How to get into tech sales with no experience.

1. 1

   Understand what the job actually is

   SDR stands for Sales Development Representative. You are the first human a future customer talks to: you research companies, reach out by phone, email and LinkedIn, and book meetings for the Account Executives who close the deal. You are paid a base salary plus commission on the meetings and pipeline you create. In Europe, SDR and BDR total pay typically lands between €70k and €100k once you are performing.

2. 2

   Learn to talk about business problems, not yourself

   Hiring managers reject candidates who pitch their own CV. They hire candidates who can open a conversation about a prospect's problem. Practise explaining, in two sentences, why a company would take a call from you. That skill transfers directly to the interview.

3. 3

   Prepare for the five stages of the hiring process

   Almost every tech company runs the same filter: a CV screen, a recruiter call, a hiring-manager interview, a mock cold call, and the offer. Most candidates only prepare for the interviews and lose the job on the mock call, because it is the one stage you cannot wing.

4. 4

   Drill the mock cold call before you are asked to do one

   In the mock call you play the SDR and the interviewer plays a busy prospect. A structure that works: open with a permission-based opener and a priority drop, earn the right to pitch with a sharp command of the message, then close in three parts - recap the pain, pitch, propose a concrete next step. Reading about it is not enough; you need reps out loud.

5. 5

   Handle objections with a loop, not a script

   You will hear 'not interested' in the interview and on the job. The framework that survives pressure: acknowledge with empathy, ask a question, rephrase what you heard, then answer. Interviewers score how you recover, not whether you avoid objections.

6. 6

   Apply in a focused burst and follow up

   Ten tailored applications beat a hundred generic ones. Reference the company's product and a real reason you want to sell it, and follow up with the hiring manager on LinkedIn. SDR hiring rewards exactly the behaviour the job needs: relevance, persistence and a clear ask.

Want the full picture of what the career pays? See the SDR salary and career path guide and the breakdown of how tech sales hiring works.