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Finding the right sales and marketing professionals in the highly specialized medical device, pharmaceutical, and biotech industries is a challenge. Make the most of the brief interview time available by asking these questions to cut to the heart of a candidate’s approach:

  1. What gets you out of bed in the morning? Knowing what motivates a candidate helps you determine instantly whether the person will be a good fit with your company. Most sales and marketing professionals are driven by a desire to improve the numbers, but for the best candidates, this drive is internal – they’re motivated by their own desire to beat their best records.
  2. What’s your Myers-Briggs type? The answer to this question often matters less than how the candidate responds to it. There are sixteen potential Myers-Briggs types, and how a candidate describes his or her type and its perceived “fit” with the candidate’s own self-image can be very revealing.
  3. What type of jobs do you avoid? Like the question about motivation, this question probes the candidate’s fit with your team, department, and organization as a whole. For instance, a salesperson who wants nothing to do with account management is unlikely to fit in well in any department. If your department frequently cross-trains staff, a candidate who doesn’t want to explore other areas will probably be a poor fit.
  4. What do you think of our products/services? Naturally, any candidate who has not thoroughly researched your company’s offerings is a huge red flag. Among candidates who have done their reading, this question helps you explore their critical thinking and background experience. Top candidates will be able to explain why they have come to the conclusions they have, what they would recommend to improve matters, and how they believe your offerings compare to your competitors’.
  5. What do you want from your career in the next five years? Attracting top talent is only half the battle. The other half is keeping it. When you know what a candidate wants and expects, retention becomes much easier – especially when you can match a candidate’s plans with your company’s own growth and goals.

At SMR Group, our recruiters can help you ask better questions in order to find better candidates. Contact us today to learn more.


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