Full Interview Template with competency questions 

For open position

Field Sales 

Step 1:  Preparation (Prior to the Interview)	
	Review the job description and other information relevant to the position.	
	Review the candidate’s application / resume.	
	If a team interview, determine interviewing roles (who to open/close?).	
	Make sure you have booked a quiet room and be on time.	

Step 2: Rapport Building Questions		
	Thank the candidate for coming and for their interest in the position.	
	Introduce yourself (and other interviewers, if a team interview).	
	Ask an ice-breaker question, i.e., directions, weather, news event, etc.	

Step 3: Introduction and Process		
	Position being interviewed for is a senior individual contributor	
	Describe the process	
	Our conversation today will last about 50–60 min. The last 5 minutes or so will be for your questions about the role or our organization. The bulk of time will focus on you and your past experiences. I/we will be asking some “Behavioral” questions that involve you giving examples of what you have done in the past. In your examples please be specific; describe the situation that lead up to your actions, what you did (your Behavior), and what happened as a result. 
Take your time -- there are no right or wrong answers.	
	I/we will take notes during the interview (kept strictly confidential).	
	Do you have any questions concerning the interview process before we begin?	

Step 4: Background / General	
Note to interviewer: You do not need to ask all of these questions.	
	
Interview Question:	Why Bioventus?
What interested you about this position at this company?
What do you already know about this company and this particular role?
As you understand the position, what strengths would you bring to this job?
What aspects of your current position do you enjoy most?  Least?
What is your most significant recent achievement?
	
Notes:		

Step 5: Technical Skills and Knowledge		
Note to interviewer: Insert any technical questions that are specific to this role.	
	
Target Behavior:	Role specific – to be decided by interviewer prior to interview	
Interview Question:		
Notes:		
	
Target Behavior:	Role specific – to be decided by interviewer prior to interview	
Interview Question:		
Notes:		
	
Target Behavior:	Role specific – to be decided by interviewer prior to interview	
Interview Question:		
Notes:		
	
Step 6: Competencies/Behavioral Questions
In depth, competency explanations can be located on Bionet under the manager resource centre in the competency library.
		
Note to interviewer: This time includes Probing/Follow-up questions below.
Remember the probing words… WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, HOW! 
STAR = Situation, Task, Action, Result!
Please pick only one of the two example questions, not both. 
	
Competency:	Account Planning	
Target Behaviour:	Establishing a plan to achieve the sales objectives of an account, taking into consideration overall opportunities, customer business priorities and anticipated business changes, regional issues, past sales results, and available resources; taking action specified in the account plan, reviewing progress, and adjusting the plan as needed.  Having clear, specific written goals of the things you would like to accomplish helps you stay focused and be more efficient in your daily activities.
	
Interview Question:	1)	A Sales representative often has to manage multiple accounts (customers or prospects). Compare two very different accounts you manage in terms of how you approached planning. What made you choose this approach? What was the outcome? What have you learnt from this? 
2)	Tell me about a customer or prospect account that was not proceeding according to your plan. How did you respond? What changes did you make? How did the customer react? 	
Notes:
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Competency:	Active Listening Skills:	
Target Behaviour:	Listens intently to others and vigilantly observes and interprets peoples’ behaviour. 
	
Interview Question:	1)	Tell me about a time you had to use your listening skills to close a deal with a customer.
2)	Tell me about a time when you had to “read between the lines” to find out what was important to a customer.	
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Competency:	Adaptability	
Target Behaviour:	Maintaining effectiveness when experiencing major changes in work responsibilities or environment (e.g., people, processes, structure, or culture); adjusting effectively to change by exploring the benefits, trying new approaches, and collaborating with others to make the change successful.
	
Interview Question:	1)	Tell me about an organizational or work change you experienced that changed the way you do your work. How did you find out about the change? How did it influence you? What did you change? 
2)	Give me an example of where you helped change a process in your role. How did that affect others? How did they react? Why did you decide to do this?	
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Competency:	Building Influential Partnerships	
Target Behaviour:	Leveraging relationships with internal and external partners to persuade key stakeholders to take action that will address customers’ needs and advance sales.
	
Interview Question:	1)	Tell me about a time when you included one of your peers in developing a project plan. How did you try to gain this person’s commitment? What was the project outcome? What could you improve in the future? 
2)	Describe a face-to-face meeting in which you had to influence an inflexible person. What techniques did you use?  Why did you choose those techniques? How did they react? What could you have done differently? 	
Notes:
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Competency:	Leading Through Vision Integrity and Cultural Principles	
Target Behaviour:	Keeping the organization's vision and values at the forefront of decision-making and action; Motivating increased employee effort by communicating a compelling view of the organization's purpose, culture and future state.
•	Be a role model for Acting with Integrity, adhering to company policies and procedures, our Code of Compliance and Ethics and our Culture Principles
•	Lead by example and insist on the highest standards
•	Speak and act in a manner that demonstrates honesty, integrity, respect
•	Focus on the future and set clear expectations	
Interview Question:	1)	Tell me what you know about your Company’s vision/values. How do you align with in these values? What do you think could improve these values and visions? How might you use these in your role?
2)	Give me an example where you have enforced your Company’s visions/values. How did you do this? What was the reaction? Why did you feel it was necessary? What would you have done differently? 	
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Competency:	Portfolio Management	
Target Behaviour:	Optimizing selling time and results by effectively managing one’s portfolio assets.
	
