Sales Development Representative interview kit: questions and rubric

How to use this kit

1. Agree the competencies with the hiring manager before the job is posted.
2. Give each interviewer one or two competencies, so nothing is asked twice.
3. Ask every candidate the same core questions; follow up freely.
4. Rate each competency against the anchors straight after the interview, alone.
5. Debrief on quotes, not adjectives, then decide with the rule at the end.

First-round screen

Fifteen to twenty minutes, by phone, video or a disclosed AI screen. The aim is to confirm the basics before the panel spends its time.

1. What draws you to sales development, and to selling this kind of product?
2. Tell me about a time you won over someone who was not interested at first. It can be from work, study or anything else.
3. This role makes a high volume of calls and emails each day against a weekly meeting target. What experience do you have with that kind of rhythm?
4. The job description sets out the location, working hours and start date. Do those work for you, what is your notice period, and what on-target earnings range are you expecting?

1. Work sample: here is a real company in our target market. Take ten minutes to research it, then tell me who you would contact first, why, and what you would say.

   Follow up with

   • What made you think they might need us now?
   • Who would you contact next if the first person did not reply?
   Strong answer

   Picks a relevant role, finds a specific trigger (hiring, funding, a launch, a job post), links it to a problem the product solves, and drafts a short, specific opening line.

   Weak answer

   Picks the CEO by default, uses a generic product pitch, or lists facts about the company with no reason to talk now.

2. Tell me how you organized a long list of tasks or contacts in a past job or project. How did you decide what to do first?

   Follow up with

   • What tool did you use?
   • What did you decide not to do?
   Strong answer

   Describes a clear system for prioritizing by fit or timing, tracking, and following up, with an example of adjusting it when it was not working.

   Weak answer

   Worked through lists in order, or relied on memory, with no follow-up system.

1. Work sample: write a cold email of no more than 100 words to the person you chose earlier.

   Follow up with

   • Why that subject line?
   • What would your second email say if they do not reply?
   Strong answer

   Short, specific to the prospect, leads with their likely problem rather than the product, and ends with one easy ask. The follow-up adds something new instead of 'just checking in'.

   Weak answer

   Long, about the product, generic enough to send to anyone, several asks at once. The follow-up repeats the first email.

2. Role-play: cold-call me. I am a busy operations head who picks up and says, 'I have thirty seconds. What is this?'

   Follow up with

   • What would you do if I said 'Just send me an email'?
   • How would you end the call?
   Strong answer

   Says who they are and why they are calling in one or two sentences, asks a relevant question, listens to the answer, and secures a next step or ends politely.

   Weak answer

   Recites a script, talks over the prospect, or ends the call without a next step.

1. Role-play: I will give you three objections one at a time: 'We already use a competitor', 'No budget this year', and 'Not my area'. Respond to each as you would on a call.

   Follow up with

   • Which of these was a real no, and how could you tell?
   Strong answer

   Acknowledges each objection, asks a question to understand it, and responds with something relevant (a different angle, a later date, a referral). Accepts a real no gracefully.

   Weak answer

   Argues with the prospect, ignores the objection and repeats the pitch, or gives up at the first resistance.

2. Tell me about a period when you faced a lot of rejection, at work or elsewhere. What did you do to keep going?

   Follow up with

   • What did you change in your approach?
   • How did you know the change was working?
   Strong answer

   Gives a specific situation, describes concrete habits that helped them recover, and shows they changed their approach based on what the rejections taught them.

   Weak answer

   Claims rejection never affects them, with no example, or describes pushing on without learning anything.

1. After the cold-call role-play, give one specific piece of feedback, such as 'ask about their process before you pitch', and run the call again.

   Follow up with

   • What did you change, and why?
   Strong answer

   Applies the feedback visibly in the second attempt, without defensiveness, keeps what worked, and can explain what they changed.

   Weak answer

   Repeats the first attempt almost word for word, argues with the note, or over-corrects and loses what was working.

2. Tell me about the most useful feedback you have ever received and what you did with it.

   Follow up with

   • How long did it take to change?
   • How did you know you had improved?
   Strong answer

   Names specific feedback, describes the deliberate practice that followed, and gives evidence of improvement.

   Weak answer

   Cannot recall useful feedback, or describes agreeing with it but not acting on it.

1. Tell me about a goal or target you missed, at work or elsewhere. What did you do?

   Follow up with

   • When did you realize you would miss it?
   • What did you change for the next period?
   Strong answer

   Knew their numbers, spotted the gap early, worked out the cause (volume, conversion, targeting), and changed something specific.

   Weak answer

   Blames the territory, the leads or the market, or did not know they were behind until the end.

2. What would you do if you were booking plenty of meetings but the account executives said most were not qualified?

   Follow up with

   • How would you find out what 'qualified' means to them?
   Strong answer

   Talks to the account executives, agrees qualification criteria, reviews recent meetings against them, and accepts fewer but better meetings.

   Weak answer

   Argues that their meeting count is what matters, or stops booking until someone tells them exactly what to do.

Never ask

• Don't rate accent or ask for a 'neutral accent'. Why: the job needs prospects to understand the representative and be understood, in the language the territory needs. Rate clarity and comprehension; accent is not the job.
• Don't ask a candidate's age, or their graduation year to work it out. Why: age says nothing about sales ability, and age-based decisions are unlawful in many places.
• Don't ask about marital status, children, pregnancy or plans to start a family. Why: none of it is job-related, and the question is still put mostly to women, which makes it discriminatory as well as irrelevant.
• Don't ask about family finances, debts or loans to judge how 'hungry' a candidate is. Why: it is intrusive and says nothing about how they will do the work. Ask about goals they chased and how they tracked them.
• Don't ask about religion, caste, community or the origin of a surname, directly or by proxy ('What does your father do?'). Why: in India these questions signal caste and religion, which have no bearing on the job.
• Don't ask 'Where are you from originally?' or 'What is your native place?'. Why: it invites judgments about region and language. If the territory needs a language, test the candidate in that language.
• Don't ask about health conditions or disabilities. Why: the only relevant question is whether the candidate can perform the essential functions of the job, with or without reasonable accommodation.
• Don't ask for salary history where the law restricts it, as many US states and cities do. Why: it carries past pay gaps into the new offer. Ask for the expected on-target earnings range instead.

Questions people ask

Do SDR candidates need previous sales experience?

Not necessarily. Strong representatives come from customer service, hospitality, teaching, retail and student roles. Assess the competencies directly with role-plays, and accept examples from any setting.

Should SDR interviews include a role-play?

Yes. A cold call and an objection role-play show the actual work. Send the candidate the product summary and the buyer profile a day ahead so it tests skill rather than surprise, and use the same scenario for every candidate.

How do we assess motivation without vague 'hunger' questions?

Ask about real goals the candidate chased and missed, how they tracked progress, and what they changed. Evidence of effort that was measured and adjusted is more useful than any claim of drive.

How long should an SDR interview process take?

Usually a screen plus two rounds: one with the hiring manager covering research and outreach, and one role-play round with a peer or account executive. Good early-career candidates often accept the first fair offer, so move quickly and tell them the steps up front.