ventox35

Sales Leader

Politicker

Catalyst

Valued Contributor

Interview Red Flags?

Interviewed a few times and heard a few common themes:

"i don't have the luxury of time to teach you a new industry"

"you're smart, and clearly successful..but you don't have the right experience"

"our product is amazing! but i can't describe exactly what it does. But hey we are poised for success and growth!"

"i think those repvue statistics are from disgruntled old employees. our team now is crushing it!"

"we're doing things in a way they've never been done before! Our demos blow people away! but there's resistance to our product we have to overcome!"

Goodness. @gasty and co. : your next bravado academy topic should be how to interview.

What other red flags are fellow job hunters hearing these days?

👥 Hiring

💾 Product

🗣 Interviewing

13 comments

Sort by:

Sunbunny31

Arsonist

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

The first two are rejections and the others are reasons to walk away - all are NOPEs.

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

"there are no competitors in the market" - is a HUGE redflag ive heard when interviewing with start ups.

-They are ether lying to you
-Do not have product market fit
-Or havnt done enough research

detectivegibbles

Politicker

Sales Director

How many characters can a reply have? I bet I could fill it.

Having been in the interview process through November and December....it blows my mind how many recruiters AND hiring managers couldn't answer basic questions about the company.

I'll consider it a red flag in next round of interviews if the hiring manager can't answer the following with proof:

Financial health of company
- prove to me that the company is stable, there's money in the bank to keep the lights on while I'm in ramp and I won't be let go in 6 months or less.

Sales cycle and what aspects are most challenging
- walk me through each stage and where we succeed/fail

Quotas and % of reps achieving
- who's the top performing rep, how much turnover, etc.

Process for trying to retain a dissatisfied client
- Leadership involvement (am I on an island or do I have support from each department)

I could probably rattle off a ton more but these all feel very fair and a healthy company should answer without hesitation.

CadenceCombat

Tycoon

Account Executive

When you go in for a handshake and they reach out to give your nuts a tug. That’s generally frowned upon.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

Yeah, but that's generally. Not 💯🤣

detectivegibbles

Politicker

Sales Director

I'd welcome this.

RandyLahey

Politicker

Account Executive

lol "generally" being the key word.

aenima

Celebrated Contributor

Principal Account Manager

When I hear “our top reps make XXX figures” I immediately ask what their lowest reps make, and then rake them over the coals with “what’s the average and median OTE for your field team?”

Blow through the smoke real fast.

Pachacuti

Politicker

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

All of them are clear attempts to impress you, which when you think about it, is very nice.

I always try to look at these things from an outside perspective - what would I say if this happened to my friend? Gives me a clearer perspective.

fcmf

Valued Contributor

RSM

Yes, some of them sounds like not be prepared for the interview. One made all the diligence prior to meet with them and get this type of questions or answers. Means to me to walk away and keep looking.

GDO

Politicker

BDM

Hi heard a few of them before 😑

SirAlex

Valued Contributor

Account Executive

I interviewed with CloudFlare a few months back and I got this from the VP, “I’m looking for Hunters”

It was funny because I asked what % of reps hit plan last quarter/year and he couldn’t give me an answer.

Get the fuck outta here!

RandyLahey

Politicker

Account Executive

My favourite is when you ask, "what % of your reps are currently at plan?" and they answer with a non-specific "a few missed, but most are KILLING it".