Interview Question:	1)	Give me an example of how you manage your current sales portfolio. Describe the last time you reviewed your sales funnel. What did you look for? What steps did you take as result of your analysis? What was the outcome of your actions? 
2)	What types of scheduling have you done to prioritize and optimize your sales funnel? Give me an example of how you have approached this. What actions did you take? What was the outcome? 	
Notes:
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Competency:	Sales Drive & Resilience 	
Target Behavior:	Sales Drive and Resilience is critical for success in the sales, as it enables a sales representative to handle rejection and failure, overcome obstacles, and manage stress. Determined and enthusiastic to seek growth, hungry for success and propels oneself to meet tough targets.	
Interview Question:	1)	Tell me about a time where you faced rejection or failure. How did you handle it and what did you learn from the experience?
2)	Tell me about a time you had to adjust your sales strategy to reach a particular target. How did you recognize a change was needed? What changes did you make? How did the customer react? 
Did you take time to reflect on what went wrong and identify areas for improvement? Did you see feedback from colleagues or mentors to help you learn from the experience? What was the result? (i. e. closing a new deal or building stronger relationships)	
Notes:
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Competency:	Targeting Sales Opportunities	
Target Behaviour:	Identifying the most promising new sales opportunities by uncovering emerging business and market issues; and then identifying potential customer organizations and their influential decision makers who would be interested in improving business results.
	
Interview Question:	1)	Walk me through the steps you took in your career search. What made you choose this approach?  How have you identified new career opportunities? Once identified what did you do with the information? What would you have done differently? What changes did you make to your overall strategy?  
2)	Describe a time when you needed to persuade a very busy person to spend time meeting with you.  What approach did you take? How did they respond? What would you have done differently? 	
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Competency:	Technical/Professional Knowledge and Skills	
Target Behaviour:	Having achieved a satisfactory level of technical, functional, and/or professional skill or knowledge in position-related areas; keeping up with current developments and trends in areas of expertise; leveraging expert knowledge to accomplish results.	
Interview Question:	1)	Tell me about a recent advance, or trend in your field that is more on the technical side and that you find exciting or interesting. What do you find exciting about this? How have you applied it to your role? Where do you see changes occurring most? How can you influence this? 
2)	Give me an example of where you have used your expert knowledge to achieve results. Why was this successful, how did others respond? What was the outcome? 	
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Competency:	Valuing differences:	
Target Behaviour:	Working effectively with individuals of diverse cultures, interpersonal styles, abilities, motivations, or backgrounds; seeking out and uses unique abilities, insights, and ideas from diverse individuals. 	
Interview Question:	1)	Give me an example where you have worked with a diverse group of cultures or differing backgrounds. How did you overcome difficulties? What challenges did you face? What did you learn from the experience? 
2)	Tell me about a time where you have adopted other team member’s ideas into the workplace. What did you like about the idea? How did you work effectively with the individual? What recognition did you give them? How did they react? 	
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Step 7: Candidate Questions		
Note to interviewer: Candidate questions about the role / organization	

Step 8: Closing Questions		
	
Interview Question:	If you are the successful candidate, what do you hope to gain from this opportunity, and how would this position fit in your career plan?  	
Notes:		
	
Interview Question:	Is there anything that you would like to add at this time that we have not talked about already?	
Notes:		
	
Interview Question:	What questions do you have of me?	
Notes:		

Explain next steps and time-lines in selection process and thank the candidate for coming in to interview.
For external candidates only - If appropriate, ask the candidate if s/he has specific salary expectations for this role.  	
	
Interview Question:	HR may be contacting you to conduct a reference, education, and work experience check.  What is the best way to contact you?	
Notes:		

Step 9: Candidate Assessment	Occurs only after the candidate has left.	
CRITERIA WEIGHTING	CANDIDATE ASSESSMENT	
5 =	Vital
4 =	Very Important
3 =	Important
2 =	An Asset
1 =	Somewhat Beneficial	5 =	Exceeds
4 =	Meets
3 =	Meets with exception
2 =	Potential to meet
1 =	Not met	

Job Criteria	Criteria
Weighting	Candidate Assessment	Total Score	
Account Planning				
Active Listening				
Adaptability				
Building Influential Partnerships				
Leading through Culture, Vision and Values				
Portfolio Management				
Sales Drive and Resilience 				
Targeting Sales Opportunities 				
Valuing Differences				
				
Other:				
FINAL SCORE:		

SUMMARY
	
	Strengths:

Concerns: