Black Sales Journal

There are few moments that are more critical in your work history than the all-important job interview.  That sixty or so minutes presents you with the opportunity to:

• Make a lasting impression on a one-on-one basis.
• Describe, defend, and promote your employment history
• Showcase your verbal skills and your adeptness at responding to complex questions.
• Prove you critical sales skills while in the process of “selling yourself.”

“Critical” is a fair word here because you only get one opportunity, maybe no more than an hour to do this and separate yourself from the crowd of applicants that are being interviewed for the position.  You must use this opportunity to “sell yourself” while you scale the mountains of questions that the interviewer or interviewers might have for you.

How to Stand Out?

So in the midst of this, your objective is to not only answer all of the interviewer’s questions, showcase your knowledge of the sales process and your product/industry acumen, but also to stand out from other applicants.  Frankly, if you are a Black sales professional, you already stand out! You have selected a career that is challenging, measurable, and rewarding.  It is not the career that is the preference of the lighthearted.  This role is normally relationship-based, requiring an investment of time and effort in the cultivation of deep enduring relationships with buyers of all backgrounds and origins.  Not everyone can do it, and most would not make it to the interview stage, but you are there. Even the buyer that considers himself/herself color-blind recognizes that you’re an anomaly in the position.  Now the good part is that you are a “good” anomaly in that role.  I am serious in saying this.  Absent prejudice, the good buyer is looking for some change or variation from the norm as well.  Here is your golden opportunity. Even some of the most mundane issues about you are new ground for a customer from a different social and racial background.  Questions will flow in search of information about the following:

• How did you get in this business?
• What is your background?
• Where did you go to school?
• Did you play sports?
• Numerous other general interest questions

These questions only lead to more inquiry.  These questions, as banal as they may seem, happen because there is an informational divide in America.  That informational divide then serves as a “curiosity chasm” as well.  No one is going to go into your community to satisfy their curiosity as to how someone so different from them lives and thinks; yet if you come into their office, and hold conversation, everything is game.  Whether you hale from the heart of the ghetto or your state’s most affluent suburb, the curiosity is the same. You can stand out in this positive way, and there are some things that you can do to make this even better:

• Be personable and inviting without getting too personal.
• Know your story and its fine points.  You have license to discuss only what you want made public (because it will be public).
• Always tell the truth (Black Sales Journal 6/30 – Always Tell the Truth). The truth, in the light of its novelty to others is quite enough.
• Know what has made you strong and durable, and …better.

Now, when you know these well, you can begin to weave them into your story as opposed to “tell” them.  You might want to give that comment some thought.  You are the expert on you, and that cannot be denied.  Do you know how to tell your story in a factual, yet illustrative way that captivates and informs?  If you practice these points, you will gain proficiency in doing it, and will benefit from it.

The Value of the Icebreaker

In Black Sales Journal I always speak of the strength of conversation in building a successful relationship.  You are less trying to build a successful relationship during the interview than trying to construct a gateway; there is invariably a brief moment that is the “icebreaker”.  This is not a long interlude, yet a skilled interviewer will use this time to get to know something about the person that he/she is interviewing.  Here is where you get an opportunity to showcase “YOU.” During this time, most interviewers would not approach a subject that is to intrusive, yet will ask you a question like: “What made you decide to get into sales?” or “What convinced a bright looking guy/lady like you to go in to equipment sales?”  I am sure you have been asked a question like that before.  That is the icebreaker, and it is without doubt that is not the question he/she wanted to ask, yet it is the evidence that someone is curious about you, your motivations, and your background.

Remember…Be Personable…

Black sales professionals with tenure in sales have experience in relating their story. There is no doubt that regardless of whether you are male or female, they want to understand more about you.  You can move them from wanting to understand more about you to the point of fascination by disclosing some tidbits of information although never compromising personal information you want to protect. Remember bullet one above.  “Be personable and inviting without getting too personal,” serves as a good motto.  Although interview sessions can be tedious, remember that being interviewed by someone who is interviewing five others is tedious work on their part as well.  It is made more interesting by someone who has a personality, and has points of interest that would probably attract a buyer as well.

You can be that someone.

Master the relationship. Your comments are welcome.

Your key to getting an interview is your resume.  Many professionals make the common mistakes and don’t realize it.  They only know that they are not getting calls.  Read on for some serious suggestions that can really help.

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We have talked about the resume in other posts, but this one will help you reform this important tool.  You may need to consider some omissions and additions.  These items will change the attractiveness of your resume, and now is the time to do it.

Your resume is not a complete bio, and it is not a curriculum vitae, it is designed to create the level of interest that prompts someone to say, “I want to learn more about this candidate!”

