SDR interview questions — and what they're really scoring

Screening call questions

The first 20 minutes are a filter, not a conversation. The recruiter is checking motivation, coachability and whether you can talk clearly under mild pressure.

1. Why sales, and why now?

   Give a specific origin story, not a personality claim. Name the moment you realised you liked persuading people toward an outcome, tie it to a measurable result, then connect it to why software specifically. Avoid 'I'm a people person'.

2. Why our company?

   Show you understand who they sell to and what problem the product removes. One sentence on the market, one on the buyer, one on why that buyer is interesting to prospect into. Reciting the homepage is an instant downgrade.

3. Walk me through your resume.

   Ninety seconds, chronological, ending on why this role is the logical next step. Quantify everything you can — volume handled, targets hit, ranking against peers, even outside sales.

4. What do you think an SDR actually does all day?

   Research, sequencing, cold calls, email, LinkedIn, objection handling, booking and confirming meetings, CRM hygiene. Saying the job is 'building relationships' signals you have not looked at the role honestly.

5. What's your comfort level with cold calling?

   Be honest but framed for growth: how many calls you have made, what you did to get better, and your target dials per day. Hiring managers hire coachable, not fearless.

6. What are you looking for in compensation?

   Give a researched OTE range and state you care about ramp guarantee and promotion path. Anchor with real numbers from live listings rather than a vague 'market rate'.

Roleplay and live exercises

Almost every SDR loop includes a cold-call or objection roleplay. They are grading structure and composure, not a perfect script.

1. Cold call me — I'm a VP of Engineering.

   Open with a permission-based intro, a one-line reason for the call tied to their world, then a question. Pause after the reason. Silence is scored positively; talking over the prospect is not.

2. 'I'm not interested.'

   Acknowledge, reframe with a specific hypothesis about their problem, then ask one narrow question. Never argue and never immediately ask for the meeting again.

3. 'Send me an email.'

   Agree, then earn the specificity: 'Happy to — so I send something useful rather than generic, is X or Y the bigger priority this quarter?' Close on a calendar hold, not a promise to follow up.

4. 'We already use a competitor.'

   Treat it as qualification, not rejection. Ask what made them choose that tool and what they would change. You are gathering a wedge, not winning a debate on the call.

5. 'What does your company do?'

   One sentence on the outcome, one on how, one question back. Feature dumps kill the call.

6. Write me a cold email to this persona, right now.

   Under 90 words. Personalised first line based on an observable trigger, one problem statement, one proof point, one soft CTA. No 'hope this finds you well', no three-paragraph pitch.

Behavioural questions

Answer in STAR — Situation, Task, Action, Result — and always land on a number.

1. Tell me about a time you missed a target.

   Own it, show the diagnosis, show the specific change you made, show the recovery. Blaming the territory or the leads is disqualifying.

2. Tell me about feedback that was hard to hear.

   Pick real feedback, describe what you changed within a week, and quantify the improvement. This is the coachability question and it is weighted heavily.

3. Describe the most competitive thing you've done.

   Sport, music, debate, gaming, retail leaderboards — anything with a scoreboard works, as long as you can describe the work behind the result.

4. How do you organise your day?

   Describe blocks: research block, call blocks around your buyer's timezone, admin last. Naming a specific sequencing tool cadence shows you have thought about volume.

5. Tell me about a time you dealt with rejection.

   Volume plus process. Show you separate the outcome from your self-assessment and that you kept the activity constant while changing the approach.

6. What would your first 30 days here look like?

   Product and ICP in week one, shadow calls and build a list in week two, live dials with feedback loops in week three, first self-sourced meetings by week four.

Questions you should ask them

Asking nothing reads as low intent. Asking these reads as a rep who already thinks about attainment.

1. What does quota attainment look like across the team right now?

   If fewer than half the team hits quota, the target is broken or the pipeline is. This one question tells you more than the rest of the interview.

2. What's the promotion path and average time to AE?

   Ask for names and timelines, not policy. A real answer sounds like 'three of our last five AEs came from this team, average 19 months'.

3. How is commission calculated, and is there a ramp guarantee?

   Meetings booked vs held vs qualified changes your income materially. Get the ramp period and clawback terms in writing.

4. What does onboarding look like in the first month?

   Structured enablement predicts survival. No enablement plan usually means you will be handed a dialler and a list.

5. Which channel is producing most of your meetings today?

   Tells you whether you will be a cold caller, an emailer, or an inbound follow-up rep — and whether the motion actually works.

Frequently asked questions