Browse Interviewing Skills

Candidates are always looking for an edge in job interviews, and they try to gain that edge in different ways: crafting a killer resume, dressing for success, practicing interview questions and answers, researching the company, building a brag book, or even practicing positive body language. However, one thing candidates often overlook, or never even consider, is creating a business plan for interviews.

As a medical sales recruiter, I get almost daily inquiries from people who would like to be in medical sales even though they have no sales background and want to know what they should do. I’m never surprised to get these calls. Medical sales is (I think) the top tier of sales categories, and there are many, many people who want to be involved in it.

Job shadowing is just what it sounds like: you be someone's "shadow" for the day, to learn what a typical day is like in their job. It's also known as a field preceptorship, or a ride-along (especially accurate for going with sales reps on their routes). It's a "tryout" for you with no pressure. It gives you a chance to see if you like that work environment, and see what it takes to be successful in it.

What to wear for the interview can keep medical sales job seekers up at night because it’s so subjective. It’s not like other hard-and-fast rules of interviewing, like “always bring your 30-60-90-day plan,” or “always close for the job.” But your interview attire is just as important as those things. How you dress for your first meeting creates an impression of you in the hiring manager’s mind and sets the tone for your future interactions.

These five must ask interview questions go beyond the apparent ones, such as what is the title of the job, what is the job description, who would you be reporting to, and other fundamental questions. In fact, it's doubtful you'll even need to ask those questions, as they are typically summarized for you. Through some preparation and consideration, you should have no trouble coming up with 10 to 15 first interview questions to ask.

30/60/90-day plans are typically used for sales jobs, but did you know that you can use a 30-60-90-day plan for non-sales jobs? You can--it works for marketing, project management, technical support, and many others. For instance, I got a call from a candidate going for a job in Marketing Communications. He had a 30-60-90-day template, but needed help translating it into a document for a non-sales job like the one he wanted.

Interviewing is intimidating, nerve wracking, and can make you feel like you’re two heartbeats away from having a heart attack. You only have one shot at making a great first impression so what can you say that will push you up to the top spot and get you the job offer? This article provides advanced interviewing concepts and strategies to help you prepare so that can be less anxious, more confident, and get the job offer. Do you know what the interviewer(s) really want

Competition for jobs in medical sales can be fierce. Health care is a fascinating field, and the work environment for medical sales reps is exciting, lucrative, and rewarding for those who want to really make a difference. However, sales interviews are difficult, and interviews for jobs in medical device sales, laboratory sales, biotech sales, imaging sales, or other health care sales are demanding. That means that you're going to have to work a little harder to set yourself apart from the competition and win the job.

The U.S. unemployment rate is higher than it's been in 26 years making today's employment market more competitive than it's been since 1982. Competence or even excellence in your chosen field doesn't necessarily translate into interviewing know-how. Too often job seekers unknowingly sabotage their own candidacy. This is all the more tragic because these mistakes are easily correctable. Here are 10 common interviewing mistakes and how to avoid them. 1. Arrogant Attitude Candidate arrogance is a common complaint among interviewers.

LinkedIn is an amazingly valuable resource for anyone’s career, and essentially important for the success of a job search. A great profile that shows you off at your professional best is the first step, but many job seekers want to know just how important it is to have recommendations on your profile. And how many do you need?

Many of us have the wrong idea about the job search. We believe that our skills, the industry requirement for skills, and our dedication to hard work is enough. This is never the case and in today's environment this is even less so as you may be competing against dozens and sometimes hundreds of candidates for the same position. For those with some knowledge of statistics makes the process into something of a numbers game. The number 1 step you must take is to get on the numbers treadmill and start collecting interviews.

The number of job seekers sending out resumes is growing exponentially with each passing day. It's unfortunate that the vast majority of these job seekers will end up sitting at home wondering why the phone doesn't ring with a call for an interview. Some will simply not be qualified, but just as many will have submitted a resume that let them down. Don't be part of that majority. Stand out in the crowd by avoiding these fatal resume flaws. 1. Too General This is the number one reason resumes fail.

Do you know one of the best ways to make a great impression in your job interview and set yourself apart from other job candidates? Build a brag book. Brag books can be very persuasive in an interview process (if you use them right). The fact that you've taken the time to put one together is an attention-getter, and the things you highlight in it are the "proof" that you are someone they want to hire.

