Sales development representative phone screen questions: outbound fit, meetings held, the call as the test and OTE

A sales development representative (SDR) phone screen is a 20 to 30 minute recruiter call that checks whether the candidate did the work and can do it on the phone. Confirm whether their outreach was inbound, outbound or both, their daily calls and emails, what they were measured on (meetings booked, meetings held or meetings the account executive accepted) and how they did against target for the last four quarters, plus the schedule and the on-target earnings (OTE) they need, asked as an expectation. Because the job is phone work, the screen is also the first work sample: score how they answer, question, handle one objection and close on a next step.

This page is the first-call version. The deeper bank, with the two-minute cold call and qualification questions, is in sales development representative screening questions; the hiring manager's loop, with a research sprint and a written outreach task, is in the interview guide for sales development reps. To compare SDRs with account executives and account managers, see sales rep phone screen questions; the general call structure is in phone screen questions for recruiters.

What do you need from the hiring manager before the call?

An inbound SDR at a known brand and an outbound SDR cold calling a new category are different jobs, and candidates who did one often overstate the other. Get these facts in the intake:

On exempt status, the Department of Labor's outside sales fact sheet says outside sales does not include sales made by mail, telephone or the Internet unless that contact is only an adjunct to personal calls (as of November 2026), so an office or remote SDR seat does not fit that exemption. Whether the seat is exempt on another basis is the employer's decision; just confirm it before the call so you can describe the hours honestly.

How should a 25-minute SDR phone screen run?

1. Opening (1 to 2 minutes). Who you are, the seat in two sentences, the length of the call, and your consent line if you record.
2. Knockouts (4 minutes). Outbound fit, plan structure, schedule, work authorization.
3. Numbers in one pass (5 minutes). Four quarters of target and result, in one unit.
4. Objection test and one coaching note (4 minutes). The work sample.
5. Motivation and career path (4 minutes). Why sales development, why now, where in 18 months.
6. Pay expectations and logistics (3 minutes). Base and OTE needed, start date, other processes.
7. Their questions and the next step (2 to 3 minutes). Watch whether they ask good ones and confirm the next step themselves.

The timings are a planning example. If a knockout fails, say so kindly and end the call or redirect.

Which knockout questions come first?

The authorization wording follows the Justice Department's Immigrant and Employee Rights Section FAQ, which says an employer may generally ask whether applicants have the legal right to work in the United States and whether they will need visa sponsorship (as of November 2026).

How do you get an SDR's numbers in one pass?

Ask once, in a fixed order, and write the answers down as said: "For each of the last four quarters, what was your target, what were you measured on, and where did you land?" Then ask the three follow-ups below. Four quarters in one unit are harder to dress up than a best month.

An example of a consistent set (invented): "Targets of 10, 12, 12 and 12 held meetings a month; I averaged 11, 13, 9 and 14; the 9 was when our territory changed; about 70 percent outbound; third of eight." The miss and its reason make the rest more believable, not less.

How do you use the call itself as the work sample?

Tell every candidate at the start that you will play a prospect for one minute near the end. Then run the same test for everyone:

1. The objection. Say: "Pretend I'm [the persona] and you just reached me. 'Just send me an email.'" Give them about a minute.
2. One coaching note. Give one specific note, such as "Ask me a question before you pitch," and run the same objection again.
3. Score the change, not the polish. A candidate who uses the note on the second try is showing you how they will take coaching in week one.

Score clarity, not accent. The EEOC's national origin guidance says an employment decision may rest on accent only when it materially interferes with the spoken communication the job requires, which takes evidence, not an impression; a discernible accent is not enough. The full mock cold call is in the screening bank, and how to interview for coachability covers the coaching-note method in more depth.

What if the candidate has never been an SDR?

Many SDR hires are early in their careers. Ask for the same behaviors from other work, with the same demand for numbers, and use the same objection test. More on reading thin resumes is in how to interview new graduates.

How do you test motivation on an SDR phone screen?

How do you ask about pay without asking salary history?

Many states and cities bar employers and their agents from asking about current or past pay, as of November 2026; the list is in salary history ban states. Targets and attainment are performance and fair to ask; commissions and bonuses are pay.

If the candidate volunteers a number, keep it out of your notes and the submittal and record the expectation instead. This is general information, not legal advice; check the law where the job is located.

When should you advance an SDR?

An example rule to agree with the hiring manager: advance when every knockout passes, the objection test scores at least 2, and two other areas score 3. Hold when one fact, such as how a past employer credited meetings, needs checking. Decline when a knockout fails. Once hired, the 30-60-90 day plan for sales development reps starts with the qualified-meeting definition and the ramp targets.

What should you not ask an SDR on a phone screen?

The EEOC says pre-employment inquiries should be limited to what is needed to judge whether someone is qualified, that questions which reveal race, sex, national origin, age or religion may be used as evidence of intent to discriminate, and that employers may not ask about disability before an offer. SDR teams are often young, which tempts screeners into age and family questions.

If you take the screen through your computer, Interview Signal keeps the volume, target and plan questions pinned until you ask them and writes the candidate's own words beside each score, with no bot in the call.