Applied via LinkedIn and heard back the same day. First screening call with internal recruiter in NY was positive and I was starting to get a good feeling about the company. Any sense of positivity was quickly snuffed out by the SDR Manager, who seemed to have his mind made up about me before the call had begun. The "interview" centred around why I am not yet an Account Executive, why I applied for another SDR role, and why I haven't applied for an Account Executive role at another company. I had already answered this question in the first call and didn't expect this to be the centrepiece of the conversation. With each answer I gave, I could see the interest diminishing and by the tone in the SDR Manager's voice when he said "now, do you have any questions for me?", I knew I had been ruled out already, which knocked my morale to the point that I decided to cut my questions short. I heard nothing for the next 3 days. I decided to then tell Smartling that I was no longer interested in the role, reiterating the above sentiments. I then received a separate, seemingly automated, e-mail the next day from the originating recruiter to say that they weren't moving forward with my application, with no reference made to the feedback I gave on the interview. I'll give credit to the SDR Manager in the sense that he clearly knows what he wants, and I respect the need to be cutthroat. If this is your first time applying for an SDR role then I surmise that you will be a fit for Smartling. If not then be prepared for the above line of questioning.

I enjoyed my interview process with Smartling. First, I applied on Smartling’s career page, and a recruiter pinged me the next day to set up a phone screen. The recruiter was helpful and very responsive throughout the entire process. Next, I spoke with the Director of Sales over the phone for 30 minutes. A week or so later, I went to Smartling HQ for the onsite interview with the Director of Sales, who asked me to write a mock email that I would send to a prospect. The last step was a phone interview with the VP of Sales. In total, the interview process took approximately 4-5 weeks. The questioning, in general, focused on my performance in my last role, interest in sales at Smartling, knowledge of the company/industry, and future goals.