Business Development Manager Interview Preparation Guide

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Here, the hiring manager wants to ensure you have an overall understanding of the business analysis planning process. Rather than listing numerous projects and processes, talk more about the general phases or types of deliverables you might create, while letting the hiring manager know you can customize your approaches to projects.

When a defect has a high likelihood of being exploited, or may compromise the data integrity of the system (and the company), any suitable candidate will want to prioritize those. Those defects that are cosmetic should be given a lower priority unless they interfere with the user experience in a substantial way.

As the people primarily responsible for cold calling and emailing, SDRs deal with an awful lot of rejection. If the candidate admits they get flustered or frustrated after an extended period of rejection, they're probably not cut out for the job. "Fall down seven times, stand up eight" is the mantra of the best SDRs.

Answer this one head on. The hiring manager is trying to assess your soft skills, particularly your communication and collaboration abilities. Working with people from different areas of the company and perspectives is an area where nontechnical skills are key.

As Mark Twain once said, "I didn't have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead." Brevity is a talent, and it's one that prospects appreciate. This question reveals the candidate's ability to hit the critical points of a story in a short amount of time.

Say that you enjoy working in a team environment. Describe the environment in such a way as it sounds similar to the work environment you believe the company has adopted.

This will vary from company to company, and person to person. But by now, your company no doubt has its model for the manager. See if there is any contradiction.

Your logical-thinking skills are being put to the test with this question. As you answer, highlight how you thoughtfully respond to changing situations.

One potential response is something along the lines of, “First, I prioritize the changes to requirements, scope of changes and the impact analysis to the project. Next, I perform an impact analysis to the project cost, timeline and resources. Finally, I evaluate whether the scope change is introducing new gaps to the technical or functional designs or development and testing.”

The interviewee will give an explicit response to their sales strategy, and how they adapt to situations.

A well-bonded team is a well-built team. The answers to this question should refer to activities that the candidate has already done. The candidate doesn't need to be their team's best friend, but it's important that they're interested in getting to know their team and creating opportunities for them to bond.

Hitting targets and achieving goals is your main motivation. Say that you are motivated by the desire to do a great job and to help improve business.

Your lingo acumen is being tested when you get one of these types of questions. Explain that the system design document (SDD) is a middle step separating business users and developers.

Analysis of sales data should help to identify possible new markets. This would be followed up with some market research.

This question will not only reveal the amount of research the candidate did before the interview (which bodes well for their prospect researching skills), it also gives the hiring manager a chance to evaluate their ability to speak clearly and persuasively.

This is a bit of a trick question, but it's not a silly one. The best language is the one that the team knows; at the end of the day, that's the language that will get the job done. A good development manager doesn't have room for pet languages.

Iteration and customer involvement should be near the top of the candidate's list of answers. A good candidate will be able to clearly explain what makes these aspects important as well. Agile development is important because of the psychology that it elicits from the developers working on the project.

To answer this you need to show a good understanding of the company and say that you are keen to be part of a dynamic team to help the company grow and develop. The aim of business development is to develop growth opportunities, so you must show a keen interest in working with their products and services.

Say that you feel that business development is the heart of a healthy business and it is extremely rewarding to see a business grow on the back of your decisions and actions.

Cite the specific tools and how you've used them. If you have used a system the company employs, mention your experience to the hiring manager. If you're not familiar with the technology the employer uses, discuss how you plan to get up to speed quickly.

Again, the hiring manager wants reassurance you have the skills to get the job done and know case, activity and sequence diagrams.

Say that you listen to their needs and then propose a solution that will meet a majority of their needs. If there are any gaps in the product offering, explain that workarounds can be developed to ensure that business runs smoothly.

Cost reduction is more of an operations perspective. Give the candidate the opportunity to give reasonable measures to increase profits from the sales side.

Like with most jobs, the key is communication. The form that these communications come in may vary, but the development manager shouldn't know what the business wants more than the business does. Good development managers know that users know their business better and development managers can help them understand the technology so that they can together create the best solution.

A sense of curiosity is necessary in sales development. SDRs have to ask insightful questions to get to the heart of prospects' problems, and investigate their current environments. People with natural curiosity won't have a problem enthusiastically sharing something they learned with you. But if the candidate struggles to come up with an example, it might be a red flag.

This question asks you to show that you understand how to fulfill the duties of the position. Your response should include three parts:

Discuss three or four traits that contribute to an account manager’s success. You might describe the importance of market research, communication skills or the ability to negotiate.

Describe how those qualities can be beneficial when working with this specific company’s clients. If you have done your homework then you will know something about the accounts that they service, and can give specifics on how the traits you’ve described can help you to meet their customer’s needs.

Share experiences that illustrate that you possess these qualities. Outline an experience or achievement where you demonstrated the qualities you’ve listed in specific, quantifiable terms.