The ICT Job Hunter Blog

Sales – it might be a dirty word to some, but there is no getting away from the fact that much time, effort and money has gone into researching and exploiting its potential.  For the jobseeker, that’s actually something to be mighty grateful for because, like marketing, many of the principles which underlie selling techniques can quite neatly be transferred into the job search arena to help you get one step ahead of the competition.

The great thing about these techniques is that, if used skilfully, the customer, in this case the interviewer, has no idea that you are using any kind of tactic at all…except perhaps if you are up for a sales position!

Today, we are going to look at how the SPIN selling system works, but look out for more to come…

Okay, SPIN selling is what they call a ‘hurt and rescue’ technique.  You start off by finding out what the customer’s (the interviewer’s) problems are and then you ‘hurt’ him by telling him all the terrible things that might happen if his problems aren’t solved…and then you hit him with the product (that’s you).  The technique uses a series of four types of question to move the conversation with the ‘customer’ in the direction that the salesman (that’s also you) wants it to go in.  The progression goes like this:

1.    Get the general lie of the land

2.    Establish what the customer’s problems or needs are

3.    Get the customer to appreciate the potential implications if his problems are not fixed

4.    Get the customer to tell you what would help to solve his problems

Let’s go through this step by step, putting it into the interview context:

Situation Questions

Situation questions are designed to elicit some background information which will clarify the interviewer’s current situation.  In practice, you might ask something like, ‘Could you tell me a bit about what the job involves?’, but it is essential here not to ask questions that the interviewer would expect you to know the answer to.  Ask him to tell you a bit about his company, for example, and you will have shot yourself in the foot.

Problem Questions

The aim of problem questions is to uncover problems that you could solve if you were given the job.  The reason for asking them is because the employer’s problem is your opportunity.  If you were being interviewed for a job in HR, for example, you could ask about staff turnover or disciplinary issues or whatever your particular specialties are.  What is important to remember at this stage, however, is that when you identify a problem that you can solve, you MUST NOT dive in and let the interviewer know the benefits of hiring you.  If you do it at this stage, you will only meet with objections.

Implication Questions

This is where you are going to ‘hurt’ the employer by asking him questions which will make him realize FOR HIMSELF what the implications will be if his problem remains unsolved.  To use the HR example again, you could ask what would be the cost to the company if a disciplinary case were taken to court, or what the effect of his high staff turnover is on the image of the company.

Need-Payoff Questions

Even now, when the employer is wringing his hands in despair, you are still not going to tell him the benefits of hiring you, but what you are going to do is to give him a feeling of hope by asking him how his problem could be solved.  Something like, ‘How much money could the company save on advertising, recruitment and training costs if staff turnover were to be reduced?’ should do the trick.  Just make sure that the questions you ask are linked both to what success would look like in the eyes of the employer, and to what you have to offer.

If you think about it, the process is perfectly logical, but what is even better is that it WORKS!

And if you are wondering at what point you do come in and tell the employer the benefits of hiring you, then save your effort.  By the time you have got to the Need-Payoff questions, he will already have worked out that YOU are his rescue package!