Secrets of Interview Prep

Want to ace that big interview?  Professional Sales folks tend to have an advantage over others when it comes to interviewing.  Selling themselves and their product is what they do for a living.  There is something else that sales folks do to give them an interview advantage.  They research  a company in unique ways.  The best sales people do not show up at a customer visit, sit down, and ask: “What are your problems?”  The most skilled sales folks I’ve worked with already know the prospects problems.  But, how?  They do their homework on the company they are visiting.  This skill is something that we all need to apply to interview situations.  How do you do your homework in unique ways?  The key to really effective interview preparation is to have very timely information.  That means forget about digging into the annual report.  By the time it’s in print, it’s way dated.  A secret technique is to listen to the webcasts that are published on the investor relations page.  Most, if not all, public companies will post a link to their earnings conference call.  These gems are a wealth of up to date information.  They are also the source of current problems, challenges, and successes of the company you are targeting.  Use these nuggets of information to craft some very specific questions to ask in your interview.  Try this technique and let me know how it works for you!