I applied online. The process took 5 weeks. I interviewed at SunPower (Richmond, CA) in Apr 2010
Interview
Initially I was contacted by the recruiter to let me know I was identified as a possible match and to pre-screen me. After a cordial and successful call, a phone interview was set up with the hiring authority. That call was much more pointed and dove into my resume and experiences very thoroughly. After that interview I was scheduled for an in-person presentation/interview. That's where it got challenging. I had to put together a presentation (mini-business plan) and present to a panel of 5 for 45-minutes; 15-mins more for questions. Then it was one-on-one interviews with each of the five people in the panel for 30 minutes each, all back-to-back. The panel consisted of two respective department heads and their staff that I would be working alongside and/or coordinating with.
Throughout the entire process, everyone at SunPower was extremely professional, courteous, and timely. All appointments and calls were on-time. The only delay I received was in the final decision process to extend an offer or not -- the process was delayed about a week while they deliberated.
The Richmond office is a beautifully modern glass-roofed brick warehouse type building. The employees were in open spaces and dressed in jeans/pants and casual shirts (some in more business-casual). Although I was in a suit for the on-site interviews, I was told the casual business attire is standard fare at that office. The HQ office in SoCal is said to be much more corporate in appearance and dress code.
I applied through an employee referral. The process took 1 day. I interviewed at SunPower in Nov 2009
Interview
Phone interview with internal recruiter followed up by several in person interviews. Made a presentation on what I planned to accomplish in the first 90 days. Very pleasant experience and a company that I would have enjoyed to work for. The sales cycles are long, similar to Enterprise deals so I believe my sales experience with many products with an average 90-120 day sales cycle hurt me.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What me through in detail an average deal you do today step by step.
Sales Executive applicants have rated the interview process at SunPower with 3.5 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty) and assessed their interview experience as 100% positive. To compare, the company-average is 60.9% positive. This is according to Glassdoor user ratings.
Candidates applying for Sales Executive roles take an average of 18 days to get hired, when considering 2 user submitted interviews for this role. To compare, the hiring process at SunPower overall takes an average of 29 days.
Common stages of the interview process at SunPower as a Sales Executive according to 2 Glassdoor interviews include:
Phone interview: 25%
Group panel interview: 25%
Presentation: 25%
One on one interview: 25%
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