Ice Cream And Your Next Dream Sales Job

Another month and another survey of most awkward interview questions.

This time a bunch of bean counters confess their top ten nightmares;

What are your weaknesses?
Describe yourself in three words
If you were a fruit or vegetable what would you be and why?
Why should we choose you for this role?
Describe a time when you have failed
What are your strengths?
If you were a flavour of ice cream, what would you be and why?
What has been your greatest achievement?
Why did you apply for this job?
How will you contribute to the team?

These are mainly the usual suspects. Many of which I’ve blogged on many times before. Especially that ludicrous ‘weakness’ nonsense.

Then there’s the fruit ‘n veg with ice cream combo. More suitable for a first date I fancy. And perhaps ought to have instead been in the surveyor’s list of comedy qu’s, (of which they also published a fuller list of 23). Some more from here, a couple clearly cut from similar grocer-gelateria cloth;

Which video game character would you like to be and why?
What dinosaur would you like to be?
Is a Jaffa cake a cake or biscuit?
Which three celebrities would you like to join for a night out?
Would you rather know a lot about a little or a little about a lot?

And one direct from the Sales furnace;

Tell me 20 unique selling points about this BIC pen

Really. Given the media frenzy the day I blog this, any next list will no doubt feature; which Top Gear presenter are you most like? Or some such rubbish.

One stat grabbed my attention alongside this PR. Two in five of all jobs are filled through word of mouth and never advertised.

Anyway, as ever with these, it’s useful preparation guidance should you be going for that dream sales job, or recruiting a winner for a role as manager yourself.

A final point relates to #2; describe yourself in three words.

Can you do this for your division, company, product set, service and latest shiny offering too…?