WingSwept has successfully hired 7 inside sales representatives since the beginning of 2009. Many of those were hired based on a job advertisement run on a popular on-line job site. One of the questions that we asked applicants is how they have done in meeting quotas in previous positions. Amazingly only ONE person out of more than 230 who applied for the positions had ever failed to meet their quota. According to the application, it wasn’t his fault because the company had set the quotas too high. He’s the guy who stood out in the pack because we felt that he might be actually telling us truth. I should mention that about 90% of applicants were not currently employed…..makes you wonder why a company would let someone go that was meeting (and in most cases exceeding) their quota.
We have four more inside sales positions to fill before reaching a full staff and will soon be advertising openings again. We’ll certainly be changing the way that question is worded, but hopefully a little more honesty will show through this time around.
If you’re one of the millions that are currently out of work I sincerely feel for you. Make sure that when you’re applying for a position though that you put yourself in the position of the person reviewing resumes. Be genuine in your answers!