What is there to be anxious about, it's only an interview? Attending an interview almost always creates some negative emotions, no matter how experienced you are, no matter what type of interview and no matter what level of position you are applying for. Typically, interviewees report that their anxieties include: . • feeling unsure about what to expect and being out of their comfort zonern• feeling nervous about being judged and fearful about being rejectedrn• feeling

Before you get to go to the face-to-face interview, you’ll probably have to go through a cheaper, easier (for them) phone interview to prove you are worth the time, trouble and expense of a longer conversation. Here are the top phone interview tips to make sure you get your chance to prove your worth in person. 1. Concentrate on your voice.

If you want your resume to actually be a marketing document for you, and get a recruiter's or a hiring manager's attention, you must pack that resume with the keywords that are relevant to the career area you want. Recruiters, hiring managers, and Human Resource departments use computer searches and applicant tracking systems to flag resumes worth looking at, and that means they use keywords to search for the ones they'll be interested in looking at further. But what if you're new to the area and don't have much experience?

Personality assessments are sometimes used by companies to evaluate potential employees. Often, it’s because they’ve benchmarked their current top performers and pinned down what makes an employee in a given position successful, and are looking for someone similar to place in an open spot. It takes a lot of the risk of hiring out of the equation for hiring managers and makes them more comfortable. (Popular assessments include DISC, Caliper, Gallup, and Myers-Briggs.)

You may be wondering what LinkedIn is. Or you may be a user of LinkedIn and wondering what is the big deal? Or you may be thinking to yourself, I think everyone is wasting their time investing in LinkedIn. Well, read on... LinkedIn may be the positively greatest tool ever created to help you find exactly the hiring manager or referral you are looking for. You see, LinkedIn is an unparalleled tool for identifying specific job holders in specific companies. This fact makes the service the probable best possible source to reach the exact hiring manager you are seeking.

Several interview experts, in their unique styles, have repeatedly advised job aspirants to prepare well for the interviews, if they really wish to crack it with aplomb. By preparing, experts emphatically mean, to research well, and understand the job requirements unambiguously so that the organizational and individual goals coincide. This concurrence will generate mutual benefits to the organization as well as candidate. However, candidates usually misinterpret the message a

Don’t be fooled by people who tell you that resume objective statements are optional, or that you shouldn’t have one at all. Their reasoning is usually that objective statements fence you in and limit your job-seeking focus. I’m here to tell you that you need an objective statement on your resume. Why? * An objective statement tells me why I should keep reading the rest of your resume. It’s advertising, basically. It’s the teaser that will draw me in to reading the rest of your resume. (The cover letter won’t do it.

If you’re searching for a sales job (or any job), you want every advantage you can get, right? Which means, you’ve probably put a lot of effort into your resume, you’ve found the perfect suit for interviews, and you’ve gone over your answers to potential interview questions. Want another advantage? Create a 30/60/90-day plan for the job you want. What is a 30-60-90 day plan? And how do you use it to get a job in sales? Why does it help? A 30-60-90-day plan is an outline for what you will do when you start the job.

If you haven't joined LinkedIn by now, you should. There are over 65 million professionals involved in LinkedIn, making it the most significant online business network around. Don't make the mistake of thinking of it in the same terms as Facebook or Twitter (although they have their place). And don't make the mistake of thinking it's only for job searchers (but it's fantastic for that).

Actually, the first question should be: CAN med techs or other laboratory people transition from a technical role into a sales role? The answer is: it depends. The odds are low, but for those who can beat the odds, they'll likely be fantastic sales reps. It tends to be a love it/hate it proposition. Why is that? It's because the laboratory is a black-or-white world. There are absolutes and definites. In the sales world, there are many more variables, many more maybes, and much more fluidity inherently involved in dealing with people.

The job market for pharmaceutical sales reps has gotten more and more precarious during the last few years. We regularly see headlines about big pharmaceutical companies cutting jobs, and the general consensus seems to be that there are more to come. The result is that thousands of pharma sales reps have flooded the job market, many hoping to land another position in medical sales. As a career coach, I am often asked to help ex-pharmaceutical reps transition into these new careers, particularly into medical sales or medical device sales.

