales If you’re new to medical sales, or thinking about transitioning from one area to another, you need some general information. What are the different areas available? How is, say, laboratory sales different from medical device sales different from pharmaceutical sales?
What did you earn at your last job? For most candidates, “What was your salary?” is a very uncomfortable, Too Much Information-kind of a question. But all potential employers are going to ask at some point in the process, usually very early on, sometimes as early as the initial application. So why do they ask? And how do you handle it?
I've often been amazed at how little preparation some folks put into their job search and especially into the preparation for the interview itself. So much matters in this process. The day of the week, the color and make of your suit, the condition of your personal hygiene, your plan for the interview, the materials you choose to bring with you, your preparation and anticipation of questions that may be asked, and the knowledge and research you complete about the company prior to the interview.
Don’t be surprised in your phone interview if the hiring manager asks, “What do you know about our company?” It’s a reasonable question. Why would they want to bother talking with someone who doesn’t even understand what they do? And who didn’t care enough to find out? Some candidates think the phone interview is an information session for them, but it’s really a screening process for the employer. They’re looking for reasons to cross you off their list and narrow down the field for the face-to-face interview round.
Offbeat Ways (Sandwich Boards, Dating Services, Your Child’s Ball Games, and other Desperate Job Search Measures ) If you’ve been out of work for a long time, you’re ready to try anything to find a job. Some of today’s suggestions are a little tongue-in-cheek, but some of them could be crazy enough to actually work for the aggressive job seeker…and I thought you might enjoy them. Sandwich board
What are hiring managers and human resources people looking for when they call you for a phone interview? There’s a general answer and there’s a specific answer, and you need both.
Have you been your own boss for a while, but now you’ve decided that enough’s enough? Are you ready to move on to a new phase of your life? A great sales job is within your reach. Former business owners have a unique advantage in the job market for sales. They’re used to finding new markets, building customer relationships, and working independently. Those qualities also make great sales reps in a variety of industries.
Twitter is one of those social media sites that might surprise you. On the surface, it seems frivolous—do you really need to read all those Tweets about the smallest daily details of life? But if you dig a little deeper, you’ll realize just how powerful Twitter can be for your medical sales or health care sales career, if you learn to use it.
"A" players demonstrate many strong competencies on a consistent and convincing basis. As a medical sales professional, having these items clearly in your mind is a great way to structure your performance, develop your resume, present your experience, and understand your own weaknesses. Some skills "A" players always demonstrate include: * The capacity to identify and hire other "A" players for their own supervisors, managers, and team members. This capacity is a combination of recognizing ability and developing strong sourcing plans for finding these kinds of people.r
Why did you take a job that seems to be outside of your career path? So what happens when your potential employer is reading through your resume and they come across the job that doesn’t make sense? You have a job in your history that doesn’t fall within the logical progression of jobs in your field. And they want to know why.
Tell me about yourself. Some people think this is an icebreaker question because it’s one of the first questions they ask you in the interview (and because in normal circumstances, it is an icebreaker question). So they answer it like they would in a social situation and say something along the lines of, “I’ve got 3 kids, I love to run marathons, I’m a Steelers fan”…whatever. That’s a mistake. It’s the wrong response because that’s not what this question is about.
Tell us about a failed project. This is a more specific version of “Tell us about a time when you failed.” This is a big behavioral interview question. Why do hiring managers want so badly to ask about your failures? It’s because we’ve all failed at one time or another and how we deal with it and react to it says a lot about our character and our work ethic. It gives them another perspective on how you deal with stressful situations, too. Failures are difficult. I’ve had a few of them myself.
The very best time to look for a new job is while you still have your old one–but what if that means you need to keep it on the down low? Keeping your job search confidential can seem virtually impossible, but it isn’t. One great way to stealth job search is by using LinkedIn. It’s entirely possible to reach out to others without it being a matter of public record. (And using LinkedIn to contact hiring managers instead of going through HR cattle calls is amazingly effective!) So what do you have to do?
Many candidates see the first interview as a get-to-know-you session. They want to find out more about the job to see if they’re truly interested, and they want to test the waters to see if the company is really serious about hiring them. And a 30/60/90-day plan is a detailed outline specific to the company that requires a lot of research and effort to do correctly. It sets your goals for the first 90 days on the job, and it covers training, getting up to speed, and your ideas for performing on your own.
We all spend a lot of time talking about what you should say in phone interviews—how to answer interview questions, how to sell yourself for the job, how to ask questions of your own. But have you ever considered what NOT to say in your phone interview? Sometimes what you don’t say is just as important as what you do say. Here are several things you should never say in a phone interview. “What does your company do?”r
Sure-Fire Secrets to Get More Interviews and Find a Job Fast Let’s face it…job searches suck. No one likes having to put themselves out there for evaluation and judgment, and the nature of the search is that it's filled with rejection. Job searching is often a numbers game…sometimes you've got to go through a lot of "No"s before you get to a "Yes." And then there's the financial pressure. No doubt about it...if you’re in a job search, you want out of it now.
You always want to prepare answers for common interview questions before every interview. If you occasionally have to stop and think a bit before you give your answer, that’s OK. But if you constantly have a deer-in-the-headlights look in your eyes, it will be painfully obvious that you’re unprepared for the interview and you don’t care that much about getting the job. They can’t see your blank, panicked eyes in the phone interview, but those long pauses can also be pretty damaging.
