That's what a work-sample test is. Candidates here do a series of challenges that are quantifiable (scored), and calibrated to match the day-to-day of working here. We don't ever wonder whether a .NET developer is capable of reverse-engineering a protocol and finding security bugs in it, because we invented a series of protocols and a series of security bugs, and we make candidates try to do that.
Ah, I thought the test was given during the in-person interview.
We recently started putting sales candidates on the phone to cold call. The most critical thing we measure is how many minutes they spend on the phone. It's been a pretty strong signal of how they would perform if we were to hire them.
That's a BIT of an overstatement depending upon the particulars. Outside sales for complex products can require a quarter or two ramp-up so you want to be somewhat selective. If you're hiring someone for that sort of position though they probably have some sort of track record.
For an inside sales position, you're not all that far off though.
As I've seen it put in another discussion, "sales managers don't have any trouble firing people."
This might be obvious to those with more sales experience, but can you explain what exactly you're looking for in regards to "how many minutes they spend on the phone"?
In other words, is the success of the sales people about spending more time on the phone in total? Or is it about spending more or less time per call?
This might be obvious to those with more sales experience, but can you explain what exactly you're looking for in regards to "how many minutes they spend on the phone"?
Our sales process is based on our reps cold calling businesses. We learned after a couple of mishirings that the most difficult part of the job is being able to manage emotion and taking rejection. For example, as a rep it is completely normal to be rejected in some manner 50 times a day. So if you get discouraged or upset after your third rejection, it is unlikely that you would have the motivation or drive to make more calls and therefore, you're likely not the right fit. All of this is usually summed up in the metric time spent talking across all calls.
While ultimately the time on the phone translates into revenue, we like to emphasize factors that is in our control. We can't control whether someone ultimately signs up or not but we do control how much break we take in between calls.
