I applied online. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Gartner (Barcelona) in Feb 2025
Interview
I applied through LinkedIn.
The first interview was a 20-minute phone call — really easy and casual. The recruiter explained the position to me, and everything felt straightforward.
But the second interview was a bit strange. They sent me an email with some PDFs to prepare, but the info was for the SDR role, not the Account Executive position I applied for.
During the interview, it felt very robotic. The recruiter was writing down everything I said, and whenever she missed something, she asked me to repeat myself so she could take notes. When I mentioned the Account Executive role, she said we were actually interviewing for the SDR position and that I should have noticed that in the documents.
It was confusing because I never applied for SDR, and in the first interview, she had clearly explained the AE role to me.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Why sales? Why Gartner? Time you had a difficult client situation (using STAR method). Another question was about what I think would be the most challenging part of selling a service like Gartner’s. I explained that it’s harder to show the value upfront because it’s not a physical product, so you have to really understand the client’s needs and be able to communicate how the service will solve their problems.
Avoid this interview process at all costs. It felt like nothing more than a data gathering exercise rather than a genuine hiring effort. Every single round was conducted by a recruiter — I never spoke with an actual hiring manager or team member. A complete waste of time and effort. I would not recommend applying.
First round HR screening. Second round detailed personality analysis interview. Third round manager interview to ask about experience and motivations. Last round panel interview with presentation to describe why you're a good fit. Strong emphasis on personality fit.
I applied through a recruiter. I interviewed at Gartner
Interview
It was okay. Two interviews, phone call and zoom. Zoom was a bit weird all very feedback approached. Had to do a role play of a cold call, which I do everyday to someone who has no cold calling experience so not sure that’s the best judge
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
How do you think you are doing - half way through the interview
Account Executive applicants have rated the interview process at Gartner with 3.5 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty) and assessed their interview experience as 43% positive. To compare, the company-average is 51.4% positive. This is according to Glassdoor user ratings.
Candidates applying for Account Executive roles take an average of 30 days to get hired, when considering 288 user submitted interviews for this role. To compare, the hiring process at Gartner overall takes an average of 35 days.
Common stages of the interview process at Gartner as a Account Executive according to 288 Glassdoor interviews include:
Phone interview: 25%
One on one interview: 19%
Group panel interview: 14%
Presentation: 12%
Skills test: 10%
Background check: 8%
Personality test: 5%
Drug test: 3%
IQ intelligence test: 2%
Other: 2%
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