Salespeople should always be ready for three common types of interview questions: checkbox, situational, and behavioral. They’re easy to recognize once you know them, and each demands a different kind of answer.

In reality, interviewing can be awkward and stressful, even for salespeople. The stakes are high when there are only two outcomes:

✔ You get the offer

✘ You go home empty-handed

Interview-savvy candidates frequently grab offers from multiple companies, while other equally talented professionals leave with nothing. And it bothers you, because you know you’re just as good at your sales job, if not better, than the salesperson with all the offers.

You have the skills, the drive, and the ability to do the job. So don’t be the applicant who leaves empty-handed because you didn’t play your cards right.

Mastering interview skills may seem like a colossal waste of time. But the average person changes jobs every four years, which means you’re likely to hold 11 or 12 jobs in your career.

That means 45 interviews or more before you retire.

Want to accelerate your career, position yourself for advancement, and earn more? Take interviews seriously. The key is understanding the process from the hiring manager’s perspective.

The Most Common Way to Blow an Interview for No Good Reason

Ever sat down with a hiring manager and answered every single question with the same level of detail? That’s a major mistake. Signs this might be happening to you:

• Running out of time during interviews
• Conversations end abruptly
• You’re frequently interrupted
• It’s time to ask questions, but you don’t get much time
• You feel like you’re intentionally rushed out the door
• You’re not invited back for second rounds 65% of the time
• You’re only answering a handful of questions

Understand Checkbox Questions

Let’s start with the simplest: checkbox questions. The hiring manager asks the question, checks the box, and moves on. It’s as simple as 1-2-3.

But misread the category, and you’ll spend the whole meeting giving long-winded answers to every question. At that pace, you’ll never get to the heart of the interview.

When you recognize checkbox questions, cut to the chase and let the hiring manager move through their process. In a 30-minute interview, there will be plenty of them.

Don’t get left behind talking about compensation complaints, the old boss, or the billions of miles you fly every year with American Airlines. The perceptive interviewer knocked out the checkbox questions in the first five minutes. While you’re still talking about having three bosses in three months, the other candidate has let the interview progress into meaningful conversation.

Checkbox questions: get to the point. Answers should be 5-10 seconds or less.

1. What’s your current base salary and total compensation?
2. Why did you leave ___ company?
3. Do you have experience with ___?
4. How much overnight travel are you comfortable with?
5. Can you work from home or remote?
6. This position reports into the ___ office daily. Does that work for you?
7. What year did you graduate from college?
8. What was your GPA?
9. Who do you report to?
10. Have you ever been asked to resign?

Two of these deserve prepared answers: know your comp numbers cold, and have your reason for leaving ready. There are four ready-made versions of that answer here.

Understand Situational Questions

Whether you love or hate them, situational questions require you to think on your feet. They’re used to gauge your priorities, determine your values, and figure out what you’d do in hypothetical situations.

You can prepare in advance by researching the employer’s values. Understand what’s important to them, and you can tailor responses accordingly.

The most common pitfall in this category? Failing to answer the question. Applicants who circle the choices, ramble, or lose focus come across as indecisive, uncooperative, and unable to focus on problem resolution.

Sample situational questions:

1. Your phone rings Friday at 5:30 p.m. A client is calling back about a contract. You’re somewhat annoyed with this prospective client, and you have a 7:30 dinner reservation. Do you take the call, or deal with it Monday?
2. I’m a VP of Operations and a potential customer. You want to sell me plastic cups, and you have me on a scheduled 10-minute call. What are you going to ask me?
3. Your prospect stops returning your calls. They have your proposal, you’ve worked the deal for 60 days, and it’s been three days of silence. What next?
4. Your boss hands you a new comp plan with new targets, and you think it stinks. What do you do?

When you’re in the hot seat, remember the employer is gauging how you prioritize, react, and problem-solve. Stay calm, ask clarifying questions if you need to, but always answer the question.

Interview suicide happens when you dance around questions instead of answering them, and ramblers tank interviews without realizing it. Don’t feel pressured to start talking immediately. Pausing to think before you speak is normal, and it separates you from the candidates who babble under pressure.

Understand Behavioral Questions

Behavioral questions are easy to recognize. They start with versions of “Tell me about a time when…”

This is your signal to get into the granular details, so make sure you’re ready. Save your best work stories for the questions that can only be answered with detailed examples.

Behavioral questions are your best chance to use stories you’ve prepared in advance. Have several ready.

Interviewers are looking for traits, characteristics, and concrete proof of your success. They want the details and they’re listening attentively, so this is your green light to entertain them with colorful examples. A structured approach like the SAR method (Situation, Action, Result) of answering interview questions keeps the stories tight.

Behavioral questions are often the easiest to answer, because you can apply your success stories to a variety of prompts. And no one expects perfection. The last thing you want is to come across as an expert with nothing to learn, so be sure to mention obstacles, challenges, and failures.

Sample behavioral questions:

1. Tell me about a deal you won that you didn’t think you would. What obstacles did you overcome?
2. When was the last time a client negotiated with you to the point you didn’t want to work with them anymore?
3. Tell me about a time you had to be creative to solve a problem.
4. What are your biggest accomplishments?
5. What do you mean? What’s an example of that? What happened? What did you do?
6. Tell me about a goal you achieved.
7. Share a time when you were discouraged.

Most interviews with direct hiring managers and peers involve at least two or three behavioral questions, and good interviewers will ask a series of follow-ups around any example you provide. Be prepared to discuss details.

Interviewers are interested in how you solve problems. Did you back up your boss, or privately complain to your associates? Did you support customers and respond, or ignore client requests? Your actions will be assessed, evaluated, and used to predict your future behavior, and ultimately your success.

Going the Extra Distance Pays Off

Interviews are predictable on some levels and mysterious on others. But learning to recognize which question you’re being asked, and matching your answer to it, will ensure you interview like a pro.

Interviewing well is a skill. And skills can be mastered. Matching your answers to the question is one skill in the complete interview preparation guide.