Sales Development Representative Assessment

See how candidates qualify leads, handle objections, and communicate clearly under pressure before you interview them.

20 to 30 minutes for candidates • Ranked shortlist • Interview ready insights

Shortlisted for Assessment Provider of the Year, recognising innovation in hiring assessment

The Problem With Hiring Sales Development Representatives

Hiring Sales Development Representatives usually starts with CV screening and short phone interviews. These steps are time-consuming, inconsistent, and weak predictors of real performance.

CVs rarely show how candidates:

  • Qualify leads effectively and spot buying signals

  • Handle objections and rejection under pressure

  • Communicate clearly and confidently on live calls

  • Make judgement calls on prioritisation and follow-up

Phone interviews help, but they still reward confidence over capability. This is where many poor hires slip through.

Why hiring breaks down
CV
Phone
Neuroworx
Shows how candidates handle frustrated customers
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Tests communication under pressure
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Reveals judgement in real scenarios
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Distinguishes confidence from capability
Consistent across all candidates
~
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Predictive of on-the-job performance
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Live evidence flow
Signals build as candidates respond
Candidate completes
Customer scenarios
Realistic judgement calls and written replies
Neuroworx analyses
Signals extracted
Consistent scoring across every candidate
Hiring managers receive
Shortlist and interview prompts
Strengths, risks, and follow ups per candidate
Ranked shortlist
Risk flags
Interview questions

How Neuroworx adds evidence before interviews

Neuroworx adds a short, role-specific assessment before interviews, so hiring decisions are based on observed behaviour, not assumptions.

Candidates complete realistic scenarios and short written responses that reflect the day-to-day demands of a Sales Development Representative role.

This allows you to see how candidates:

  • Qualify inbound and outbound leads effectively

  • Handle objections and rejection in real sales scenarios

  • Communicate clearly and confidently under pressure

  • Make sound judgement calls on prioritisation, follow-up, and next steps

Instead of relying on CVs and early phone screens alone, interviews are informed by consistent, comparable evidence for every candidate.

How the Assessment Works

A simple, role specific flow from invite to shortlist.

1
Invite candidates
Send a role specific assessment link to shortlisted applicants.
Branded platform Sharable links Bulk invites Email templates ATS friendly Auto reminders
Invite in minutes and keep the experience consistent for every candidate.
2
Candidates complete
Realistic scenarios and short written responses that reflect the role.
Scenario judgement Written response Timed sections Randomised items Tab switching flags Anti cheating
Built in controls reduce gaming and highlight unusual test behaviour.
3
Review and shortlist
Compare candidates using consistent evidence before interviews.
Ranked shortlist Risk flags Confidence Strengths Development areas Interview prompts
Use the report to decide who to interview and what to probe.

See the Assessment in Action

Explore the scenarios candidates complete and how responses are captured.

What the Assessment Looks Like for Candidates

A short, role-specific experience designed to surface judgement, tone, and real-world decision-making.

Assessment Preview

Sales Development Representative

Interactive preview: select answers to see how the report signals are formed. Preview is untimed and does not score.

Role: Sales Development Representative Format: SJT + short response Hiring manager preview
Preview progress
0/2 answered ~10–12 min (full)
Response profile (sample)
EarlierLater
Scenario judgement
Signals: judgement • tone
What would you do first?
Preview selections update the live signals panel on the right.
Short response
Signals: tone • clarity • execution
Select a response style (preview)
Select a response style above to preview how signals change.
In the live assessment, candidates type a message. The report flags clarity, relevance, and objection handling.
Live preview
How this becomes the report
Risk: —
Overall suitability
/100
Select answers to populate Confidence: —
Signals
Judgement
Tone
Execution
Highlights
  • Choose options on the left to see example insights.
Risk matrix (sample)
Lower riskHigher impact
This is illustrative preview logic only. In production, scoring is derived from your validated model.

What you get and who this is for

Decision ready output for hiring with minimal work from your team.

What you get
A ranked shortlist with clear evidence
  • Ranked shortlist of candidates by overall suitability
  • Strengths and risk flags in plain English
  • Interview follow ups tailored to each candidate
  • Skill breakdown across judgement, tone, and execution
Example output
1     Strong match 84
2     Good option 81
Who this is for
Ideal when early screening is noisy
  • You hire Sales Development Representatives at volume
  • You spend too much time on phone screening
  • You want consistent early stage decisions
  • You need evidence beyond gut feel
Typical impact
Reduce early stage interview time by 40 to 60 percent
More consistent shortlists across hiring managers
Fewer low quality interviews reaching later stages
Clearer interview focus using strengths, risks, and follow ups

What the Candidate Report Looks Like

A clear, decision-ready summary showing strengths, risks, and interview follow-ups for each candidate.

Sample Candidate Report

Sales Development Representative

Example output hiring managers receive after a candidate completes the assessment.

Overall suitability
Strong match
Confidence: High
Top 22%
Suitability78/100
Clear evidence of strong qualification judgement and calm objection handling under pressure.
Distribution (sample)
LowerHigher
Decision-ready highlights
Key strengths
  • Asks focused questions to qualify quickly and uncover buying signals
  • Handles objections without becoming pushy or defensive
  • Keeps calls structured and drives clear next steps
Potential risk areas
  • May pitch too early before confirming need, timing, and stakeholders
  • Could improve follow-up structure (recap, value, clear CTA)
Skill breakdown
Candidate vs typical benchmark
Judgement
74%
Tone & presence
82%
Prioritisation
79%
Execution
68%
Risk matrix (sample)
Candidate
Lower riskHigher impact
Main watch-out: pushing for meetings without enough qualification or relevance.
Response profile (sample)
Pace
Fast
Consistency
High
Care
High
Earlier questionsLater questions
Key signals (sample)
Objection handling
Strong
Keeps control
Qualification
Moderate
Needs depth
Call structure
Strong
Clear next step
Written clarity
Strong
Concise follow-up
Suggested interview follow-ups
  • Ask for an example where they turned a strong objection into a booked meeting.
  • Explore how they qualify quickly without sounding interrogative (need, timing, stakeholders).
  • Probe how they write follow-ups that add value and drive a clear next step.
Focus area
Judgement
Qualification and next-step decisions
Focus area
Tone
Confidence, empathy, and call control
Focus area
Prioritisation
Targeting the right accounts first
Focus area
Execution
Follow-up quality and persistence
Note: this is a sample report preview. Full reports include role-specific weighting and benchmarking.

Ready to see how we can help?

Book a 15 minute demo to see how hiring managers use this in real roles.

15 minutes. No commitment. See real examples.