Most SDR and BDR hiring follows the same shape. Knowing it takes a lot of the fear out.
How the process usually goes
- Recruiter screen (20–30 min). Why sales, why this company, your background, pay expectations.
- Hiring manager interview (30–45 min). Deeper questions about drive, coachability and how you handle rejection.
- Role play (30–60 min). A mock cold call, sometimes with a short prep assignment. How to nail it.
- Final round. Sometimes a panel or a meeting with a senior leader. A 30-60-90 day plan helps here.
A referral often gets you past step 1, and sometimes step 2. The role play is on you.
A referral often gets you past the first screen, sometimes the second. The role play is on you.
The questions, and what they're really asking
"Why sales? Why tech sales?" They want motivation that will survive the first month of rejection. Be specific and honest: the earning potential, the clear path to promotion, the fact that you've always been the one convincing people. Tie it to something real you've done.
"Why this company?" Did you do the work? Know what they sell, who buys it, and one reason customers choose them. Best of all: "I talked to Maya on your SDR team, and what stood out was how the team ramps new reps."
"Tell me about a time you were rejected or failed." Resilience. Spend one sentence on what happened and the rest on what you did next.
"How do you handle a goal you're behind on?" Self-management. Talk about breaking a big goal into daily activity and tracking it.
"Tell me about feedback you received and acted on." Coachability, the trait SDR managers hire for most. Pick a real example where you changed something.
"Walk me through how you'd prospect into an account." Structure: research the company, find the right person, find a relevant reason to reach out, use several channels over a couple of weeks.
"Where do you see yourself in two years?" Ambition that fits their path: "Closing deals as an AE here."
"What questions do you have for us?" Always have three. See below.
Explaining your background
If you're changing careers, don't apologize for it. Translate it:
- Restaurants and retail: reading people, upselling, staying positive through rough shifts.
- Teaching: explaining complex things simply, handling objections from 30 people at once.
- Military: discipline, targets, composure.
- Support: product knowledge, calming frustrated customers.
One sentence of story plus one number beats a paragraph of adjectives.
Research a company in 20 minutes
- Their homepage: what they sell, in one sentence.
- Customer stories: who buys it and why.
- LinkedIn: how big the sales team is, where people came from, how long SDRs stay.
- News from the last few months: funding, launches, new leaders.
- One of the company cheat sheets on this site, if we have one.
Questions to ask them
- What does ramp look like, and what share of the team hits quota?
- How long do SDRs usually take to get promoted, and what does that path look like?
- What do your best SDRs do differently?
- What would you want me to have done in my first 90 days?
A 30-60-90 day plan
Bring this to the final round on a single page:
- Days 1–30, learn: the product, the buyer, the tools. Shadow top reps' calls. Build your first target account lists. Hit activity goals.
- Days 31–60, ramp: a full workload. Book your first meetings. Get weekly call reviews and apply the feedback.
- Days 61–90, perform: hit ramped quota. Share what's working. Talk to your manager about the path to AE.
For AE, sales engineer and CSM interviews
The structure is similar but the exercise changes: AEs usually run a mock discovery call or a demo, sales engineers do a technical demo, and CSMs often handle a mock renewal or an unhappy customer. The prep is the same: know the product, know the buyer, ask good questions.