I applied online. I interviewed at Salesforce (San Francisco, CA) in Aug 2017
Interview
The Interview process was very drawn out for me (over 3 months) because they were still waiting on an open position before interviewing. My recruiters were very up front/honest about the situation, which I found very helpful.
The process started with an initial phone screen with a recruiter, where they gauge your interest, overall experience, and understanding of Salesforce. Nothing too difficult, but come prepared to explain your current role and responsibilities. The second phone screen was with another recruiter, in which we discussed the timeline and possible interview days. Prepare a lot of question for the recruiter and at the end of the conversation ask for any interview prep materials.
The final round is an in-person panel interview with SDR managers. Be prepared, do a trailhead, do your research, and come excited!!
I applied through an employee referral. I interviewed at Salesforce (Dublino, Dublino) in Jun 2017
Interview
First call with the HR: smooth and easy. CV and personal questions.
Second Call with HR: CV, background questions. Why do you want to move to Berlin? Why sales? Why should we choose you?
Third call with SDR Manager: Same as above but more into detail + questions to see your attitude such as: in this situation what would you do? Tell an experience when something didn't go as expected and how you manage to solve the problem? What value will you bring to the team and what do you expect to learn from the company, team and me (sdr manager)?
Last interview on location (dublin): 1hour panel interview + 2 1to1 interviews with other managers.
1hour panel interview (this is definitely the toughest and you have to prepare well; attitude is the key) : prepare a case study of a company which could be a good fit with salesforce. Company background, why now?, which salesforce solution would you propose?, SF competitive advantage?, how would you approach the call with the key decision maker of the company?, relevant example among the customer success stories?
1to1 interviews: general questions, personality, and ambitions
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Premise: I choose a fintech company as case study.
Question: A fintech company has great devs and engineers in the team, what would you answer if they say you they will make their own platform because they don't want to give you the data and so on?
I applied through an employee referral. I interviewed at Salesforce (Dublino, Dublino) in Jun 2017
Interview
One of my friends works in Salesforce, so the process started with an Employee Referral. A few days later I got a call from my Recruiter, with whom I stayed in contact during the whole Interview Process. Through the Interview Process, she was my contact person who gave me feedback and also told me what to expect in the coming interviews.
As I have a legal background, the Interview Process started with assessing whether I would be a good fit for the Customer Intelligence department (2x interviews). After these two interviews, the interviewers were of the opinion that a rol in Sales Development might work better for me due to my rather extensive past working experience. The third interview consisted of three parts: 1) presentation for two Sales Development Managers + a mock call with them; 2) interview with a Business (Development Manager (face to face) and 3: interview with Business Development Director (by telephone). I also got to talk with one of the SDRs, we had a good and open chat about her work. After this day, I was sold. Two days later I got an offer.
My overall opinion is that the way how Salesforce treats candidates is just outstanding. My recruiter was available when I needed her, her feedback and instructions for the coming interviews were very helpful. The interviews were actually very pleasant to do. Of course there were the nerves as I had no sales experience whatsoever, but the interviewers are not there to give you a hard time. Although they do expect that you prepare well (and you should :)) How I experienced it, is that the whole process went swift and quick and in a pleasant and friendly way.
In the end, I declined Salesforce's offer as I got an offer with a law firm.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
1) Explain what Salesforce is, as if you were to explain it to somebody who never heard of the company.
2) Why do you want to work in sales? Give some examples of past sales experiences?
3) Why do you want to work at Salesforce?
4) Why do you think you would be a good fit?
5) What do you want to achieve within 3 years?