You know what I've noticed lately? Most of my career-coaching clients are men. Out of the last 26 career coaching/interview coaching/job search advice sessions I've conducted, 19 clients were male, and 7 were female. I know that doesn't represent the gender ratio within the medical sales field, so what gives? Do females invest in their careers less than males? Do females prefer to seek help from male advisors rather than female ones? Do men have less of an issue than most people would believe about accepting career help from a female advisor?

Some questions will get asked in every job interview. But just because they're standard questions doesn't mean you have to give a standard answer. You can give a standout response with just a little coaching. I'm going to tell you how to answer 3 typical job interview questions: Why do you want to work here? Where do you see yourself in 3-5 years? Are you willing to relocate? (If you're not sure yet) Your answer should sound like, “I want to join this company because…” and then you need to list at least 3 reasons why.

Rest in peace Joseph Juran, inventor of the 80/20 rule. Your 80/20 rule saved many careers. How can that be? If you managed for any period of time and were an effective manager, you have used the 80/20 rule. Simply stated, the 80/20 rule says that 80% of your results will come from 20% of your efforts. If you have 10 people on your team, 80% of your results or production will come from your top 2 reps (20%). If you own a restaurant, 80% of your revenue will most likely come from 20% of the time you are open. If you have 10 accounts 80% of your revenue will come from the top

A 90 Day Interview Plan is also known as a 90-Day Plan, a Business Plan, or a 30-60-90-Day Plan. Whatever you call it, the point is that it’s a plan—a plan for how you will attack your new job in the first 90 days of employment. Having a plan, or a strategy, in place helps you show your true value to a potential employer. Why does a 90 Day Interview Plan give you a better interview?

What is the difference between an internal recruiter and an external recruiter? An internal recruiter works directly for the company they are recruiting for. An internal recruiter for Frito-Lay, for example, works to fill a variety of positions within the Frito-Lay organization, and receives a paycheck from Frito-Lay.

Money is a big item on a job seeker’s mind, for sure. You know you’re interested in the job, or you wouldn’t be there, and the top of the list for you is finding out the mystery of what you could get paid. But one of the cardinal rules of interviewing for job seekers is: Never bring up money in your job interview. It’s a BIG no-no. ALL you talk about in the interview is what they need, what solution they need, what problem they have, who’s been able to fix it before, and how you can fix it.

If your job search sucks, it's probably the result of one of 3 things:

Some of us feel confident and welcoming of the opportunity that an interview creates to "strut our stuff" and show-off a bit. But most of us feel some degree of negative emotions or uncertainty when facing an interview. Google reports that over 90,000 people per month use their search engines looking for information about how to handle interview questions and answers. Typically, we may experience some or all of the following “interview nerves”: * feeling unsure about what

Making ready for interview questions is never effortless, particularly when you have no clue what inquiries you are most likely to be requested. Competency dependent job interview queries are being employed an increasing number of by companies who would like to evaluate your outlook and mind-set as element on the interview course of action. Hence, comprehension how to respond to these inquiries is now even more crucial, if you'd like to try and do perfectly in your job interv

Don't be fooled by people who tell you that resume objective statements are optional, or that you shouldn't have one at all. Their reasoning is usually that they fence you in and limit your job-seeking focus. I'm here to tell you that you need an objective statement on your resume. Why? * An objective statement tells me why I should keep reading the rest of your resume. An objective statement is advertising, basically. It's the teaser that will draw me in to reading the rest of your resume. The cover letter won't do it.

LinkedIn is an amazing professional career tool and perhaps an even more amazing job search and prospecting tool. With over 65,000,000 members (and adding thousands of new members daily), this social networking service is your ticket to a world of career connections that would have been possible to achieve in years past. LinkedIn sets you up to unbelieveably leverage your experience, your skills, and your time during the job search. Are you aware of LinkedIn has to offer? Are you a member?

It's a tough job market out there right now, but what if you can’t even get an interview? What if you're resume or your network is good enough to get you to the interview, but you can’t get past that point? Are you demonstrating the levels of commitment, drive, tenacity, skills and organization employers want? Here are 6 tried and true ways to separate you from other candidates and be the candidate everyone wants to hire: 1. Preparation = SWOT Analysis: SWOT is a strategic planning tool.

A field preceptorship a fantastic way to boost your chances of landing a medical sales job. Also known as a ride-along or job shadowing, it's usually something we associate with students, but a field preceptorship offers multiple benefits for the jobseeker: * It gives you on-the-job experience without having to get the job.

