How do you calibrate interview expectations for different sales stages (SDR vs AE vs Sales Engineer)?

BRIEF

SDR hiring emphasizes prospecting velocity (outreach consistency, objection response speed); AE hiring weights discovery depth and deal management (consensus building, ROI articulation); Sales Engineer hiring prioritizes technical translation and executive presence.

DETAIL

Role expectations vary by career stage and function. Conflating AE bars with SDR bars wastes strong SDR talent; conflating Sales Engineer expectations with AE expectations misses technical depth. Stage-specific scorecards prevent misalignment.

SDR Hiring Scorecard (Cold Prospecting Focus):

• Competency weights: Prospecting velocity (40%), objection response (25%), research & intent detection (20%), coachability (15%)
• Working interview: Cold call 2-minute pitch against gatekeeper; candidate must identify 2+ persona pain points and set exact next step
• Ramp expectation: Hit 30-40% activity quota (e.g., 150 dials/week) by week 3; 50%+ by week 6; full quota by week 10
• Reference signal: "Did she run the numbers daily? Did she adjust approach weekly based on feedback?"
• Termination trigger: <75% activity quota by week 8 despite coaching

AE Hiring Scorecard (Deal Management Focus):

• Competency weights: Discovery acuity (30%), deal management (25%), objection handling (20%), territory strategy (15%), coachability (10%)
• Working interview: Full sales cycle simulation (45 min); candidate must uncover budget, champion, timeline, and competitive situation before closing
• Ramp expectation: 50-60% of annual quota by month 3; 75%+ by month 6; 90%+ by month 12
• Reference signal: "Walk me through her average deal timeline—did she control pace or follow buyer timelines?"
• Termination trigger: <50% quota by month 4 despite coaching; or <75% by month 6

Sales Engineer Hiring Scorecard (Technical + Executive Presence):

• Competency weights: Technical translation (35%), executive presence (25%), solution architecture (20%), discovery depth (15%), coachability (5%)
• Working interview: Whiteboard technical scenario (e.g., "Architecture for 10K concurrent users"); candidate must explain to non-technical persona (CEO) and to technical persona (CTO), adapting language and complexity
• Ramp expectation: Productive on customer calls by week 3 (can field technical questions independently); leading architecture sessions by month 2; closing support (ROI on technical investment) by month 3
• Reference signal: "Did customers request her specifically for calls? Did she handle objections from both business and technical buyers?"
• Termination trigger: <90% customer call participation by month 2; or technical credibility gap (customers don't trust her recommendations)

OpenView research shows misaligned scorecards waste 23% of hiring time because SDRs evaluated on deal-closing criteria (weak signal) and AEs evaluated on activity metrics (weak signal) get terminated prematurely. Role-specific ramp expectations align coaching with trajectory.

Stage-by-Stage Ramp Timeline:

TAGS: role-expectations, sales-stages, SDR-hiring, AE-hiring, sales-engineer-hiring, ramp-expectations, termination-triggers