Another difficult question at the interview is the one on salary.

“What are you expecting as a salary” is difficult because if you pitch your answer too low then that’s what you get and if it’s too high you might lose the job.

This clip looks at what you could say if salary is mentioned by the interviewer.

Also remember that there’s a book on “negotiating for what you want” on the website at www.assimilating-talent.com that includes a section on negotiating for a salary increase.

In this clip I look at some mistakes that are made at interviews and also some howlers and one story where the candidate showed great humour but lost the job.
Enjoy

Interview Howlers & Mistakes

A number of people in my network manage sales teams or are salespeople and I’ve been asked to include some questions asked at sales job interviews.

So here’s the clip first with questions:

“What’s your attitude to a challenge?”
How do you handle rejection?”
and
Describe a difficult sale you’ve made”

and there will be more to follow

Sales and Marketing interview questions

 Thanks to Mark for sending me this question which is one that is often asked at interviews for management positions.

The reason is that all managers need to take risks and interviewers are wanting to ensure that the candidate can demonstrate that they can assess risks as opposed to being a maverick.

If you have a question you want to have considered them email me and I’d be delighted to include it in the library.

Your attitude to risk

A few days a go a good friend of mine phoned me and wanted to discuss what questions he should ask at the interview. One of the areas he wanted to discuss was when to raise the topic of salary and benefits. He was worried that too early and it could look as if one’s focus is all on money rather than the job and too later could mean the loss of advantage.

I then mentioned to him that I was doing this film series on how to answer difficult interview questions on YouTube and he told me to “Pull my finger out” and get one uploaded on the questions to ask at an interview.

So for Mark…Here it is!

Questions you should ask the interviewer

I’m having a lot of positive feedback from my network on the video series of interview questions that I’m producing. Lots of people are saying how they like the fact that each clip deals with a specific question.

I’m hoping to produce up to thirty in the series and also include how to prepare to conduct an interview and to attend one.

Producing the clips is fun and designed to appeal to people wanting quick answers to simple questions.

Here’s the latest clip “What do you know about the company?”
 

The popularity of my short interview clips on how to answer difficult interview questions has surprised and delighted me. Here’s another question mentioned to me by my network.

“What future trends do you see for our industry?”

Interview question TRENDS

You might also be interested in a 40 page report on “Finding a job using social media” that is available HERE

The reaction from friends and my network to my first tip was awesome and this has motivated me to produce more. So I set myself a target to upload a new answer to a difficult question every day. Two if I can manage it.

Here’s question #2 which covers “tell me about your strengths and weaknesses.

Too often people seem to find answering this question difficult because they become embarrassed over praising themselves. However, it’s only for a couple of minutes. Similarly they feel that to talk about a weakness can harm the job prospects.

I hope the video helps and more tips to follow:

Interview question strenghts + weaknesses

Finding a job in this financial downturn and when so many people are being laid off  is difficult. In recent times so many people have asked my advice on answering “difficult interview questions” that I’ve decided to share some of the tips that I’ve given to the friends I’ve mentored over the past few years.

I know there is lots of advice on the internet on handling interviews but I hope that these short clips will be useful because I will explain why the question is being asked as well as ways to answer it.

I feel that by understanding why the question is being asked it then becomes easier to think through how to respond in a positive and dynamic way that makes you stand out from the crowd.
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The first two questions I talk about in this video are:
 “Tell me about your career to-date” and
“Tell me about your strengths and weaknesses”

Within a few days I’ll have some more interview tips for you