How to Land a Role with NO Experience (This is What Recruiters Look For)

I landed my first remote sales role out of 150 applicants with zero experience. Today I'm giving you the exact interview questions and word-for-word answers that got me hired, because if you're tired of getting rejected from remote sales positions, then you probably want to watch this and you probably want to make notes. If you're new here, hi, I'm Shelley. I went from a nanny making £1.8K a month to making £38K a month as a high-ticket closer leader. Now I help women all over the world get their first ever remote sales position and scale up in the role. And the hardest thing, in my opinion, is to get your foot in the door, because most people don't actually know how to do that and actually how to interview properly. So today I'm breaking down the 6 most common interview questions and giving you the exact Answers. So let's dive into it. Number one, first things first, let's do the tell me about yourself question. In my opinion, this is the most important question you can answer in the whole interview. This is the make or break, to be honest, and you have to get this right. This is basically your first ever sales pitch. So the framework that I typically use for this is a brief background of Any relevant experience and transferable skills, personality traits that make you great for the role, and any fun extra information you want to add, playing sports, hobbies, things like that. So, I mentioned that I used to competitively horse ride because that shows character, determination, work ethic, for example, when I did my first interviews. So, you could say something along the lines of, I come from a competitive sporting background as well as currently working as a nanny. I feel both of these are important to share as one shows my determination, as come rain or shine, those horses had to be taken care of and no one was going to win the competitions unless I put in hours and hours and hours of practice. My current nannying role, to be honest, I do that to pay the bills while I'm transitioning into the career that I want to move into. That has taught me so much about having compassionate conversations, leading with EQ, and building rapport with high net worth individuals, being trusted with their prized possession. Something like that is perfect. With nannying, it is more of a minimal transferable skills than, let's say, retail or hospitality. If you have something like that, you can make your tell me about yourself question even better, even more impressive. But that will just give you an idea of exactly how to position it to show drive, determination, work ethic, and where you actually want to move It's important to note, do not ramble about your entire life story. Keep it succinct. Only share with the interviewer what's actually going to be valuable, and I would prepare and write this ahead of time so you can read it word for word. Question number 2, what are your strengths? You want to pick 2 to 3 strengths that directly relate to sales. This could be communication skills, resilience, persistence, coachability, willingness to learn. I always say use the STAR method: situation, task, action, and result. So for example, my biggest strength is resilience. In my previous role, I faced rejection daily, but I learned to see each no as getting closer to a yes. Always tie it back to sales. So this strength helped me handle objections and stay motivated during the tough months. So, you're turning a negative into a positive and then bringing it back to how it can actually be relatable to sales. And you're not saying like, and this is relatable to sales because, because that's a no-brainer. You're dropping in like subtle flexes, if you will, of all the characteristics needed for a top sales rep. Question number 3, what are your weaknesses? So the strategy for this is pick a real weakness but show how you are actively working on it. So a good example is, sometimes I talk too fast when I'm excited, so I've been practicing slowing down. That's amazing because that shows that you have self-awareness and you're consistently working on yourself, but your weakness isn't something too crazy that wouldn't get you hired. Another one could be, sometimes I find myself being a perfectionist, and at the moment I'm working on finding that right balance of I want to do a job, but I also want to do volume and move with speed, which I know is super beneficial within sales. Something like that is perfect because again, it's a weakness, but it's not like a crazy weakness and you're working on it. Do not give weaknesses that will disqualify you, like I'm a shy person, or I don't like speaking to new people, or I don't like talking on the phone. Obviously don't say that, even if it's true. You want to fake it until you make it. And like I said, always end with an improvement of what you are doing to make that weakness Better. Next question, tell me about your experience. If you have no sales experience, focus on transferable skills. If you have sales experience, fluff it up and show how amazing you are. So for example, if you've got no sales experience, think about any time you've had to persuade or influence someone, maybe even in customer service, maybe as a receptionist, maybe in hospitality, maybe in retail, like Anything like that could be beneficial for this conversation right now. An example could be, while I don't have formal sales experience, I feel I've been selling my whole life. An example is upselling and consultative selling in my hospitality role. I was dealing with a high level of volume coming through the doors on a daily basis, but I still took the time to build connection and build trust to sell more. I believe trust is the most important element to sales and something I do really well. You're turning a quote-unquote negative into a fantastic positive. If you do have some sales experience, be specific with what you've learned. Showcase numbers, showcase results, showcase that you were the best on the team. That's going to be super important. Next question, career goals. This is super important that you answer this question right so they don't think that you're going to leave them in 5 minutes. So for example, if someone asks you your career goals, you should say something like this: Well, first of all, I really want to master and hone my craft and become a consistent top performer. For myself personally, I do have income goals of making $10K a month. I'm not looking to rush that, but I would love to be able to make that within the next 6 to 8 months, really developing and becoming a really confident sales rep. So that there shows that you're not looking to rush, you are realistic, and you focus on being the best you can to then get the financial result. That's going to be very important. If they ask you your longer-term goals, you could say something like, well, after I've been a consistent top performer, I feel either stepping into a closing role, if you're a setter, or a leadership role, if you're a closer, would be the next step for me. I really want to be able to build personally financial freedom and that independence while also thriving and leading and supporting other people throughout their careers as well. I'm not in a rush to do that, but I am ambitious overall, um, and really do want to just develop and see how far I can take my sales career. You're leaving it a little bit more aloof, so you're showing that you're ambitious and that you want more, but you're not saying I have to be X XYZ by XYZ date because they won't wanna hire you. So, you wanna be very strategic with the way you answer this question. I've had some girls in my programme before tell me that on an interview, someone's asked them, like, what's your progression, like, where do you see your career? And they've immediately said, well, in the next 3 months, I wanna be a closer, when they've been hired as a setter, and they didn't get the job because people think they're just gonna quit too quickly. And that is true. So, even if you feel that way, you wanna be strategic with what you're saying. And last but not least, do you have any questions for me? Always have questions prepared. You are vetting them just as much as they are vetting you. So, and a question could be, what does success look like in this role in the first 90 days? What is the company cash collected right now over the last 3 months? What does the top performer make? What does the bottom performer make? And what makes them different? Is there ongoing training and support within this role? What are the opportunities What are the opportunities for ongoing growth and development in this role? And is there anything else you think I should know that we haven't covered today? That would be a great list of some example questions you could ask to really vet the role and do your due diligence. Remember, you are vetting them too. Preparation is everything. Research is everything. And feeling confident in yourself and ability because you've practiced is super important. Practice, practice, practice. Even record yourself doing this. Just to make sure you get it right. And something to note as well, it's not just about what you say, it's about your background, it's about how you look. Make sure you're very professional. Make sure you're going into this like a top-level corporate role because you will be a sales professional, right? So you wanna make sure you are acting like it. Remember, every expert was once a beginner. You have totally got this.