Why Was I Asked to Sell a Mobile in My HR Interview? Plus, Seeking Creative Referral Ideas

I had been for an interview. It was for a purely HR job. The interviewer had asked me how I would sell my mobile to her. What I didn't understand was, why was I asked to do so? I have specialized in HR and Systems in MBA. The mobile selling part is more for a marketing job, is what I thought. It could be to check my creativity too. Please do give me a reason why a question like that would be asked.

I also was asked ways in which an HR can attract employees to refer for vacancies in the organization. Could you please throw some innovative ideas in this area? All that I can think of is to play around with monetary and non-monetary benefits.

Please do comment on both my questions as it would help me in my interviews. Thanks...!

Hi,

I think the interviewer, in his/her anxiety to test your convincing skills, has asked this question about selling a mobile. I would definitely not ask a question of this nature for HR.

I will share with you one question that was asked to me when I attended an interview some 15 years ago, and my reply probably helped me secure that job. The question was equivalent to "How will you sell this mobile?"

Imagine you are in an interview panel as an HR specialist, and the candidate you are interviewing is excellent. You have offered him a higher salary, higher designation, more job content, and increased responsibilities. However, he is not convinced. How will you motivate him to join your company?

The answer lies in instilling the pride of working for this company. Probably, in your case, the interviewer expected a reply where you would try to sell the product by appealing to the pride of owning this mobile!

Siva

Hi Shalgal,

I agree with Siva Sir. Taking the thread from his comments, I would also like to add that HR plays a very important role in selling ideas to the internal customers or employees. They have to convince people on rules/policies/strategies framed by management, and hence they should have very strong convincing abilities. Moreover, as Siva Sir has rightly pointed out with an apt example, convincing skills and negotiation skills are also very important while hiring people. Marketing skills are necessary in every sphere of life; it's not limited only to the field of sales and marketing. When you go for an interview, you try to sell your own profile to the interviewer! I hope this makes sense to you.

Thanks and Regards,
Indrani Chakraborty