I became interested in the job as a fall back plan after meeting a recruiter at my University's job fair in January. She was from the LA office and suggested I contact the main Southern California recruiter for job availability in Irvine or San Diego (where I was interested in working). After speaking with her via email, she suggested "I contact her when I moved down to the area." I explained to her that I would not move to the area unless employed and would rather pursue the opportunity before graduation in June, however she failed to respond. Guess she couldn't handle a man who takes charge!
A few weeks later I received a call from the Northern California headquarters pursuing my interest in the company, which I accepted as a worst case scenario plan. We set up an initial phone interview for the following week and she emailed me a personality test to complete meanwhile. The phone interview was quite casual and frankly I came into it over-prepared for the topics she discussed. She was fascinated that I scored in the top 96% percentile on the personality test, which was constructed based on their top sales people's answers to the same questions. We set up a 1 on 1 interview with the VP two weeks down the road when I would be traveling up to the Bay Area for other engagements.
Treating the interview as practice, I decided not to prepare much before heading into our meeting. The office in Pleasanton had a very corporate feel, starting with being greeted by a security-like secretary and remote operated blockade granting my entrance once revealing my identity. After taking a seat in the "lobby" I was greeted by the VP and escorted to his office, passing many cubicles and personality-lacking individuals along the way. I must say the VP was a charming young chap against it all. The interview was very relaxed and focused on my desires of the position, with the average "who are you" conversation. I was asked, "what was my favorite trait about myself?" The gentleman could tell I didn't have much interest in the job, hence my life objectives and lack of passion for door-to-door type sales. I only would have worked in one location in the Bay Area and there wasn't any availability for that region.
My suggestions would be: to know what you want before you go in there and make it known during your interview. Be ready to explain who you are. What are your goals for the job, remember it's sales!
Ultimately, ask yourself if you really want to be selling payroll systems day to day. However, good for those who don't want to be in an office and rather out in the field.
Good luck!
Base Salary: $50,000+ Commission (average about $10-20K/year)