Four Point Candidate Clip
Pretty much every sales operation I've spoken to on recruitment lately bemoans how tricky it is to get staff.
In the Enterprise space, competition for new hires seems intense. It certainly feels like the balance is heavily in favour of the employee right now.
I blogged on this late last year too, from the perspective of 'Empty Chairs'.
One organisation looking to enlarge the salesteam I came across, had managed to reach a whittling-down stage. With around a dozen or so candidates that seemed to 'fit', they still wanted to narrow further before formally interviewing.
So they asked each prospective team joiner to compose a couple-minute video clip of themselves. Covering four areas;
About yourself
Why you're good for the role
Why you want the job
How you'd solve a current problem in the industry
I can relay that they felt pleased with the results.
I sense the first three are fairly typical across Sales interviews.
No doubt whether imminent interviewer or interviewee, you've likely prepped for them already.
As we've likely all seen the rafts of reporting on getting an AI bot to provide practice interviews too, I'm minded to suggest two pointers here.
If recruiting, then try make such task AI proof.
If job seeking, then try to avoid AI-speak.
I say this as I asked just such a chatbot to tackle the final query above.
Results were not really of any use.
The arena I asked on, was solution selling video calls. Specifically drilling into how to make them better.
Half-dozen prompts in, this was a sample of where we got to;
Some video conferencing platforms offer virtual whiteboards that allow you to draw and write in real-time. This can be a great way to visually illustrate complex ideas or brainstorm with attendees
Not at all what I'd recommend.
Considering what I thought was a straightforward platform (or clear prompt engineering, to use the new parlance) - namely overcoming common hurdles that can hold back sales video meetings - building on it provided generic, threadbare and listless advice.
Hopefully good for me in my present-day endeavours to keep pushing B2B salespeople's skill ever higher in this. Yet hardly a ringing endorsement of the current level of AI tech.
Should you find yourself in similar position, there's merit in adapting this approach for your own career move or taking on of new colleagues.