Tricky Pharmaceutical Sales Interview Questions: Question #1 of 7, How to Identify and Answer
Pharmaceutical sales interview questions that are negative in nature are designed to make the candidate reveal the "worst" part of themselves to interviewers. I'll teach you how to recognize these damaging questions BEFORE your pharmaceutical sales interview, and how to answer them in a controlled and confident manner...proving that you're the best person for the job!
What's the trickiest question you could encounter in a pharmaceutical sales interview, or any interview?
Hands down, it's any question about your past or current managers. This type of question is designed to bring out any negative issues you may have about past or current managers, and authority in general.
First, remember that you must NOT, under any circumstances, provide negative feedback about your previous or current managers, nor is it appropriate to blame your past manager for your lack of success in the job.
Why?
Because the interviewer may believe you'll speak poorly of him/her someday, as your manager. This question often exposes bitterness, grudges, and the inability to handle authoritative relationships.
To combat any negativity, your answer must be as gracious as possible about your previous (or current) managers, and must show how you've learned from them.
How to Answer One of the Most Dangerous Pharmaceutical Sales Interview Questions:
Even if you've had THE BOSS FROM HELL, there's at least one positive skill or attribute that you could speak of...it may take you a while, but you'll eventually come up with one!
You might reply to this interview question with the following:
She was a very self-confident manager; she was confident of her skills and abilities and expected others to be self-assured, as well. As a result of her high expectations, I became more confident, organized, and knowledgeable. Because of her, I understood that confidence sells. The more confidence you have in yourself, the more confidence others will have in you. This has shaped my sales ability dramatically. Confidence puts my customers at ease, and establishes me as the "expert", especially when my product is positioned as the solution to their needs.
Wow! See how you turned the ONE positive aspect of your evil boss into a statement that makes you look like the perfect candidate for a pharmaceutical sales job?
In summary, to answer one of the trickiest pharmaceutical sales questions ever, remember these 2 strategies:
- 1. Choose a positive skill/ability of a previous or current manager that relates to pharma sales jobs.
- 2. Relate that skill/ability to yourself by stating how you learned from your previous manager and now possess that skill/ability.
This is a great way to answer one of those tricky pharmaceutical sales interview questions and turn the question into an answer that "sells" YOU!
