Had short phone interview with hiring manager, less about my skills, strengths and experiences, but more about company and position needs and culture. Was told I would have do a software presentation, as if to customers, and they couldn't tell me much about it, only that they weren't looking as much in this demo for knowledge about which buttons to press, but rather, more about my sales and presentation skills to a group, and conceptual understanding of product. Mentioned that several folks on current team did poorly on the demo and had been hired. With regards to the phone interview portion of the whole experience, I expected to have to sell myself much more, and thought it strange I wasn't asked that many questions about my experience or skills. I think this was due to inexperience interviewing.
There were three 1:1 interviews in all, in addition to the "demo" which I'll describe in a minute. The first interview was with the actual manager for the group. Similar to the phone interview (though this was a different person) I found myself trying to interject related skills and experience while the manger continued to talk and talk and talk about the job, the position, the company etc. My impression was that while I may have had a seasoned sales manager across from me, I did not have an experienced interviewer, which made it challenging to bring the interview around to what I might do for them. The next 1:1 interview was a little more ebb and flow, and provided lots of good answers to questions and details about the group, the quota the pace of the job, etc. The 3rd interview was with a very seasoned sales professional who didn't manage the group or the position but clearly had sales experience and clout. This individual was a little intimidating and asked some pointed global questions that didn't necessarily relate to the position - e.g. "Why sales?" to me, which seemed obvious, based on my resume and career path, and yet I got the sense that I was being tested for my sales ability by they way I answered these questions.
Now the software demo. Remember when I said I gleaned from the phone interview that what mattered in the demo was less about the actual buttons to press and more about my ability to listen, ascertain customer needs and talk to a group, discuss value, convey concept, etc? Well - this was decidedly not the case. They sat me down at a desk, invited another employee in to give it more of a group feel, and said okay - begin. Buttons - which ones to press to get it started, etc. were the name of the game! I'm typically a very prepared person, with ability to think on my feet quickly, but this demo was no match for me. I had prepared a few scenarios ahead of time, not knowing if they would provide me with one or not (NOT), so I pretty much had to forge ahead with my " concepts and value" points, based on my imagined company and their needs (felt very dorky doing this), all the while obviously clue-less about which buttons to press to get the visual data. Yes - I should have spent more time doing the available online tutorials, yes, I should have had both buttons and concepts down. In hindsight, this makes great sense. But when someone is trying to schedule an interview and says today or tomorrow, time is of the essence! I picked the wrong set of things to look at when preparing in the time I had. Next time, I'll make sure I schedule the interview with a little more time for my own prep. needs.
In the end I was not offered the job (I called to follow up a week later), and learned from one principal that the others thought my demo skills just weren't strong enough. Pretty much what I figured.