sales order processing – interview questions?
January 24th, 2008 | general & admin, sales & marketing | by Wendy Rose
I was recently asked for some good interview questions for an order processing person. When it comes to this sales role you really need to focus on the following aspects: tolerance for stress/coping, practical learning, planning & organizing, attention to detail, integrity, initiative and controls. Because this is an entry level position, I provided the following questions to ask the candidate:
How did you get your job at [last company on resume]?
What are the highest pressure situations you have been under in recent years?
How did you cope with [follow up on one]? This doesn’t have to be work related – you are just trying to determine how stress manifests itself in the candidate and how do they cope or what do they do to relieve stress (e.g. work out, go for a walk, smoke and drink excessively!)
Everyone has had a bad day at work sometime. When did you last lose your temper at work? Why? What was the result? Again, you are looking for a work related calamity.
Tell me about a high stress situation when it was desirable for you to keep a positive attitude. What happened?
What did you have to learn to be effective at [last company on resume]? How long did it take you? Which parts took the most time? Why? Which parts were the hardest?
How have you determined what constitutes top priorities in scheduling your time? Give examples.
What is your procedure for keeping track of items requiring your attention?
Give me an example of a time in which you were effective in doing away with “constant emergencies” and “surprises” in your work climate. How did your planning help you deal with the unexpected?
Everyone has to bend or break the rules sometime. Can you give me some examples of when you have had to do this?
How many “F’s” are in the following sentence [provide it on a piece of paper]?:FINISHED FILES ARE THE RESULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC STUDY COMBINED WITH THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS.(answer is six – in general people usually answer 3 missing the F’s in the OF’s because we gloss over them. Someone with a high attention to detail will get more than 3 for an answer)
Really press the candidates to answer fully and deeply. If you don’t get an in-depth response, keep probing. Get to know them. Provide them with examples to get them going (if they are nervous) but don’t direct them.
Good luck!
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