Inside Sales Telesales Tips Blog

‘What’s in your closet?’ and other ineffective interview questions

  

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It’s that time of year when a lot of interviewing for inside sales positions is happening, so I’d like to weigh in on some questions those of you in management shouldn’t ask. I just recently taught one of my inside sales management classes, and this subject, which I cover, generated the usual spirited conversation. This post is mainly for inside sales management, but will be of interest to those of you looking around, too. If you’re in either category, be sure to read my Getting Hired for Your Ultimate Inside Sales Job whitepaper, as it tells both managers and reps some good thing sto keep in mind.  So here we go: 

‘Avoid’ questions in interviewing include two classes of questions, silly questions and illegal questions. Silly questions require answers that have no bearing on how an inside sales rep can do the job. Two of the best I’ve heard are “Describe what’s in your closet at home” and “If you were an animal, what would you be, and why?” The managers who asked these questions explained that the former tells them how organized the person is, while the latter tells them how creative the person is. I wouldn’t know how to answer either of them, and I’m an organized guy with a BA in Creative Arts. An improvement would be “Describe how you organize your work day” and “Tell me about a creative way that you saved a lost sale.” Bottom line, tie it back to the job you expect the rep to perform. 

Illegal questions vary somewhat depending on your legal system (ping your Human Resources department for more information), but here are a few we can’t ask in my locality: 

• Age (except to determine if candidate is a minor)
• Marital status, spouse, children or family, or sexual identity
• Status or age of children
• Racial background
• Religion
• Lifestyle outside of work
• Transportation to & from work
• Disabilities unrelated to performance
• Clubs or societies to which the applicant may belong
• Questions relating to politics 

There are some compelling reasons not to ask these questions, the most important of which is that it helps prevent you from being sued if a candidate feels he or she didn’t get the position for a reason having nothing to do with perceived performance on the job. There are loads of great questions you can ask, and that white paper I mentioned above can help. 

So if you’re a manager in hiring mode, keep your questions to candidates on-target to the job itself. And if you’re a rep, drive all your interview answers to the great sales or sales development successes you’ve had in the past, and how you intend on making your new company more successful by implementing them in a new environment.