SDR Interview Prep That Will Help You Land The Job

So you’re considering a career as a sales development representative or business development representative? If so, that’s a smart choice. You’ll enjoy excellent career growth, financial rewards, and limitless worldwide opportunity. But, what about the interview process? As with any interview, you’re likely nervous and wondering how to conduct yourself.So here's the best SDR Interview Prep you're going to read!

After all, 47 percent of candidates fail because they don’t know enough about the company, you only have an average of seven seconds to make a good impression. But 39 percent of candidates fail because they lack confidence, a smile, and voice quality.

What are the common entry-sales roles in the tech industry?

• Sales Development Representatives - Sales development representatives (SDR) are responsible for the process of prospecting outbound sales. Without excellent sales development representatives, there aren’t any new customers. Without new customers, there’s no business. It’s a superb way to start a career change in tech sales and a great post-graduate job!
• Business Development Representatives - Business development representatives are similar to sales development representatives, but the main difference is business development representatives are responsible for inbound leads. Both roles are equally as important.
• Account Executives - Account executives oversee and support existing client accounts and sell services and products to current clients. Furthermore, account executives are responsible for finding new clients through research. Of the three positions listed, this is the hardest to land without any prior relevant experience.

What do interviews normally look like?

1 - Telephone interview

The first interview is usually via the phone to gauge if you’re an excellent match for the role. Of course, telephone interviews may appear different from face-to-face interviews. But they’re equally as important, and you still need to smash it out of the park! Before your telephone interview, you’ll need to prepare for the following things:

• Cut out all distractions and interview in a quiet place
• Do plenty of research before the interview
• Listen and try not to dominate the interview
• Prepare yourself a ‘cheat sheet.’
• Slow down, relax, and take your time throughout the interview interview

Telephone interviews and video interviews have become more commonplace since the pandemic. It’s excellent SDR interview prep for future sales interviews if you don’t manage to land this role.

2 - The first face-to-face interview

If you’re successful on the phone, you’ll move to a face-to-face interview. The interview is usually with a team lead, so you’ll want to impress and have your SDR interview prep down. Again, just like the telephone interview, you should research, be confident, smile, and learn as much as possible about the company.

Here are some more tips for crushing your first face-to-face interview!

A - Use your face-to-face communication skills

Face-to-face interviews are the ultimate opportunity to showcase your communication skills. After all, you’re applying for a sales position, and you’ll want to show your slick communication skills. Therefore, try to speak clearly and talk about relevant things. You’ll also want to be upbeat, demonstrate relevant skills, and sound extremely enthusiastic.

Moreover, you should try to gauge the company's dress code. Many tech companies have a casual dress code, yet some tech companies still dress conservatively. In truth, it depends on the company culture. You should find out before the interview what the interview dress code is. By the way, over 67 percent of job seekers are unable to make eye contact. That should give you an indication of how many people fail to communicate effectively.

B - Do tonnes of research

Although it may sound obvious, you’d be shocked how many people fail to research before a face-to-face interview. But that also allows you to stand out from the crowd. Try to read through the company's website and remember some snippets from the website. For example, if you can find information on the company's values, you could quote them during the interview.

Firstly, it shows you’re extremely proactive and not throwing your resume out to every job. So many people — especially after graduation — will send the resume to every tech company in the country. What’s more, you should remember the job requirements and quote them during the interview. That also shows you’re being extremely proactive to learn about the business, which is very important.

C - Ask your employer questions

At the end of the interview, the employer will often ask if you have any questions for them. At this point, many candidates will say no and end the interview. That’s almost always a mistake because it’s a crucial time to show your interest in the job. Therefore, try to keep around three questions in your back pocket.These may include:

• What are your next steps?
• What’s the most and least favorite aspect of your job?
• And what is your company culture like?

You can’t finish your SDR interview prep without preparing yourself to ask questions. It’s a crucial aspect of the process. What really interests you about the company? Ask anything that interests you!

3 - The final interview

Finally, and most importantly — you’ll have the interview with various stakeholders for the final approval. By that point, you’ve done well and impressed multiple people on the phone and in person. Did you know that, on average, 118 people apply for a single job? You’ve already overcome tonnes of hurdles, and now you’re ready to tackle the final hurdle.

Your confidence should be high, yet you shouldn’t be over-confident at all. If you follow the same guidelines as the first face-to-face interview and prepare yourself thoroughly — you’ll have a winning interview.

The final interview is about bringing together attitude and aptitude. You'll want to display that you have the personality to add to the culture they have created. But you also want to showcase that you are the right person for the job due to your skillset. Walk this line, and most likely the job is yours!

What else could you do to stand out?

• Conduct a personalized follow-up - The vast majority of applicants don’t follow up after an interview. Nonetheless, a personalized follow-up will go a very long way. It shows you’re determined and more focused than the majority of applicants.
• Reach out to the hiring manager - This doesn't need to be full-blown professional-level prospecting. A quick note to who you're going to be meeting sharing your excitement goes a long way!
• Prepare yourself for the person interviewing you - A continuation of the point above. Today, it’s effortless to find information about the person interviewing you. Try to research information on the person interviewing you and prepare yourself for potential questions.
• Start skill-building on your own - Don’t worry if you’ve never had experience in sales because you can use Uvaro On Demand to learn essential skills. You don’t need prior experience to excel in sales, and you don’t need sales experience to succeed in an SDR interview.
• Pretend to prospect - If you’ve already acquired some prospecting skills, you could show them how you would help them land new clients. After all, an SDR role requires tonnes of prospecting. So if you can show your skills before you get the job, you’re already winning!

Uvaro can help you prepare for your interview

Are you ready for your interview?

If you need more help, here is the ultimate guide for sales interviews! Uvaro's 40 sales interview questions — which is basically our cheat book to most things an interviewer might just ask you!

Apply now for Uvaro and we will do more than just help you prepare for the interview. Take our course, we can help anyone join tech! You already have the skills required to excel in tech sales, we will help you realize them and smash any sales interview.

If you think you've already got what it takes, check out our job sales board to find the perfect ultimate high-paying SDR job for you.