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Interviews as Consultative Sales Conversations
By Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter, MRW, CPRW, CEIP

A few tips to help job seekers prepare for and act upon this opportunity:

1. First, realize that being consultative means that before proffering one’s solution to what ails their client (the hiring manager, the human resource pro, the recruiter), job seekers must be equipped with ample research and a few smart questions.

2. Though sometimes a job interview situation may arise without much advance notice, performing a laser-strike study of the target company and/or target hiring manager for which they will be working is needed to position job seekers apart from the pack of interviewees. Even with a fairly short preparation window, the job seeker can, and must, investigate.

3. Dip their research ladle into the endless well of Internet resources:



4. Prepare their challenge-action-results (CIB) CIRCUMSTANCE-IMPROVEMENT-BENEFIT stories that align with the target company’s pain points. Consider how they have solved problems related to the types of problems this company is and will be facing. Write those stories out (note: if the job seeker already navigated the introspective resume writing process, which involves ferreting out the most critical stories and areas of value they offer your target audience, then use their resume as a launch-pad).

5. Prepare responses to some of the most typical interview questions. Here are a few to get the job searcher started:

6. And here’s where the consultative process really takes flight: The CANDIDATE gets to ask THEM questions, not only to display their interest in the company, but also to garner information by which the job seeker can further wrap their value proposition around the company’s needs. Further, as the candidate’s mind intuitively weaves his story to align with the company’s responses, they are drawing upon the research notes discovered during the company research prep phase (step 3) and weaving that information into the interview fabric. And as the company responds to questions, the job seeker also has a chance to knit in their C-A-R stories (step 4) to fortify that he can meet the company’s impending needs. A sampling of questions job hunters may ask them:

7. After the interview is an opportunity to mine for gold. Think: What went well at the interview, what didn’t go so well, and what areas were left untapped? Address those in a sales letter that not only expresses appreciation for the interview (the “thank-you”), but also squarely addresses and overcomes potential weaknesses that were spotted and/or bridges gaps in presenting the candidate’s value that he simply did not have time to address during the interview.

8. Moreover, after the job seeker has undergone a second (and perhaps, third, fourth) interview, with key influencers in senior management, executives or board members, consider writing a powerful influence letter. In this sales market document, headline the candidate’s message with, “Why I should by hired by ABC Company?” and then assertively, confidently and passionately sell their value. At this point humility should be set aside, and the job seeker should be laser focused on closing the deal.

In parting, interviewing is a consultative sales call and sometimes requires multiple contacts and conversations to “close” the sale. As humans, though we don’t always want to be “sold,” per se, we want to be convinced that we are making the right buying decision. It is the job candidate’s job to influence the hiring management that they would be making the best decision for them, for their department and for their company by investing in this candidate’s talent.

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