I applied online. I interviewed at Toast Inc (Boston, MA) in Mar 2021
Interview
The interview process at Toast is extensive, but for someone early in my sales career it was great experience. There's 3 rounds - a phone screen, phone interview with a sales manager, and final round interview with 3 different folks where you give a pitch and a separate presentation.
I did not ultimately receive an offer but made it to the final round - while I was bummed to not be given an offer, I think they really gave me a shot and the in-house recruiter was nice enough to hop on a call with me the next week to go over feedback quickly and tips for interviewing elsewhere. Toast is a great company, not sure if the pay is necessarily super competitive (I was prepared to take a pay cut from my Enterprise BDR salary/OTE), but I believe there were enough attractive aspects of the role, company, and industry where I would have probably negotiated an offer we could agree upon.
In short, be prepared for an extensive interview process but it's a great company which is why.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
- Pitch of one of their products
- A presentation where you analyze a territory they give you and make a GTM plan, plus a restaurant and why you believe they're a good fit
- Emphasis on coachability and work ethic
The interview process consisted of four rounds: a recruiter screen, a hiring manager interview, a mock sales exercise, and a final interview. Overall, the process was well organized and professional.
I invested a significant amount of time preparing because this was a role I genuinely wanted. Unfortunately, I was not selected to move forward to the third round. Based on my experience, I believe my limited direct sales background was the primary factor, although the feedback process was respectful and transparent throughout.
Interview questions [3]
Question 1
Describe how the quota was set up from your last job, and at what percentage you hit your quota?
I did an initial phone screen for an AE role. The recruiter showed up a few minutes late but I didn't think much of it. We had a nice conversation and they mentioned they'd like to move me forward. I didn't hear anything for a week or so when they reached out saying they had been swamped and would schedule me shortly. They reached out a 2nd time saying the internal schedule was busy but they'd get something on the calendar soon. Then I received an auto rejection. Not a great experience, it just made the company look extremely unorganized.
First I do appreciate the fact that they got back to me and gave me a “no” instead of ghosting, but the compliments will end there.
The first round with the recruiter was fantastic. She said I sounded like a great fit and was excited to pass me to the next round. Fast forward to that next round and I could tell right away the sales manager had zero interest in talking to me. The most monotone voice, didn’t show interest in my prior experience, asked some questions that i didn’t think were relevant. She definitely was just there to check the box. Not long after I got the rejection email.
understand it’s part of the game but i followed all the interview prep provided to me and it seemed like no matter what I wasn’t moving past that second round.