September 11, 2014
By Peggy McKee for BioSpace.com
To prepare for a biotech job interview, you have to make sure you’re ready to answer both common and tough interview questions. You need to know how to frame your answers to highlight what you’re going to bring to the company (a great way to do that is to structure your answers in the form of stories that spotlight your skills). You also have to have some interview questions of your own ready—after all, you’re interviewing them, too. You want to know if the company’s a good fit for you and if it is going to be a place where you can succeed. But, there’s one question you should absolutely remember to ask before the interview ends.
It is “Do you see any reason why you wouldn’t hire me for this job?”
I know there are many who would disparage that question, finding it too candid and predictable. So ask it another way, then. But ask it.
Why? The interview is your best shot at securing a job offer. You don’t want to leave any doubts in the hiring manager’s mind about hiring you. You need to uncover those doubts and objections while you have a chance to address them. And many legitimate objections can be addressed simply by giving the interviewer a different perspective on whatever it is that’s bothering them. Or maybe you’ve forgotten to highlight some experience in your job history. The answer to that question will show you the weak spots in your interview, and give you another chance to shore them up.
Although this advice applies to any job interview in any industry, it’s especially true for sales. If you can’t even close the deal during your interview, what’s going to make the medical device, laboratory sales, or pharmaceutical sales hiring manager think you can close the sale when you’re on the job?
If you have any doubts about your ability to ask this question in the interview, please consider hiring an interview to role-play interview questions with you. Practicing asking that question with a coach will make it easier and more natural for you to ask it in an interview. You deserve to know the answer.
And, getting it could make the difference in whether or not you get the job offer.
About the Author
Peggy McKee is “the Medical Sales Recruiter” and founder of PHC Consulting. Contact her if you want to land a position in medical sales.
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