3 Intelligent Questions to Ask on a Sales or Marketing Interview

One of the worst things that an interviewer can do is to take the time to prepare for the questions that they feel they are going to be asked, take even more time to do industry and company research only to ace the Q and A part of the interview then not have any questions to ask back.

As a potential sales or marketing employee, you should always be prepared with intelligent, relevant questions that are geared towards you not only looking competent, but also assist in you finding out pertinent information about the company in order to make an educated decision as to whether the job is for you.

1. How does _______ (company name) position itself in the market?

As a sales or marketing representative, you should know how a potential employer markets themselves to their customers and whether or not that fits your style of work.

Moreover, this is an effective way to get the interviewer speaking and, thus gauging what they think of the company via reading in-between the lines and from their tone.

Are they enthusiastic about the company or do they not like their job?

You'd be surprised at what you can learn and how helpful this can be when gauging the potential of a successful future with any firm that you find yourself interviewing with.

2. Who would I be reporting to?

Always know who your boss is going to be and always know who they are.

This should be researched beforehand, but if it's not in the job description, instead of taking an educated guess, you should ask the person interviewing you.

Remember that each job that you take, you should grow both personally and professionally.

Therefore, it is imperative to keep in mind your perception of this individual and, from what you know of them their leadership skills.

3. Is there formal training? What is the ramp up time to be able to handle accounts?

Larger companies typically have a formal training process while smaller companies have overworked executives who don't have the time nor manpower to "PowerPoint" your entire job.

Therefore, inquiring as to what type of training given by the company will help you envision what the initial month or two is going to be like at the firm as well as your personal required contribution in that area.

When interviewing with larger organizations, remember that the term "autonomous" should be used and stressed while "team player" is liked by larger companies.

Ken Sundheim runs KAS Placement, an executive staffing firm that Ken started in 2005.

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Ken's articles have appeared in, among many others Forbes, NYTimes, USA Today and more.

KAS Placement is an executive recruitment agency.