If you could be any animal which one would you be and why? Some hiring managers really like these weird interview questions. Some think it’s going to reveal more about your character, and others just want to know what you really act like when you’re under stress or just thrown a curve ball. Questions like these do reveal your thought process and offer you a chance to show off your creativity and inventiveness.
What do people most often criticize about you? Watch out for this question. This is another way to ask, “What’s your greatest weakness?” It is also a fishing expedition to see how well you take criticism. We all have to be open to criticism in order to grow and improve as professionals and as people. Being ‘coachable’ is a big plus in your favor in the eyes of your future manager or supervisor.
What is good customer service? This job interview question will generally be asked in interviews for retail or customer service jobs, but there’s really a wide range of jobs that have contact with customers, or people who pay money for a good or service. Engineers, accountants, and manufacturers can have contact with customers, too. I think that the best explanation of “good customer service” came from a recruiting client of mine who wanted to hire a good customer service rep. When I asked what that meant to them, they said, “Customer delight.”
What are your pet peeves? Why would they ask about your pet peeves in a job interview? They can actually find out quite a lot about you by what you choose to say when you answer this question: Do you get irritated easily? (How long is your list?) Will you be a good fit for their company culture? (If you hate being micromanaged and they’re very focused on being ‘involved’ with employee projects, then chances are, you won’t.)
Trade Shows Trade shows can be fantastic, rich resources for the aggressive job seeker. They are full of real, live contacts from a concentrated selection of companies in your field. You may not come away from the show with a job, but you very well could come away from the show with a valuable contact within that company who can point you to the hiring manager you need to be talking to. To make the most of these opportunities, prepare before the show, have a strategy to follow during the show, and follow up after the show. Before the Show:
The questions you should ask in your job interviews might surprise you. In general, you always want to ask questions during your interview because (1) it shows that you researched the company, rn(2) it helps you have a more relaxed and productive conversation, and rn(3) it helps you uncover information you can't get anywhere else.
Here’s a tip that you should always keep in mind. Never leave all the question asking up to the interviewer. You always want to ask questions during your job interview. There are three reasons for this: - It helps you uncover information you can’t get anywhere else…who’s a better source than the person hiring for the job? - It helps you have a more relaxed and productive conversation. The key word here is ‘conversation’. Asking questions will make it feel less like you’re in an interrogation. - It shows that you researched the company when you ask informed, thoughtful questions.r
Today’s job search is unlike any we’ve seen before. Competition is especially fierce in this economy, and candidates get weeded out quickly. If you’ve landed the interview, you need to bring your best game right off the bat and knock the socks off the hiring manager. One of the most effective ways to become an all-star candidate is to hire an interview coach. Individualized coaching takes your personal work history and talents into account and customizes solutions for you.
As any job-seeker can attest, finding a good job in today’s business climate can be quite challenging. The good news is that it is not an impossible task. There are some tools that people can use in order to increase their chances of landing a great career opportunity. One of these tools is LinkedIn, a professional networking site that connects individuals to a wealth of career resources. It can refer you to people or companies that are looking to hire someone new. In order to maximize the power of LinkedIn, your profile must be well-constructed.
How do you follow up after a phone interview? You better follow up the exact same way you would after a face-to-face interview: you send a well-thought-out, comprehensive, and timely thank you note.
If you could relive the last 10 years of your life, what would you do differently? Hmmm….what would I do differently? I wouldn’t speed when I was going to get a ticket… I wouldn’t have invested money in those stocks… I wouldn’t have bought those shoes… Maybe those kinds of things are what come to your mind when you’re asked about what you would do differently, but when they ask you that question in a job interview, that’s not quite what they mean. This is another way to ask the ‘weakness’ question. They’re looking for your flaws.
What have you learned from your mistakes? This job interview question is an opportunity for you to show them that you’re a “growth” person…someone who learns from their mistakes and grows from it, developing into a stronger, smarter, better version of yourself.
A sales rep's job is to make the sale. So if you're looking for a new sales position in laboratory sales, medical device sales, or any other health care sales arena, the best way to get a medical sales job is to make it your mission is to demonstrate that you can ring that cash register, and do it well. Start with your resume. Your resume is your marketing document....your "brochure" that's going to draw them into calling you for an interview. And a sales resume is all about the numbers. That's what hiring managers (and medical sales recruiters) are looking for.
To prepare for a job interview in medical or health care sales, you have to make sure you're ready to answer both common and tough interview questions, and know how to frame your answers to highlight what you're going to bring to the company (a great way to do that is to structure your answers in the form of stories that spotlight your skills). You also have to have some interview questions of your own ready--after all, you're interviewing them, too. You want to know if that company's a good fit for you, and is going to be a place where you can succeed.
Job Boards What do I mean by job boards? The big ones are Monster, CareerBuilder, SimplyHired, and Indeed. Companies post job openings and requirements on there, with instructions for how to apply for that job.
The job interview is always, at its core, a sales process, because your ultimate goal is to get the manager (the buyer) to hire and pay you for doing a particular job (buy your product, which is your skills as an employee). Even though that’s true, sales interviews are not like regular job interviews. Why are sales interviews different? Because, in a regular job interview, the potential employer is looking at your experience and skills. In a sales interview, the skills they’re looking for ARE the sales skills. You are actively demonstrating your sales skills during the interview.