District Sales Manager
In this scenario-based activity, you will need to review the scenario presented to you, your role in the process, and then read the information regarding key players that have been chosen to participate in this activity.
Scenario Summary
In this scenario-based exercise, you are a new District Sales Manager (DSM) for a large Fortune 500 consumer goods company. One of your job responsibilities is to participate in the recruiting process. Specifically, the DSM visits local universities to interview prospective entry-level sales applicants. A detailed job description on the consumer goods salesperson job is provided in Exhibit 1. Your assignment is to visit the placement center of a smaller, local university to interview 10 prospective candidates. The 10 interviews will represent a single-day interviewing schedule at the placement center. The candidates have already had one initial interview. Since another DSM has already selected seven candidates for the second interview, you will select the remaining three candidates from a set of six résumés that the placement center has forwarded for your review.
Your Role/Assignment
Your task is, therefore, to select three sales candidates to fill the placement interview schedule. You are provided with a set of six résumés (see below). Generally, the personnel office recommends that DSMs stress six candidate characteristics that it considers important when recruiting and selecting high-quality consumer goods salespeople. In perceived order of importance, these attributes are:
1. Initiative and goal-directedness;
2. Decision-making and priority-setting abilities;
3. Communication skills and persuasiveness;
4. Leadership and teamwork capacity;
5. Willingness to take ownership and responsibility of customer accounts; and
6. Problem-solving ability and creativity.
In general, the personnel office indicates that sales representatives are expected early on to be self-starters and to manage their territory and accounts on their own without a lot of supervision and feedback from the home office.
The DSM is encouraged to consider these six attributes when evaluating the applicant résumés. It is up to each DSM to develop his or her own evaluation model based on the job description and these known character attributes for success in consumer goods sales. As this week’s lecture states, “Frequently, the reason for poor interviewing is the lack of planning and preparation. A sales manager should develop a very detailed list of objectives and questions for each candidate being interviewed. Also, the interviewer must do some careful listening, observation, and note-taking, so that when the interview process is over, he or she can recall important details to help make an appropriate selection.”
K E Y P L A Y E R S
Jack Bernard
Jack was early for his first interview and demonstrated a high energy level and enthusiasm for the prospective job. He was dressed in a suit with shirt and tie and very personable. He greeted the interviewers politely and shook hands with both interviewers before taking a seat for the interview. He immediately started a conversation about the recent World Series outcome and took control of the conversation. He appeared nervous and was fidgeting and moving about in his seat during the interview.
Rochelle Biden
Rochelle was prompt and professional at her first interview. She was polite, courteous and reserved, but well spoken and appeared comfortable in the interview situation. She was professionally dressed in a suit and at ease conversing with the interviewers. She stuck to the subject of the interview and followed the interviewers’ leads in the conversation by responding directly to their questions.
Mary Ellison
Mary was a couple of minutes late for the interview, but apologized that she’d had some trouble finding parking. She was dressed in pants and a sweater and looked neat and tidy. She was flustered due to being late and it took her a few minutes to settle into the interview and calm down. She was obviously nervous, but once she calmed down, she presented herself very well and was able to relate her previous work experience to the current opening with professionalism and enthusiasm.
Anna Wise
Anna arrived just on time for the interview dressed in a dress and heels. She was wearing a lot of jewelry and make up, but conducted herself professionally. Her communication skills were very strong and she smiled and conversed comfortably with the interviewers. She appeared to listen very carefully to what was said and understood the questions and responded very well with relevant answers that demonstrated an ability to think clearly in a pressure situation. She shook hands with both interviewers at the end of the meeting and thanked them for their time. She asked when she could expect to hear from them and when a decision would be made.
George Brown
George made an excellent first impression with the interviewers. He was smooth, professional, well groomed, and intelligent in his answers. He related his experiences as a student and volunteer, appeared to be studious, and had very much enjoyed attending university. He demonstrated that he’s comfortable with people and seems to enjoy politics and volunteer work, as he’d spent time at university working as a Pledge Advisor for the President of Finance, and has been active as a parliamentarian and on a scholarship committee. He is well traveled and has diverse interests in cooking, skiing, and literature, which he enjoyed talking about.
Ernest Swift
Ernest was quite overbearing in the first interview. He is obviously ambitious and wants to get into management in the future. He spoke confidently of his sales experience and was able to quote achievements to back up his resume. He was professionally dressed and groomed and shook hands firmly with the interviewers upon both entering and leaving the meeting. Most of his discussion assumed that he’d be the successful candidate and he asked if he’d be able to skip some of the training, as he’s got a lot of experience and didn’t feel that he’d need it.
Y O U D E C I D E
Activity
Read the YOU DECIDE scenario, and using the information provided, prepare a 2-to-3-page report outlining your recommendations for the three candidates to be interviewed again. Please use APA format for your report (see Doc Sharing). Your report should contain the following.
