Podcast episode
Stop Hiring the Wrong People, Use This Interview Structure Instead | Kevin "KD" Dorsey
30 Minutes to President's Club13 Feb 202537 min
Description
FOUR ACTIONABLE TAKEAWAYS Interview Kits for Prep: Send candidates an interview kit outlining expectations, key questions, and details on interviewers. Poor answers indicate lack of prep or poor fit. Evidence-Based Questions Only: Avoid hypotheticals. Ask for proof of past performance (P.O.P.) to assess real experience and capabilities. Screening Videos Save Time: Require a three-minute video on a key trait (e.g., perseverance). Evaluate clarity, instructions-following, and presentation skills before a live interview. Live Deal Review Test: Have candidates walk through a real deal they closed. Assess how they sourced, ran discovery, demoed, and closed, treating it like an actual deal review. KD'S PATH TO PRESIDENT’S CLUB CRO @ Finally SVP of Sales and Partnerships @ Bench Accounting Practice Lead, Revenue Leadership @ Winning by Design VP of Inside Sales @ PatientPop Inc. Head of Sales Enablement & Development @ ServiceTitan VP of Sales @ SnackNation RESOURCES DISCUSSED Read: Join our weekly newsletter Steal: Templates, drips, scripts 30MPC Training: 30mpc.com/training
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Every place a page here uses this source, in the order the words come in it.
Perseverance. Okay. Can get rejected and get back up again. Right? So both of you actually described perseverance a little bit more than gritty, which is one of the things we screen for all of our roles, right? They can persevere and they're resilient. They can get knocked down and get back up again, but you have to define that as a team. What does it actually mean to us? And this is actually what sets up our entire interview process “is we have to define it first.” So could you articulate to me what a good definition sounds like? Maybe using finally, as an example, you know, we screen for perseverance, right? So the definition of perseverance is the ability to push through hard things with enthusiasm. That is the definition.
In Hiring SDRs
and that is the foundation of the interview. This is also a big one. I do not ask hypotheticals. I could care less. So how would you approach X, Y, and Z? I do not care. The question is, how have you approached X, Y, Z? I don't care what you would hypothetically do. I need proof “P-O-P. That's all I care about in an interview. Proof that you have done the thing.” I also don't ask questions that I'll say don't have a wrong answer. Meaning there isn't an answer they would give that would actually disqualify them from being hired unless it was ridiculous. I don't ask trick questions. I don't ask things around that. I'm asking questions
In Hiring SDRs
so important is speed of learning. How fast can you learn something? Because if you can learn something quickly, you're going to thrive very well in my orgs. So we do a role play on the SDR side. And similarly, I could care less how well they do on that role play. “For me, it's my job to teach an SDR how to sell well.” I actually don't care at all how good they are on the role play. What do you think I'm actually looking for? Did they do the prep? Did they prep? Take the feedback? Did they take the feedback? So this is a big one. They're going to role play. We give them feedback. In my career, I think there's probably seven or eight now that this has happened, where we give the feedback and we pause. There have been seven to eight reps in my career that said,
And the rep goes, all right, can I go again? Phenomenal. But when we give the feedback, when I'm listening for that, how do they take the feedback? This is also why two people are powerful. I'm delivering the feedback. Nick is watching. I'm like, okay, am I taking notes? Did I write the feedback down or did I go, okay? And then we say, let's do it again. So I always do two. “I'm looking for speed of implementation.” I just gave you this feedback. How quickly can you apply it? So that's on the SDR side. On the AE side, we have them walk us through recent deals. Walk me through your most recent deal, start to finish. And they have to go step by step by step through that deal. Great. Give me another one. You can see the pattern here. Great. Give me another one.
In Hiring SDRs