Changing career fields can be daunting, especially in this economy when so many experienced candidates are competing for the same jobs. It can be hard to even land an interview—much less get an offer. However, with the right strategy, it’s possible for you to land the interviews you need and experience success in your job search. How?

Are you closing your business? Whether the economy affected your decision to close, or whether you’re just ready for a change, the skills and accomplishments you’ve accrued throughout your time as a business owner can translate very well into a successful sales role for you!

Yes, you can. There are all kinds of resources online for you to tap into: LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, corporate websites, and Google. Your network can come in pretty handy here, too. If for some reason there’s a lack of information online (like maybe it’s a smaller company) and you can’t, then that’s definitely a strong reason to do what you can and bring it into the interview anyway, since that’s an excellent opportunity to ask the questions that will lead to a greater understanding of what it will take to be successful in that job.

If you’ve had your interview and you’ve sent your thank you note, what do you do now? If it’s been a week (don’t wait longer than that), you need to call the hiring manager to see what’s going on. Where are they in the hiring process? Are you being considered? What do you need to do to prove that you’re the one?r

How many jobs have you applied for online? How many job offers have they gotten for you? It would be my educated guess that the answer is zero. Don’t worry—you’re not the only one. Online job applications are probably the most common, yet least effective, job search effort. Why isn’t applying online an effective strategy?

It’s too long if you aren’t getting any interviews at all. If nothing is changing for you, or moving forward in any measurable way, then you must do something differently. Remember: what’s the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

Is your lack of experience stopping you from getting the job you really want and know you deserve and would be good at? This happens to many people, and can be a huge roadblock, especially in our current job market. It does put you at a disadvantage, but there are things you can do.

Medical sales jobs (and especially medical device sales jobs) are notorious for being difficult to get into, and most people assume that it’s impossible for candidates who are right out of college. While it’s true that competition for these jobs is fierce, it’s a myth that you can’t land a spot for yourself as a new graduate. The same information applies to anyone who wants to transition into medical sales. How? Here are some possibilities that can get you past that hurdle: • If you have a very technical degree like chemistry, biology, or other life science degree.

What hiring manager doesn’t want to choose someone who is sincerely enthusiastic and excited about the job? They all do. If you’re excited about the job, you’ll try hard and probably do better than someone who isn’t. Plus, your genuine enthusiasm will make them like you more. If they like you, they’ll be more likely to hire you.

What’s the best way to show recruiters and hiring managers why they should consider you for a position? It has nothing to do with the interview…go back a step. It’s your resume. But many sales reps fail to understand exactly what recruiters and hiring managers are looking for when they scan resumes. As a medical sales recruiter, I frequently see resumes cross my desk from candidates who’ve had experience in selling roles, but fail to include numbers, dollars, or percentages on their resumes. It’s a common mistake that can really hurt you in the job search.

Important job search advice: Job hunters must avoid using five phrases when communicating with potential employers in job interviews, phone calls, and letters. Job seekers who use these phrases risk appearing lazy or ludicrous and, worst of all, reduce the likelihood they will get job offers. 1ST Phrase to Avoid = “NO PROBLEM” Job hunters who say “No problem” in job interviews sound like lazy bums. Saying “No problem” implies you (a) will do work you do not consider a “probl

Even though we all know that most adults change careers at some point in their lives (many more than once!), it can still feel like an overwhelming task—but it isn’t. What does it take? A great resume. Write a killer resume that highlights your transferable skills, using the keywords for your new industry as much as possible. Emphasize your accomplishments with quantitative evidence (numbers, percentages, dollar amounts, time saved, growth, etc.) Great networking.

A Job Candidate’s Situation: A recuiter called a medical sales candidate about a job, gave him the name of the company and the manager, said that he had submitted his resume for consideration, and had the phone interview set up. Then, the recruiter called back to tell him that the phone interview wasn’t going to happen, that the interview was on hold, and that he’d be in touch. After more than a week with no phone call, the candidate called me for help. A Medical Sales Recruiter’s Advice: This candidate should contact the hiring manager directly.

One of the many, many fantastic applications of LinkedIn is that you can use it to land informational interviews. Informational interviews are just what they sound like: they are interviews that you conduct to gather information, usually about a job or a career field you’re interested in. They last 20-30 minutes, and give you an opportunity to get answers about what a typical day is like, what the person likes or dislikes about the field, and what it takes to be successful.

