Competency Interview

A first stage sales interview will usually be used to determine whether you have the right mindset for a sales role and whether you really want to work for the company. They will look at why sales, what motivates you, and how you will deal with the tough bits of the job!

It is also important in any interview to give depth and back up your answers with examples (whilst also keeping it concise)! The ‘PEEL’ structure can sometimes be helpful with this!

Below are some examples of common questions asked in the first-stage interview for a sales role with an example of the PEEL structure in the first.

The PEEL structure

Point - make your point, e.g. I am resilient

Evidence - give an example/evidence of the point you made, e.g. I used to work in a call centre where we had to make 50 calls a day.

Explain - explain this in a little more detail with reference to why it is relevant, e.g. People would ignore me or say no, but this gave me more motivation to keep on going.

Link - link this back to their question, e.g. This means I am used to and know I can handle rejection which is one of the hardest parts of the job

Typical sales interview questions

Why do you want to work for this company?

• Do your research!! Find out specifically what stands out about the company - not just the fact it might be an "exciting start-up in the tech space". See if you can find some blogs online, why the product/service excites you, look at the culture page and tell them why you love it!
• Lots of people actually get rejected based on their lack of company knowledge and enthusiasm. Don’t forget, in a sales role you will be selling their product so it's key you know what it is/why you want to do this!

Why sales?

There are a variety of reasons why you may have chosen a career in sales but these are a few we commonly hear and are fairly unique to sales.

• You are directly rewarded for your hard work and in control of your success. Giving more opportunity to progress and earn more money/ OTE - (Meritocratic environment).
• Fast-paced, target driven environment.