How to source and shortlist {role_name}

Where can you find qualified {role_name}?

  • Professional network
    • Leverage your professional network and reach out to former colleagues, industry peers, and tech community members to ask for referrals.
  • Educational Institutions
    • Top engineering colleges (IITs, NITs in India; MIT, Stanford, Georgia Tech in the US; KAUST in KSA; UAE University)
    • Attend campus recruitment drives for mechanical, electrical, computer science, or industrial engineering programs
  • Company Career Pages
    • Post roles on your own company website and leverage internal employee referrals

What are the best practices for headhunting {role_name}?

  • Map Competitors & Parallel Sectors: Identify target companies producing similar products or operating in parallel sectors (e.g., industrial automation, SaaS tools) and target their top talent.
  • Utilize Boolean Search: Use specific Boolean strings on LinkedIn/Google (e.g., “Sales Engineer” AND “SaaS” AND “San Francisco”).
  • Network Leverage: Ask for referrals in professional communities, attend webinars, industry events, and solution demos.
  • Talent Pools: Engage candidates in professional groups (Presales Collective, IEEE, SME, ASME).
  • Personalized Outreach: Send tailored messages outlining why the candidate fits your company’s vision and highlighting compelling projects.

"Find Talent Quickly" – Leverage Headhunting and Referrals

How to shortlist candidates?

Once you have started to get applications from applicants, a thorough screening process and shortlisting of prospects will help you make the most of your time spent with the most qualified ones. 

Automated shortlisting tools :

Automated screening quickly filters out unqualified candidates, saving time for manual review. This allows the manual process to focus on the most promising candidates, ensuring the best ones are considered for further evaluation.

Screening questions to auto-shortlist based on predefined criteria

like qualifications, location, experience, and skills. Either use job board or use an ATS such as whitecarrot. Here are some questions for {role_name}

  • "Do you hold a degree in Engineering or a related technical field?"
    • Auto-reject criteria: "No"
  • "How many years of experience do you have in technical sales engineering?"
    • Auto-reject criteria: Less than 2 years
  • "Are you located in [specified location] or willing to relocate/work remotely?"
    • Auto-reject criteria: "No"

Skill based question to auto shortlist candidate

Analyze the skill test data to automatically shortlist top-performing applicants. (recommended screening test time - 15 minutes). Here are some skill test questions for {role_name}

Sales Engineering

Assess ability to blend technical knowledge with sales expertise.

  • Question: What is the primary responsibility of a Sales Engineer?
    • A. Cold calling
    • B. Administrative support
    • C. Conducting technical product demonstrations (Correct)
    • D. Software development
  • Question: Sales Engineers typically collaborate closely with which department?
    • A. Marketing
    • B. Finance
    • C. Sales (Correct)
    • D. Human Resources
  • Question: Effective Sales Engineers must balance technical knowledge with what other critical skill?
    • A. Legal knowledge
    • B. Financial acumen
    • C. Persuasive selling techniques (Correct)
    • D. Graphic design

CRM Software

Evaluate proficiency with CRM tools.

  • Question: Which CRM software is commonly used in sales engineering?
    • A. Photoshop
    • B. Salesforce (Correct)
    • C. AutoCAD
    • D. Adobe Illustrator
  • Question: CRM software primarily helps Sales Engineers in:
    • A. Managing finances
    • B. Tracking sales activities (Correct)
    • C. Coding applications
    • D. Designing products
  • Question: A popular feature of CRM software for Sales Engineers is:
    • A. Photo editing
    • B. Inventory management
    • C. Customer interaction tracking (Correct)
    • D. Video conferencing

Product Demonstrations

Verify ability to effectively demonstrate complex products.

  • Question: What is critical during a product demonstration?
    • A. Detailed legal disclaimers
    • B. Clear and concise communication (Correct)
    • C. Extensive financial analysis
    • D. Employee performance reviews
  • Question: A successful product demonstration typically results in:
    • A. Extended sales cycles
    • B. Increased customer confusion
    • C. Better customer understanding of product (Correct)
    • D. Lower sales performance
  • Question: Effective product demonstrations usually include:
    • A. Detailed financial statements
    • B. Hands-on demonstration of product features (Correct)
    • C. Company history lesson
    • D. Employee testimonials

Note - Auto reject candidates if scores less than 70% in this section

One way video interview

Recruitment Bullet

Use tools like hirevue, whitecarrot.io to ask candidates pre-recorded questions about their experience and skills.

Recruitment Bullet

Use sample question given in scorecard.

Collect other information 

Recruitment Bullet

Collect data from shortlisted candidates, such as salary expectations and visa status.

"Shortlist in Seconds" – Use our CV scoring feature to get top candidate recommendation

Manual candidate profile shortlisting:

Recruitment Bullet

Thoroughly review the CVs of the top scoring candidates from the automated process

Recruitment Bullet

Look for evidence of the required skills, experience, and achievements

Recruitment Bullet

Review the candidate’s portfolio or GitHub repositories to see examples of their work.

Schedule recruiter calls with the candidate

Recruitment Bullet

Use a tool like calendly or whitecarrot to allow candidates to self-schedule calls based on your availability

Recruitment Bullet

Confirm the call details (date, time, dial-in info) with the candidate via email

What questions to ask in the recruiter phone screen?

Recruitment Bullet

 Use scorecard for rating candidates for recruiter

Recruitment Bullet

Sample scorecard : 

Criteria Sample Question Rating (1-5)
Technical Knowledge Describe your experience with technical sales processes.
Communication Skills How do you simplify complex information for clients?
Problem-solving Ability Provide an example of solving a challenging technical issue.
Product Demonstration How do you prepare for a technical demonstration?
Recruitment Bullet

Check for consistency in responses from the candidates.

Recruitment Bullet

Record such scorecards in an ATS like whitecarrot or use google doc