If you’re not experiencing the success you want in your job search, you’re not alone. This is a tough economy, and combined with the rise of internet job postings, today’s job search is like no other. But: you can absolutely take steps to jumpstart your job search. There’s no reason for you to wait for success. What should you do to kick your job search into high gear? Do something drastically different than you’re doing now. Here are some ideas for you:

A 30-60-90-day plan is an outline of what you intend to do in your first 3 months on the job. It’s a goal-setting document that shows you understand the job and you know what it takes to be successful at it. It covers everything from your training to your initial efforts to grow the business. It’s very impressive for hiring managers because it shows that you’ve put a lot of thought into what you can do for the company, and it takes a lot of the “risk” out of hiring you. It can be overwhelming to create a plan, since it must be specific to the company to be the most effective.

I can't emphasize enough how important it is for everyone to have a network and keep in contact with the people in it, but many people don't know how to do this well. Networks aren't something that you build by handing out business cards to everyone you meet. Networks are relationships. Not deep, BFF (best friends forever) relationships that are going to take all your time, but at least something that will ensure they remember who you are when you call.

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?

Job interviews can be very stressful situations. To alleviate that stress so that you come across as confident, competent, and capable: be prepared, have good communications skills, and have a few tricks up your sleeve. Stepping it up so that you shine in the interview and stand out from the crowd is what's going to get you the job. It cannot be stressed enough: Do your homework on the company. Know what they do, and what's currently going on with them. Check the company's website and Google them, too, to find information from newspapers, magazines, and blogs.

A 30-60-90-day plan is a written document outlining what you will do as an employee within the first 3 months of your employment. It's broken up into sections: the first 30 days usually includes training, as well as getting to know the company and customers; the next 30 days are more focused on getting out on your own and into the swing of things; and the last 30 days are often more about branching out and bringing in new business. As a sales recruiter, I encourage all of the people I send to companies for interviews to create this kind of document and learn how to present it.

Let's call a spade a spade, being unemployed can be quite stressful. Nothing ever prepares you for being unemployed which makes it harder to deal with. However, with the right attitude, you can navigate out the unemployment waters. Part of that navigational knowledge requires knowing how to deal with LinkedIn. Here are a few tips to help you out.

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.

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.

In these recessionary economic times most of us need to go for interviews, far more than we would have in normal times. The first impression is certainly a lasting one and your employer will decide on that whether they want to go ahead and hire you or not. There is a specific dress code that one needs to follow when dressing up for a job interview. The interviewer usually decides within the first few moments that he has with you whether they would like to hire you or not and

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.

80% of you won’t agree with this. 20% will: 100% – 20% = Failure for a medical sales rep How can that be? If you are a field-based medical sales, laboratory sales, medical device sales, or pharmaceutical sales rep, don’t you always have more tasks to accomplish than time to do them? Hello 80/20 rule! Simply stated, the 80/20 rule says: * 80% of your sales will come from 20% of your accounts. * 80% of your problems will come from 20% of your accounts. * 80% of your peers will try, 20% will succeed. * 80% don’t understand your technology.

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.

As a medical sales recruiter, I specialize in placing sales and sales management professionals, and I’ve seen tens of thousands of resumes throughout my career. Since I often sift through them quickly, it takes a great resume to stand out from the crowd and get my attention.

Job postings on major inte et job boards tend to generate a large volume of resumes. If your resume stands out well enough to make it through the preliminary sorting you'll receive a phone call. The purpose of this screening interview is to determine whether you meet the minimum position requirements. The caller is looking for specific job related information and is also making judgments about job related personal characteristics. She wants to make sure a face-to-face meeting is worth everyone's time. Here are some phone interview tips to help you ace this important call. 1.

Here are 5 mistakes to avoid if you want to get into medical or healthcare sales. Some of them seem funny, but they are all very serious errors that recruiters frequently see candidates make. 1.

Preparing for a job interview is just like when you’re going to your own ball: you have to look ready, well dresseds and groomed, and more than eager to begin the challenge. nnHowever, the feeling of going through a very rigorous process of the construction recruitment department can sometimes be overwhelming that, in the end, you end up not fit for what could have been the ultimate job for you. nnHere are 5 techniques on how to come prepared during your construction jo

Phone interviews have all of the critical, “make-or-break” qualities of a face-to-face interview with none of the advantages. (1) You don’t have very much time to make a good impression. Phone interviews are very often over within 10-15 minutes.

