The Complete Oracle Business Development Consultant Interview Guide

a year ago   •   5 min read

By Bravado Staff

Bravado shares the Oracle Business Development Consultant interview questions, interview process, and interview tips to help you ace the interview.
This interview guide applies to the entry level Oracle Class Of program.

Interview Basics

What does a Business Development Consultant do at Oracle?

Business Development Consultants (BDC) at Oracle are Sales Development Representatives, also known as SDR’s or BDR’s. Essentially, your job is to set qualified meetings for the actual sales reps on your virtual team.

You might also hear ‘Class of’ as Oracle onboards 3 cohorts of BDC’s. Two cohorts start in summer (June, August) and one cohort starts in the winter (February). The cohorts are anywhere from 50-100 kids depending on the office. BDC’s are level IC1.

How many years of experience do you need for this role?

Most Oracle BDC’s have 0-2 years experience as most BDC’s are fresh out of college. Oracle recruits on campus for this role at several universities in the US. Most people have no sales experience at all, and many even have no intern experience. They primarily just check for a decent GPA and some extracurricular involvement, and of course decent social skills as you’ll be interacting with customers all day. Bottom line, 0 sales experience needed.

You can come in from other SDR or even non-sales related entry level roles from other companies, and honestly the work experience will definitely give you a leg up in interviewing. Again, not required.

Which Oracle offices does this role exist at?

Oracle BDC’s can be hired to the Boston MA, Reston VA, Austin TX, and Santa Monica CA offices.

Most people opt to go to Austin as it is the main sales office and the new HQ. It has an extremely modern look and top of the line office equipment.

How do I get an interview for this role?

It’s a mix of everything. Internal referrals, applying online, recruiters reaching out on LinkedIn, you reaching out to a recruiter, career fairs, etc. But, the best way to get an interview is by attending an on-campus event and getting to meet a recruiter in person, or a referral by a current employee.

Interview Process

What is the interview process like?

The interview process is very standardized.

  1. After you apply, you’ll need to fill out a questionnaire with some background info about yourself and one basic question  – Why Sales. You’ll be asked to rank the locations you want to be at. Nearly everyone gets passed this round.
  2. Next, you’ll have a 15-30 minute interview with the recruiter (in-house recruiter). This is a very basic sales interview. You’ll be asked about your background and how it relates to sales, Why Sales, and some STAR questions.
  3. If you get past the recruiter screen, you will then interview with two different BDC (SDR) managers, one from your top location choice and the other from your second location choice. The first BDC Manager interview is a 30 minute phone interview and is really quite basic. You’ll be asked Why Sales, Why Oracle, STAR questions, and questions about your past experience. It is a relatively easy interview.
  4. The second BDC manager interview is a 30 minute video interview. Pre-covid, if you went to a university near one of the offices, this might be an in-person interview. The final interview is again more of Why Oracle, Why Sales, STAR questions, and questions about past experience. You might get asked to do a quick cold-call role play, how you would approach a potential prospect, what you know about cloud technology, and what you know about Oracle’s product set (very basic).

To get the offer you only need 1 out of 2 managers to say yes. If one of the managers says no, you might not get an offer for that manager’s office location – your offer only might be at the location where the manager said yes. However, Oracle is pretty flexible if you interview early and there is still room for your start date cohort.

What were the roles of the people you interviewed with?

You will have 3 total interviews. The first with an In-house Recruiter at Oracle, then 1 interview each with 2 Business Development Consultant Managers.

How many interviews did you have?

You’ll first get a basic written Questionnaire to fill out from the recruiter, followed by phone 3 interviews. The first interview with the Recruiter, then 2 with BDC Managers.

Who makes the final hiring decision?

The Business Development Consultant Managers. You need 1/2 of the managers to say yes.

How long was the interview process?

The interview process can take anywhere from 2-6 weeks.

Interview Questions

What were the interview questions?

The interview questions are mostly standardized across interviewers. It is a formulaic process that with enough practice, you can master.

  • Why Sales
  • Why Oracle
  • STAR questions: Tell me about a time when…
  • Tell me about a time you overcame failure
  • Tell me about a time you disagreed with a manager
  • How do you overcome failure
  • Tell me about a time you had to be a team player
  • How do you stay motivated
  • How do you stay productive working from home
  • Questions about your past experience
  • How you manage your time
  • What is your biggest strength
  • What is your biggest weakness
  • Where you see yourself in 1,3,5,10 years
  • Do you have any cold calling experience
  • How you’d approach a prospective client
  • Potential short cold-call roleplay
  • What do you know about Oracle
  • What do you know about cloud technology

Interview Preparation

What is your recommendation to prepare and succeed?

The interview preparation is not anything to be scared about. To succeed, follow these tips.

  • You should relate every answer back to sales.
  • They want to see that you’re genuinely interested in sales, that you’re a self starter, and that you’re motivated to prospect.
  • If you have any experience in sales, cold-calling, or interacting with customers, play that experience up and it will be a cake walk. Major plus if you have any experience with cloud technology too.
  • Have about 3-4 STAR stories prepared
  • Do a little research on Oracle, the ‘Class of’ program, and cloud technology
  • If you don’t have any sales experience, do your best at relating how any university club involvement, class project work, etc. relates to sales

Is there anything else someone should know about the interview process?


Ultimately, this is a pretty basic sales interview. Because there are no case studies, presentations, or trick interview questions, you do not need to spend hours and hours preparing like you might for a Google or Amazon interview.

If you can relate your background to sales, show interest in sales in your conversations, and are decent at talking on the phone, you’ll get an offer.

Salary and Commission

All BDC’s, regardless of location, are paid a base salary of $50,000 per year, with a $25,000 potential bonus (commission), and a $2,000 signing bonus. This works out to a $75,000 OTE. The bonus is paid out quarterly, so you can expect roughly $6,000 to $7,000 per quarter in bonus pay if you’re doing well.

For detailed Oracle compensation data, visit our Oracle page.

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