The AE Interview Process: A Hiring Manager's Breakdown

READ TIME: 4 MINUTES

I spent 14 years hiring SDRs, AEs, and Sales Managers at SaaS organizations.

I made mistakes. Said no to candidates other managers hired and they were right. Hired people who weren't the right fit for the role.

Here's the thing: interviewing is hard on both sides of the table.

But after 14 years, I know exactly what the process looked like from where I sat.

That's your advantage. This is your behind-the-scenes look.

Step 1: Define the Ideal Candidate

Before I posted a single job description, I isolated the traits and skills that top AEs already in the role had. That became my hiring profile.

The top 5 traits I screened for:

1. Grit — self-starter, strong work ethic, figures things out independently

2. Coachability

3. Curiosity

4. Resilience

5. Positive attitude

Top 3 skills:

1. Communication — clear, asks good questions, listens

2. Sales skills

3. Organizational skills

Depending on the role and company, I'd also factor in relevant experience — selling Enterprise deals or working within a specific vertical.

Step 2: Build the Interview Process

I'd design each round with a specific evaluator and specific criteria. For an AE role, the structure typically looked like this:

1. Recruiter Screen

2. Hiring Manager

3. Sales Manager or AE

4. Presentation Round

5. VP Sales / CRO / CEO (depending on company stage)

6. Reference Checks

7. Offer

Sometimes I'd collapse rounds 3 and 4. For SMB or SDR roles, I'd skip reference checks.

What most candidates don't realize: each round is evaluating something different. Here's how to prepare for each one.

Round 1: The Recruiter Screen

The recruiter's job is to qualify or disqualify — you. The conversation follows a predictable pattern:

• Walk me through your background → this is your elevator pitch [Here's how to nail it → link]

  • This question will continue to show up in interviews with the hiring team.

• ~5 qualifying questions to confirm minimum criteria: quota attainment, deal size, sales cycle, process

Most candidates treat this as the warm-up. It's not. Pass or fail happens here.

Here's what almost no one understands: once you pass the recruiter screen, the recruiter's role shifts completely. Their job is now to help you get the role. That's how they get compensated.

Use them. Ask what to expect in each round. Ask what the hiring manager values. They will advocate for you — if you've earned it.

Rounds 2–4: Interviews with the Hiring Team

This is where the questions get deeper. Interviewers want to understand your traits and they'll look for evidence of them in your real experience.

That's where behavioral questions come in:

• "Tell me about a time when…"

• "Give me an example of a deal where…"

They're not looking for stories. They're looking for specifics. Details prove the work actually happened. If a candidate can't get specific, I start questioning whether they did the work at all.

That's exactly why I teach every client the R-STAR™ method before they walk into an interview:

• R — Result (frame what's at stake upfront)

• S — Situation

• T — Task

• A — Action

• R — Result (land the outcome)

A strong interviewer will probe if your example is vague. Some won't and they'll still mark you down for it. Your job is to give them what they need without waiting to be asked.

One more thing: most Sales Managers have never been formally trained on how to interview. Some will go deep with structured questions. Some will throw curveballs ("Do you love to win or hate to lose?"). Prepare for both.

Round 4: The Presentation Round

This round exists for one reason: the hiring manager needs to see you in action, not just hear you talk about yourself. Interviews are easy to rehearse. The presentation is harder to fake.

Format varies by role — mock discovery call, account planning, 90-day plan, coaching role play for sales managers. But what's being evaluated is consistent: sales fundamentals, business acumen, communication, critical thinking, and coachability.

I've seen strong candidates lose a role they'd already won in this round. And I've seen underdogs take the offer because they showed up prepared in the right ways.

I covered exactly how to prepare and what not to do — in a previous issue. [Read it here → link]

How Candidates Are Scored Throughout the Process

I learned this from Mark Roberge's The Sales Acceleration Formula: use a rubric, ask every candidate the same questions, and score them consistently across every round.

That's the process I adopted. Each interviewer assessed the candidate for their assigned criteria. Each round resulted in a pass or a fail.

It removes subjectivity and forces discipline on the hiring side which means inconsistency in your prep will show up in the scoring whether you realize it or not.

After the VP round, the team debriefs to make a final decision. If the answer is yes, we validate with 1–2 references before extending an offer.

What this means for your search:

1. Start with the job description — map the traits and skills they're screening for

2. Prep your elevator pitch separately from your behavioral answers 

3. The recruiter screen is a qualification call, not a full interview

4. Build the recruiter into your strategy. They're your best internal advocate

5. Develop 8–10 R-STAR™ examples that map to the traits most AE roles require

6. Assume every interviewer has a different skill level. Don't wait to be asked the right follow-up — give them what they need upfront

If you want a structured way to build those examples and walk into every round prepared, I'm building a course on exactly this.

[Join the waitlist for Setback to Interview Ready → link]

Hit reply and tell me: Which round of the interview process feels most unpredictable to you right now? I read every response.

To clarity and confidence in your career path, 

Amanda

See you next Sunday.

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