How I got my job at Wrigley's

Interviewing Tip: Years (and years and years) ago, I was being recruited by Wrigley Canada for a Territory Manager position. I really wanted this job...big, global CPG company, great culture, amazing people. really good comp package and fantastic location.

The first interview with HR went great and I was moved to a second interview with the District Sales Manager and that went well. I was then invited back to a third and final meeting with the Regional Manager. But there was a catch...there was another candidate that was also invited back to a final meeting and the company was very interested in him to the same degree as they were in me.

So with that information, I decided to do something to stand out from the other candidate. I decided to do some market research and provide my findings to the company. Here is what I did:

1. Outline scope of role: Territory Manager for Toronto; responsible for Grocery, Mass (Costco), G&C, Discount & Walmart. Category - Confectionary

2. Store Visits: From Tuesday - Saturday, in the morning, I visited the following stores: LCL (x2); Sobeys; No Frills; Walmart (x2); Costco; Shell gas (x2); Convenience Stores (x2).

3. Project Communication: I went to each store before 10am & I asked to speak to the store manager. When approached by the manager, I told them what I was doing "...I am a final candidate for a job with Wrigley's and I want to gather some data." Every one of the managers was "ok" with my project.

4. Tools: Camera; Notebook and the following questions: What is the best selling gum? What is the best selling flavour? What is the best selling format? How many times a week / month do you see your sales rep? What is the right amount of time you want to see a rep? What is the right protocol to follow when I'm in your store? What do you want the rep to do OR stop doing? Fun question: What is your favourite movie?

5. Data collection: I respected everyone's time and spent no more that 20 minutes in each store and at the end of the meeting, I gave each manager a $5 Timmies gift card for their time. After my last store visit, I went home and began compiling my data by breaking it into realistic and executable results.

6. Platform: I decided on using PP and built a deck with my findings. I downloaded all the pictures I took of what a good display / rack looked like and bad ones as well. My origal presentation was 22 pages. I shrunk it down to 10 including a summary of my findings and next steps.

7. Practice: On the Sunday, I rehearsed my meeting with my (then) fiancé and kept on correcting it and fine tuning it.

8. Day of the Interview: My interview was scheduled for 3pm on Monday...man I was nervous!!! I sat down with Mike (he flew in from Calgary for the meetings) and I will never forget how it went...I brought my laptop with me. The meeting started with general small talk and then Mike said "...So, how would you influence sales in the confectionery isle?" I then said (and this is true) "...Mike, ill answer that question in a moment but I have a presentation I built about the market and I would like to walk you through my findings...is that ok?" Mike sat back in his seat and said "ok...sure?!"

9. The Presentation: I walk him through a 20 minute presentation of my data and findings. I was calm and confident. I let him know of the challenges store managers had with Wrigley reps and what they wanted to see happen. I then summarized my findings AND I had a page dedicated to what I WILL do as their new Toronto Territory Manager. When I concluded, I asked if he had any questions: He asked me who helped me with it? And it was all my effort. He thanked me and said, "...you'll hear from us by the end of the week."

10. But I didn't hear from him...NO one called me and by 5pm on Friday, I was crestfallen...I thought I blew it.

11. But then I did hear from him: On the following Monday, at 4pm, I took a call from Sandy Purdy who offered me the job. I was emotional and I think I accepted on the spot.

I spent close to four years with Wrigley's. I worked with some incredible smart people who cared deeply about their work.

So...Moral of the story. This happened 22 years ago in what I thought was a competitive market...today the market is more so. If you want it, you need to differentiate yourself from the others who are competing for the same role. You need to go beyond the basic internet searches and tell the why. Companies want to invest in people who will propel the business / department/ channel forward. Be Different; Be Bold!

The above is more than a whimsical story...it is also a roadmap.

Maurizio Calconi - Managing Director HIGHFIELD Human Capital