Questions to Ask Sales Recruiters
Questions for a candidate on a first call with a sales recruiter, in-house or agency, covering who the recruiter works for, quota and attainment, how commission is actually paid, territory, team turnover, and what the process ahead looks like.
20 questions, each with the reason to ask it · includes a conversation guide
The questions
Open any question to see why it works.
- 1
Are you in-house at the company, or working an agency search?
This decides how to read everything else they say. An agency recruiter is usually paid a percentage of your first-year base by the employer, so their incentive is a signed offer at a high base. An in-house recruiter owns the requisition and can answer questions about the team.
- 2
Which company is this for, and can you tell me before we go further?
Agency recruiters hold the name back to protect the fee, which is understandable on a cold outreach and a problem after that. If they still will not name it once you have shown interest, you cannot check the company's reviews, funding or reputation before spending time.
- 3
Is this a new role or a backfill?
New headcount means the team is growing and expectations may be unwritten. A backfill means someone left, and the follow-up is how long that person lasted and where they went. Repeated backfills on the same patch are the loudest signal on the call.
- 4
What is the on-target earnings figure, and how does it split between base and variable?
Recruiters quote OTE as though it were salary. Get the split as two numbers. A heavily variable split is normal for a closing role and much less normal for an inside or partnerships role, where it usually means the base is low for the market.
- 5
What is the annual quota, and what share of the team hit it last year?
This is the single most informative number on the call. If attainment is under half the team, the OTE is a marketing figure. An honest recruiter will know the number or offer to find it; a vague answer about most people doing well is itself an answer.
- 6
How long is the ramp, and is there a guarantee during it?
Ramp is when quota is reduced or waived while you build pipeline. Find out its length in months, whether commission is guaranteed during it, and what quota looks like in the first full quarter after it ends, which is where the real cliff sits.
- 7
Is commission capped, and are there accelerators past a hundred percent?
A cap changes the whole shape of the job, because it converts a strong year into a normal one. Accelerators are the reverse. Ask for the actual rates at each tier rather than a general reassurance that overperformance is rewarded.
- 8
When is commission actually paid: on booking, on invoice, or on cash collected?
Cash collected can push payment months past the close, and slow-paying customers become your cash flow problem. Ask about clawbacks in the same breath, including what happens if a customer churns in the first year.
- 9
What is the average deal size and how long is the sales cycle?
Do the arithmetic on the call. Quota divided by average deal size gives the number of deals you need, and the cycle length tells you whether that many can close in a year. If the arithmetic does not work, the quota is decorative.
- 10
Where does pipeline come from: inbound, an SDR team, or self-sourced?
The same title means completely different work depending on the answer. Ask what percentage of closed business last year started as inbound, and whether SDR coverage is dedicated or shared across several reps.
- 11
What is the territory or patch, and how often does it get redrawn?
Territory redraws are how compensation gets reduced without anyone changing the comp plan. Ask when the last redraw happened, who decides, and whether accounts you develop can be taken from you mid-year.
- 12
How many reps are on this team, and how many have been there more than two years?
Tenure is a cleaner attrition proxy than a direct question about turnover, and recruiters answer it more honestly because it sounds like a headcount question. A team where nobody has passed two years is telling you what happens in year two.
- 13
Who would I report to, and how long have they been in that seat?
A manager hired three months ago will be rebuilding the team and the plan, which can be good or fatal. Ask whether the manager carries a bag themselves, since a player-coach usually has less time to help you and sometimes competes for accounts.
- 14
What does the interview process look like, start to finish?
Ask for the number of stages, who is in each, and whether there is a mock pitch, a business case or a panel presentation. Sales processes often add an unpaid multi-hour case study late, and you want to know that before stage one, not after stage four.
- 15
What did the last person in this seat actually earn, all in?
Actual earnings and OTE are different numbers, and the gap between them is the most honest description of the role available. If nobody will say, ask what the top and bottom earners on the team made last year.
- 16
How does the company handle a rep who misses two quarters in a row?
The answer describes the culture more accurately than any values page. Listen for whether there is a written improvement plan, how long it runs, and whether reps generally come back from it or leave.
- 17
Has there been a layoff, a restructure or a funding change in the last eighteen months?
Public news is easy to check, but recruiters know about quieter events such as a quota reset, a comp plan rewrite or a cut to the SDR team. Any of those changes what your first year looks like.
- 18
Why have other candidates turned this role down?
Recruiters running a search usually have several losses to explain, and the honest ones will tell you. The repeated reason, base too low, territory picked over, too many interview rounds, is the objection you should raise now rather than discover later.
- 19
How many candidates have you submitted, and where are they in the process?
This tells you whether you are the first person in or the ninth, which changes how much of your time the role deserves. It also flags an agency recruiter blanketing the requisition, which can hurt you at the employer's end.
- 20
If this one is not right, what else are you working on that fits me better?
The answer separates a recruiter building a relationship from one filling a slot. Someone who can describe two other roles and why they fit is worth staying in touch with even when you are not looking.
Working the recruiter call
Practical guidance for the conversation itself.
In-house and agency recruiters answer differently
In-house and agency recruiters answer differently
In-house
They work for the employer and carry the requisition, so they can usually get real answers about quota attainment, the manager and the comp plan. They also filter for fit, which means what you say in the first call gets repeated to the hiring manager almost word for word.
- Ask the detailed comp and attainment questions here. They can go and find out.
- Treat the call as the first interview stage, because it is.
- Ask what would make the hiring manager say no. They often know the exact objection.
Agency and contingency
They are paid on placement, usually a percentage of your first-year base, and only if you sign. That makes them useful for market information and unreliable as a source of caution about a role.
- Get the company name before you send a CV anywhere.
- Ask them not to submit you to a company without asking first. Duplicate submissions can disqualify you.
- Their view of the comp plan is often secondhand. Verify the numbers with the hiring manager later.
Numbers to write down during the call
Numbers to write down during the call
- Base and variable as two separate figures, not a single OTE.
- Annual quota, and the share of the team that hit it last year.
- Average deal size and average cycle length in months.
- Ramp length, and whether commission is guaranteed during it.
- Payment trigger: booking, invoice or cash collected, plus the clawback window.
- Team size and how many reps have passed the two-year mark.
Warning signs on a first call
Warning signs on a first call
- Cannot or will not give an attainment figure, and redirects to culture instead.
- Quotes a large OTE without naming the base, or describes the base as a formality.
- Pressure to interview this week, or to skip your questions and meet the manager first.
- Will not name the company, or names it only after you send a CV.
- The role has been open for many months and the explanation keeps changing.
- Describes the last person leaving as a mutual decision and cannot say where they went.