The perfect resume may not exist, but having more than one resume (Black Sales Journal 11/21/2011 Is Your Resume Race Neutral?) is something that I strongly suggest.  A resume for the job of sales representative for an equipment manufacturer that will require extensive cold calling is much different that a job as an order taker who doesn’t have to cold call but requires the ability to handle volume and extraordinary organizational skills.

Having sales skills and an understanding of the process in the overall is much more universal than just knowing how to sell a category of products.  Your worth may increase some with specialization, but knowledge of sales skills and the process often trumps product knowledge.  The X factor will be relationships in the right position.  Remember this in your wording.

6 Items for Consideration

As you start this year’s job hunt, you will want to reform your resume to consider these important changes from the resumes that you may have been used to constructing:

Remove the objectives section – What in the heck does it really get you?  I hired for years, and realized that this section was often someone telling me what I wanted to hear so that they could get the interview.  It did not work. In many cases, the objective section could be used against you if you are not careful in how it is constructed.   This will also open up valuable room by shortening the total length, while not sacrificing any content.  It will also give room for other important items that enhance your marketability.

Remove short-term irrelevant jobs – If you have short term irrelevant jobs, including temporary employment, you will want to consider shortening the actual resume by excluding these positions, especially if the positions are for less than a few months.  Yes, you will have some employment gaps, yet you will be able to explain them fully in your job application, which you should have to fill out and sign, and during the interview.  If you would like, you can have an abridged version of the resume, and to represent accuracy, a full version.  Your search for the job will include the abridged version.  This is only important if you have several short term or temporary jobs.

List job accomplishments for each job – A great outplacement professional and reference named Dave G. gave me some solid advice a couple of years ago.  He indicated that a good resume needs at least 3 accomplishments shown for each important position.   An accomplishment is just that, something that was accomplished, and not a skill.  Appropriate examples would be:

• Achieved a 12% increase in growth in sales and total revenue for the 2011 year for my assigned territory
• Increased customer count 20% while increasing customer retention by 8% 2011 versus 2010
• Achieved rank of top sales executive in the Eastern Division and #3 ranking nationally.

Be ready to back them up with substantiation if necessary, but don’t be ashamed of indicating these notable accomplishments.  Be specific and as concise as possible.

Know and include the keywords for the positions that you want – This one is important and I will write on it more in the very near future.  Keywords are important from the standpoint of the screening process.  If you resume gets screened out, you will miss the opportunity to be interviewed.

Key(words) to Success!

I will never attempt to say that I am a keyword expert, yet I understand the concept.  You will as well.  In a search for eligible candidates in a high-volume search (one where many candidates have the similar qualifications) such as sales representative, employers use automation to make the search easier.  Software utilized to find the keywords in your resume will be used to segregate those that go to the top of the pile from the others.  You want yours to be in the top of the pile.

Key place to find these keywords would be the job description or job brief for the job that you are applying for.  Other hints would include your college placement office, a recruiter or headhunter, and industry magazines and reference books.

Sites to get more valuable information on keywords are as follows:

Job-Hunt.org http://www.job-hunt.org/resumekeywords.shtml

Quintesssential Careers.com http://www.quintcareers.com/resume_keywords.html

If you are involved in what you suspect as a high volume search you should know your keywords, and make sure that cover letter and resume have an adequate amount of them.

Skip the references – I will keep this one short.  Everyone knows that you can produce references.  When I would get a resume that indicated “References available upon request”, I would always wonder why it was there.  At some point I took it off of my resume and don’t think it was ever missed.  It is common, but not necessary.  If you need the room, use it.  Both you and the prospective employer know that you may be called upon to provide references.

Keep the resume as “race neutral” as possible – You have read this one in Black Sales Journal before ((Black Sales Journal 11/21/2011 Is Your Resume Race Neutral?).  Let you resume work for you by keeping it “race neutral”.  You don’t know that the prospective employer is fair, and you do not know what experiences that they have had in the past which my work against you.  Avoid tipping off your race during this phase unless it is obvious to you that they are looking for a candidate like you.  They will know soon enough when they call you in for your interview.  Mentions of your fraternity, sorority, or social groups can benefit you but also can militate against you.  If you do not know that it will benefit you, such as they desire a Black candidate, then avoid it.

Pay Attention to Detail

If your resume is the key to getting in the door, make sure it is solid, and correct.  Have it reviewed by more than one individual, and that the keywords are there.  It is difficult when you are chocking this full of information about your favorite topic (yourself!) for you to easily note all the things that need to be tightened up or corrected.

Your comments are welcomed.

Be Effective!