It is always difficult for a job seeker, to face the interviewer, especially for freshers who are just out of college, seeking a job. It is wise to prepare some hr interview questions before attending the interview.nSome of the difficult hr questions to face are as follows.nn Tell me about yourself? nnStart with the present and tell why you are well qualified for the position. Remember that the key to all successful interviewing is to match your qualifications to what the int

It's critical in today's uncertain business climate to make no mistakes in interviewing and hiring new sales representatives for your company. Hiring managers are under more pressure than ever before to make the right decision the first time. Beyond the basics of conducting a great interview and communicating with candidates in a timely manner, it's important to keep an objective, balanced perspective. Here are the top 5 things you need to know to make a great decision and avoid costly hiring mistakes: 1. Use a results-based decision-making process. What does this mean?

Why research the interviewer before your phone interview? Look at it this way: The job interview is a sales process in which you are both the product and the sales rep. One of the first rules of sales is “Know Your Customer.” You can’t sell effectively unless you know a little something about your customer. How annoying is it to have a sales rep come up to sell you something without even asking a few questions about your problems or issues? They have no idea what you’re interested in, so they’re not effective. The same principle is at work in the interview process.

Here’s a secret: There’s really only so many interview questions you can ask. Some hiring managers like to break out of the rut and ask crazy things to catch you off guard, like “What kind of tree would you be?”, but most of the time they tend to ask the same kinds of questions. There’s just basic information that they all need to know in order to make the decision to hire you. So what you need to know is what questions they’re most likely to ask you so you can be ready to answer them. What are the most typical phone interview questions?

Interviews can be nerve-wracking enough with just one person asking questions, but what about with a whole committee or panel? Do not let numbers scare you. You and the interviewers are there for the same purpose – they want to know if you will be the correct fit for their school district, and you want to know if they will be the right fit for you. Follow these eight simple steps to have a successful panel interview.rn rn1. Treat this interview the same as you would a one-o

In my former life as a recruiter, I have seen hundreds of thousands of resumes and of them, no resume was the same. Long ones, short ones, some as big as your head (for anyone who remembers the lovely bunch of coconuts song)! Even with all these different kinds of resumes, all of them had the same consistent resume mistakes. What most people needed was a resume review, but they are either too scared to do it or they feel the friend who looked it over was good enough.

I recently posted this question on LinkedIn: Sales Managers: What do you do when your HR group isn't able to identify the hunters you need? With the incredible costs due to unfilled positions (customers going with the competition, RFPs not completed and generally missed sales opportunities), what do you (the sales manager) do to help HR see the need to use an outside source?

The very best thing about phone interviews is the fact that they can’t see you—which means, you can use as many “cheat sheets” as you want to. So what’s a cheat sheet? Cheat sheets are just what they sound like: Notes that help you do better on the test, which in this case is the phone interview. Phone interviews don’t have many advantages for you, but this is a big one. Make the most of it with these cheat sheet ideas: Your Resumer

...but what you can do for your employer! We have all heard President Kennedy's most famous speech and you know it's about our country not employer. However, let's consider this for now. What if every CEO across the world said this; Ask not what your employer can do for you, but what you can do for your employer. What would happen? Honestly, I do not know! But, I do know that regardless if it is asked or not, it's something we should be challenging ourselves with.

If you are searching for a job in any kind of sales and you want an edge in your job interview, here it is: know how to close the interview. Closing the interview requires that you stop focusing so completely on your own performance and ask questions that help you discover the needs of your customer/hiring manager. Develop the skills to know when to close, what to say, and how to deal with objections or non-answers. The most important thing to remember about closing is to do it. No sales manager is going to hire someone who can't navigate a closing process.

What is a ride-along? Why is it important? A ride-along is just what it sounds like: You spend a day with a medical sales rep who’s in the field you’re thinking you’d like to sell into, and see how a typical day goes. A ride-along can be one of your greatest opportunities to differentiate yourself from another candidate. It sets you apart as a go-getter. It gives you critical on-the-job information that helps you in your job search. Among other things, it helps you answer the question, “How do you see yourself in this job?” How do you get one? Step 1: Ask for contacts.