About the Sales Development Representative Role at Speak

Speak is an AI-powered language tutor that first launched in South Korea in 2019, where it became the number one language learning app, and now serves learners across many markets in 15+ languages. This SDR role sits inside Speak for Business (S4B), Speak's enterprise arm. S4B is a rare 0-to-1 moment inside a company that has already scaled: it has grown to hundreds of logos globally with its deepest footprint in Korea and Japan, and it is now investing heavily across Engineering, Product, Content, and Go-to-Market to make B2B one of Speak's biggest growth engines.

This is a hybrid SDR and closing role. You will qualify inbound interest from web forms, events, and referrals, run thoughtful outbound campaigns across email, phone, social, and video, and partner with Account Executives to build pipeline. Beyond generating qualified meetings, you will also own and close transactional deals end-to-end (pricing, light negotiation, order execution) within defined guardrails. Speak wants a high-energy person with 1 to 3+ years in SDR/BDR or inside sales, strong discovery skills, crisp written and verbal communication, and comfort with a modern sales stack.

Quick Stats

* Typical process: 4 to 5 rounds, roughly 3 to 5 weeks (structure inferred for this role and company stage, not from candidate reports)

* Format: Mostly video calls, with a likely mock call or role-play exercise

* Core focus: Inbound qualification, outbound prospecting, discovery, transactional closing, CRM hygiene, coachability

* Difficulty: Moderate to hard, because this is a dual SDR-plus-closing role in a fast-changing 0-to-1 B2B org where you must show both prospecting hustle and deal ownership

What Speak Looks For

* 1 to 3+ years in SDR/BDR, inside sales (closing role), or a high-volume customer-facing role, SaaS preferred

* Demonstrated success in both inbound qualification and outbound prospecting, plus comfort closing transactional deals with light negotiation

* Excellent written and verbal communication with disciplined note-taking and call recaps

* Proficiency with a modern stack (HubSpot, Lemlist, Exa/Indent signals, LinkedIn Sales Navigator) and someone organized, curious, and coachable

Round 1: Recruiter Screen (~30 minutes)

What to Expect

A recruiter or talent partner opens with a quick call to check background, motivation, and logistics. Expect questions on your SDR or inside sales experience, why Speak and why the EdTech/language space, your comfort with a role that blends prospecting and closing, and Tokyo location or work authorization details. This is also where you deliver a tight pitch on why you want to move your sales career toward deal-closing experience, which the posting explicitly calls out.

Example Questions

* "Walk me through your sales background and what you're doing today."

* "Why Speak, and why are you interested in language learning or EdTech?"

* "This role is both an SDR seat and a closing role. Why does that appeal to you?"

* "What are you looking for in your next step, and what are your comp expectations?"

Tips

* Have a crisp 60-second story ready that connects your prospecting wins to your desire to grow into closing.

* Show you understand S4B is a 0-to-1 enterprise motion inside a scaled company, and that you are excited to help shape it.

* Rehearse this classic phone-screen mix with Nora's Standard Mode so your pitch and motivation answers land smoothly and concisely.

Round 2: Hiring Manager Interview (~45 minutes)

What to Expect

A conversation with the B2B sales manager or team lead focused on how you actually do the work. Expect behavioral and situational questions on outbound campaign design, inbound qualification, discovery, and handoffs to AEs. They will probe your track record with metrics (meetings booked, SQLs generated, conversion) and how you handle a high-volume, goal-driven environment. Be ready to discuss how you personalize outreach at scale using insights, triggers, and industry POVs.

Example Questions

* "Tell me about an outbound campaign you designed. How did you personalize it and what were the results?"

* "Describe how you qualify an inbound lead. How do you confirm fit, urgency, and buying roles?"

* "Walk me through a clean handoff you built to an AE, from mutual agenda to next steps."

* "Tell me about a time you hit or missed a quota. What did you do differently afterward?"

Tips

* Use STAR structure and lead with numbers: quota attainment, meetings kept, conversion rates, activity volume.

* Prepare a discovery story that shows you diagnose needs and shape demand rather than just pitch features.

* Drill these behavioral and situational answers with Nora's Behavioral Mode so your STAR stories stay specific and metric-driven under follow-up questions.

