← Sonar
Sonar role-play cheat sheet
For the mock cold call at the end of most SDR interviews.
What they sell, in one line
Tools that automatically check code for bugs, security flaws and quality problems while developers write and ship software.
Who you'd be calling
Engineering managers, VPs of Engineering, DevOps and AppSec leads, and platform teams at software companies of all sizes.
Your opener
“Hi [Name], this is [You] from Sonar. I know I'm calling out of the blue. We help engineering teams catch bugs and security issues in code before it ships, and I wanted to see how your team handles that today. Do you have a quick minute?”
Problems you solve for them
- Bugs and security flaws reach production and cost time to fix
- Code quality varies across teams and pull requests
- Manual code review is slow and inconsistent
- Security and compliance teams need proof that code was checked
Discovery questions to ask
- How does your team review code before it gets merged?
- How often do bugs or security issues slip through to production?
- Do you have a standard quality bar across all teams, and how do you enforce it?
Objections they'll throw at you
“I'm busy right now.”
→ Understood, developers are always slammed. Can I grab 10 minutes later this week, or is another day better?
“We're not interested.”
→ Fair enough. Is code quality already well handled, or is it just not a focus this quarter?
“We already use something for code scanning.”
→ Good to hear you're covered. What does it catch today, and is there anything it misses or that's slowing your developers down?
“Send me an email.”
→ Sure thing. Who on your team would care most about this, you or someone in security or DevOps?
Competitors worth knowing
Snyk, Checkmarx, Veracode, GitHub Advanced Security
Interview tips for this company
- Know that Sonar is behind SonarQube, a well-known tool among developers. Mention it if the buyer does.
- Learn the terms: pull request, CI/CD pipeline, static analysis, quality gate. Use them simply, not to show off.
Written from public information about Sonar to help you practice. Ask an insider what their role play looked like; it's the best prep there is.