Hi Sarah!
I’m Marcia Boardman – we spoke on the phone...
Oh yes, I remember – I was having a bad day!
...and this is Philip Hart, our CEO.
Hello!
Hello, it’s very nice to meet you both.
It says on your CV that you do voluntary work...
Well, when I have time, yes!
I do work at a centre for children with difficulties, yes...
That must be very interesting...
It’s rewarding and challenging.
Sarah, can you tell us a little bit about your current position?
Sarah: I’m assistant sales director for a chain of language schools.
So this post would be quite a change then...
I don’t think so honestly because the skills are the same, despite the product.
Why are you thinking of moving on?
Well I’ve come as far as I can in my current position, I feel and I’m 28 now and would
love to take on some more responsibility.
Ok, let’s move on to managing people.
Can you give us an example of when you had to deal with a particularly difficult managee?
Well, yes, I had two people working for me who didn’t get along at all – they had
no shared values, different temperaments – and they used to argue a lot, it looked like it
was impossible for them to work together.
So, I sat down with them, and we talked about their differences and their problems and after
that, things went much more smoothly!
How would you deal with a rapidly changing and uncertain global market?
Ok, that’s actually something I wanted to talk about in my presentation...but I’d
say to stay flexible and to diversify markets and sales strategies.
It says on your CV you speak French and Spanish.
Yes, I do.
I lived in both France and Spain for a while.
Any plans to learn other languages?
I’d love to try!
Ok, can you tell us about a time you had to close a particularly challenging deal?
Well, the biggest contract I won - and the thing I’m most proud of professionally - was
with a large university in India, to provide language training.
The contract was full of technicalities and the client was very picky!
– But I still pulled it off.
Ok – do you have any questions for us?
Yes - about your ethical policy and your carbon footprint...I was wondering whether you are
planning to reduce your carbon footprint and whether all your products are ethically sourced?
That’s a very good question...and that’s something we’re moving towards at the moment...
Ok, well, let’s move on to the presentation...