Round 3: Mock Call / Role-Play Exercise (~45 minutes)

What to Expect

Given this is a hybrid prospecting-and-closing role, expect a live role-play. You may be asked to run a cold call or an inbound discovery call against a mock prospect, then handle objections and advance the deal. Because the role closes transactional deals, they may also test light negotiation and how you move an opportunity to a next step within guardrails. Interviewers assess your talk track, discovery depth, listening, note-taking, and how naturally you educate the buyer with a consultative, value-led approach.

Example Questions

* "Cold call me. I'm a mid-size company in Japan and I've never heard of Speak for Business."

* "This inbound lead filled out a demo form. Run discovery and tell me if they're a fit."

* "I like the product but the price is higher than expected. How do you respond?"

* "Recap the call you just ran: what are the next steps and the mutual agenda?"

Tips

* Open with permission and a sharp value hook, then ask layered discovery questions before pitching anything.

* Show a qualification framework in action (BANT or MEDDPICC style thinking) and narrate fit, urgency, and buying roles out loud.

* Practice live talk tracks, objection handling, and call recaps with Nora's Technical Mode, treating the role-play as the role-specific skills round it is.

Round 4: Team / Cross-Functional and Values Fit (~45 minutes)

What to Expect

A final conversation with an AE partner, a cross-functional stakeholder, or a senior leader focused on collaboration and culture. Speak emphasizes hiring people they admire deeply and who thrive in a changing environment, so expect questions about coachability, curiosity, working with AEs, and adapting inside a fast-moving 0-to-1 org. They may also revisit CRM discipline and how you forecast your weekly outputs accurately.

Example Questions

* "How do you and an AE divide ownership so meetings actually get kept and convert?"

* "Tell me about a time priorities or process changed fast. How did you adapt?"

* "How do you keep your CRM clean and forecast your week accurately?"

* "Give an example of feedback you received and exactly how you acted on it."

Tips

* Emphasize coachability with a concrete before-and-after example of applying feedback.

* Show you treat CRM hygiene and forecasting as a competitive advantage, not busywork.

* Rehearse these culture and collaboration questions in Nora's Behavioral Mode so your fit and adaptability stories feel genuine and grounded in real examples.

Round 5: Offer and Salary Negotiation (~30 minutes)

What to Expect

If successful, the recruiter walks you through the offer: base, variable/commission structure, and how targets tie to the SDR-plus-closing model. Since this role owns transactional deals, clarify how closing performance factors into comp and how quotas and ramp work in a 0-to-1 B2B team. This is the moment to align on expectations without underselling your prospecting and closing value.

Example Questions

* "What base and on-target earnings are you expecting?"

* "How do you weigh base versus variable comp for a role that both prospects and closes?"

* "What would make this offer an easy yes for you?"

* "Are there other processes or timelines we should know about?"

Tips

* Research market SDR comp in Tokyo and know both your base floor and your OTE target.

* Ask precise questions about quota, ramp, and how transactional closes are credited before negotiating.

* Run the back-and-forth with Nora's Salary Negotiation Mode so you can anchor confidently and respond to counters without leaving value on the table.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1) How many rounds are there?

Plan for about 4 to 5 rounds: a recruiter screen, a hiring manager interview, a mock call or role-play, a team/values-fit conversation, and an offer discussion. Speak has not published its exact process for this role, so this structure is inferred from the posting and standard practice for SDR-plus-closing roles at a company of this stage.

2) What topics are most common?

* Inbound qualification, outbound campaign design, discovery, and AE handoffs

* Transactional closing with light negotiation, CRM hygiene, forecasting, and coachability in a fast-changing 0-to-1 B2B org

3) How long does the process take?

Typically around 3 to 5 weeks end to end, depending on scheduling across the Tokyo-based B2B team and how quickly the role-play and final rounds are arranged.

4) How should I prepare?

* Study the posting closely: know the S4B story, the hybrid SDR-plus-closing motion, and the tools (HubSpot, Lemlist, Exa/Indent, LinkedIn Sales Navigator)

* Prepare metric-rich STAR stories for outbound wins, inbound qualification, missed and hit quotas, and applied feedback

* Rehearse a live cold call, an inbound discovery call, objection handling, and a crisp call recap using a qualification framework like BANT or MEDDPICC

* Practice with Nora AI: Standard Mode for the recruiter screen, Behavioral Mode for the hiring manager and values rounds, Technical Mode for the mock call and role-play, and Salary Negotiation Mode for the offer conversation