Accepting a job offer is a lot like buying a house. If you've been looking for a while you might start to feel desperate enough to take the first halfway decent one that appears, but if you compromise too much you'll regret it for years to come. Unless you really are out of money and time, don't accept a sales job unless you're enthusiastic about the position.
Before you even start looking at ads, the first step in your job hunt should be defining your ideal job. Sit down in a quiet spot with a pen and paper and spend a few minutes thinking about how you like to work. Would you be doing lots of prospecting, or handling warm leads only? Do you enjoy traveling or like to stay in one spot? What kinds of prospects do you prefer to work with – consumers, small business owners, executives of major corporations, purchasing agents? Do you like to work on your own or as part of a sales team? Do you like having plenty of support from a manager or prefer independence?
If you have a hard time coming up with answers to some of these questions, think about which past jobs you enjoyed the most. Think about the really good days you've had at work and try to figure out what they had in common. You can also try visualizing a day in the life of your ideal job, starting from the moment you arrive in the office. As you uncover your preferences, write them down on that sheet of paper.
Your list of ideal job characteristics will not only help you determine which job openings you should pursue, it also gives you some great fodder for your interview. Once they've asked their questions, many interviewers will then invite you to ask questions of your own. You can pose questions that will uncover more information about the day-to-day nature of the job, such as “How closely do your salespeople work together?”
When you're ready to start hunting, pass your list of ideal job characteristics to your network contacts and ask them if they know of any open positions of this type. The more specific you are, the easier you make it for your colleagues to know what you're looking for. You can also save yourself and them a lot of wasted time pursing opportunities that aren't right for you.
Early on in the job search, it's not a bad idea to apply for one or two positions that aren't really exciting because it gives you a great opportunity to practice your interview skills. If you don't really want the job, you'll be far less stressed and will be able to experiment a bit with your answers and see how well they fly. And if you really impress your interviewer, it's possible she may even be willing to adjust the position a bit to bring it in line with your needs – for example, a bump in commissions or the right to work remotely.
Once you've identified a really exciting job opportunity, you have one big advantage – your enthusiasm. If you're thrilled by the possibility of getting a particular job, make that clear in the interview. You can even share some of the points on your ideal job characteristic list and point out to the interviewer how well this position meets your needs. This is an important selling point because hiring managers want someone who will stay in the job for at least several years. The more enthusiastic you are, the more likely they'll think you are to stick around.
At the end of the interview, it's a good idea to ask a few process questions so that you can set your expectations. Process questions like “What are the next steps in your hiring process?” and “What is your timeframe for making a final decision?” will help you to determine when you should give up hope on this particular opening and move on to the next.
By Wendy Connick
http://sales.about.com/
Before you even start looking at ads, the first step in your job hunt should be defining your ideal job. Sit down in a quiet spot with a pen and paper and spend a few minutes thinking about how you like to work. Would you be doing lots of prospecting, or handling warm leads only? Do you enjoy traveling or like to stay in one spot? What kinds of prospects do you prefer to work with – consumers, small business owners, executives of major corporations, purchasing agents? Do you like to work on your own or as part of a sales team? Do you like having plenty of support from a manager or prefer independence?
If you have a hard time coming up with answers to some of these questions, think about which past jobs you enjoyed the most. Think about the really good days you've had at work and try to figure out what they had in common. You can also try visualizing a day in the life of your ideal job, starting from the moment you arrive in the office. As you uncover your preferences, write them down on that sheet of paper.
Your list of ideal job characteristics will not only help you determine which job openings you should pursue, it also gives you some great fodder for your interview. Once they've asked their questions, many interviewers will then invite you to ask questions of your own. You can pose questions that will uncover more information about the day-to-day nature of the job, such as “How closely do your salespeople work together?”
When you're ready to start hunting, pass your list of ideal job characteristics to your network contacts and ask them if they know of any open positions of this type. The more specific you are, the easier you make it for your colleagues to know what you're looking for. You can also save yourself and them a lot of wasted time pursing opportunities that aren't right for you.
Early on in the job search, it's not a bad idea to apply for one or two positions that aren't really exciting because it gives you a great opportunity to practice your interview skills. If you don't really want the job, you'll be far less stressed and will be able to experiment a bit with your answers and see how well they fly. And if you really impress your interviewer, it's possible she may even be willing to adjust the position a bit to bring it in line with your needs – for example, a bump in commissions or the right to work remotely.
Once you've identified a really exciting job opportunity, you have one big advantage – your enthusiasm. If you're thrilled by the possibility of getting a particular job, make that clear in the interview. You can even share some of the points on your ideal job characteristic list and point out to the interviewer how well this position meets your needs. This is an important selling point because hiring managers want someone who will stay in the job for at least several years. The more enthusiastic you are, the more likely they'll think you are to stick around.
At the end of the interview, it's a good idea to ask a few process questions so that you can set your expectations. Process questions like “What are the next steps in your hiring process?” and “What is your timeframe for making a final decision?” will help you to determine when you should give up hope on this particular opening and move on to the next.
By Wendy Connick
http://sales.about.com/
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