Essential Work Sample Exercises for Hiring Top Technical Account Managers

Technical Account Managers (TAMs) serve as the critical bridge between your company's technical capabilities and your clients' business needs. They must possess a unique blend of technical expertise, relationship management skills, and business acumen to ensure client success and retention. The effectiveness of your TAMs directly impacts customer satisfaction, renewal rates, and ultimately, your company's bottom line.

Traditional interviews often fail to reveal how candidates will perform in real-world scenarios that TAMs face daily. While resumes and behavioral questions provide some insight, they don't demonstrate how candidates will handle complex client issues, communicate technical concepts, or manage competing priorities under pressure.

Work sample exercises offer a window into candidates' actual capabilities by simulating the challenges they'll encounter on the job. By observing candidates in action, you can assess their technical knowledge, problem-solving approach, communication style, and client management skills in context. This approach significantly reduces the risk of hiring someone who interviews well but struggles to perform.

The following four exercises are designed to evaluate the core competencies required for Technical Account Manager success. Each activity simulates a different aspect of the role, allowing you to comprehensively assess candidates' readiness. By implementing these exercises in your hiring process, you'll be able to identify candidates who not only understand the technical aspects of your product but can also build strong client relationships and drive adoption and retention.

Activity #1: Client Issue Resolution Simulation

This exercise evaluates a candidate's ability to troubleshoot technical issues while maintaining a positive client relationship. Technical Account Managers must regularly diagnose problems, coordinate with internal teams, and communicate solutions effectively to clients. This simulation tests technical knowledge, problem-solving skills, and client communication under pressure.

Directions for the Company:

• Create a realistic scenario involving a client experiencing a technical issue with your product or service.
• Provide the candidate with background information about the client, their implementation, and the reported problem.
• Have an interviewer role-play as the frustrated client.
• Allow 20-30 minutes for the exercise, including preparation time.
• Prepare technical documentation or resources that the candidate might need to reference.

Directions for the Candidate:

• Review the client background and issue description provided.
• Engage with the "client" (interviewer) to gather additional information about the problem.
• Diagnose the potential causes of the issue.
• Explain the problem and proposed solution in client-friendly terms.
• Outline next steps and any preventative measures to avoid similar issues.

Feedback Mechanism:

• After the exercise, provide feedback on one aspect the candidate handled well (e.g., technical diagnosis, clear explanation, empathy with client).
• Offer one area for improvement (e.g., asking more diagnostic questions, simplifying technical explanations).
• Give the candidate 5 minutes to reflect and explain how they would approach the situation differently with the feedback in mind.

Activity #2: Technical Knowledge Demonstration

This exercise assesses the candidate's ability to understand and explain your product's technical aspects. TAMs must be able to translate complex technical concepts into business value for clients of varying technical backgrounds. This demonstration evaluates technical knowledge, communication skills, and the ability to connect features to client outcomes.

Directions for the Company:

• Select a technical feature or component of your product that TAMs regularly discuss with clients.
• Provide the candidate with basic technical documentation about this feature.
• Assign two interviewers: one to play a technical stakeholder and another to play a non-technical business stakeholder.
• Allow 15-20 minutes for the exercise, including 10 minutes of preparation time.

Directions for the Candidate:

• Review the technical documentation provided.
• Prepare two explanations of the same feature: one for a technical audience and one for a business audience.
• Present the technical explanation to the "technical stakeholder."
• Present the business-focused explanation to the "non-technical stakeholder."
• Be prepared to answer questions from both perspectives.

Feedback Mechanism:

• Provide feedback on what the candidate did well in tailoring their communication to different audiences.
• Offer one suggestion for improvement (e.g., using more analogies for the non-technical explanation, providing more technical depth for the technical audience).
• Ask the candidate to revise one of their explanations incorporating the feedback.

Activity #3: Client Onboarding and Success Planning

This exercise evaluates the candidate's ability to develop strategic plans for client success. TAMs must be able to understand client objectives, map them to product capabilities, and create implementation plans that drive adoption and value realization. This activity tests strategic thinking, project management, and client success orientation.

Directions for the Company:

• Create a fictional client profile including company information, business goals, technical environment, and key stakeholders.
• Provide information about your product's implementation process and typical timelines.
• Allow 45-60 minutes for this exercise, including preparation time.
• Provide templates or examples of onboarding plans if available.

Directions for the Candidate:

• Review the client profile and product implementation information.
• Create a 90-day onboarding and success plan that includes:
• Key milestones and timeline
• Risk identification and mitigation strategies
• Success metrics and measurement approach
• Stakeholder engagement strategy
• Present the plan as if to an internal team preparing for client kickoff.
• Be prepared to explain your rationale for prioritization decisions.

Feedback Mechanism:

• Provide feedback on a strength of the candidate's plan (e.g., thorough risk assessment, clear success metrics).
• Offer one area for improvement (e.g., more realistic timeline, additional stakeholder considerations).
• Ask the candidate to revise the specific portion of their plan that could be improved.

Activity #4: Cross-Functional Escalation Management

This exercise tests the candidate's ability to manage complex escalations involving multiple internal teams. TAMs often need to coordinate across engineering, product, support, and leadership to resolve critical client issues. This simulation evaluates prioritization skills, internal communication, and the ability to balance client and company needs.

Directions for the Company:

• Create a scenario where a strategic client is experiencing a critical issue requiring coordination across multiple teams.
• Provide background on the client's importance, the nature of the issue, and the teams involved.
• Have 2-3 interviewers role-play different internal stakeholders (e.g., engineering lead, product manager, support manager).
• Allow 30 minutes for the exercise, including preparation time.

Directions for the Candidate:

• Review the escalation scenario and stakeholder information.
• Prepare an escalation plan including:
• Issue prioritization and impact assessment
• Required resources and teams
• Communication plan for both internal teams and the client
• Timeline for resolution
• Conduct a mock escalation meeting with the internal stakeholders.
• Navigate competing priorities and negotiate for resources.

Feedback Mechanism:

• Provide feedback on what the candidate did well in managing the escalation (e.g., clear communication, effective prioritization).
• Offer one area for improvement (e.g., more assertiveness with engineering, clearer expectations setting).
• Ask the candidate to demonstrate how they would incorporate this feedback by redoing a portion of the escalation meeting.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long should we allocate for these work samples in our interview process?

Each exercise requires 30-60 minutes including preparation, execution, and feedback. We recommend selecting 1-2 exercises most relevant to your specific TAM role rather than conducting all four. Consider spreading them across different interview stages or combining complementary exercises in a longer interview session.

Should we provide candidates with preparation materials in advance?

For Activities #2 and #3, providing basic documentation or client profiles 24 hours in advance can yield more thoughtful responses and better reflects real-world conditions where TAMs have time to prepare. Activities #1 and #4 are better conducted without advance notice to assess how candidates handle unexpected situations.

How technical should these exercises be for our specific product?

Adjust the technical depth based on your product complexity and the level of technical expertise required in your TAM role. The exercises should be challenging enough to differentiate candidates but not so technical that they become engineering interviews rather than TAM assessments.

How do we evaluate candidates consistently across these exercises?

Create a scorecard for each exercise that rates specific competencies (e.g., technical knowledge, communication clarity, strategic thinking) on a defined scale. Have all interviewers use the same scorecard and conduct a calibration session with your team before implementing these exercises.

What if a candidate has no experience with our specific product?

These exercises are designed to test transferable skills rather than product-specific knowledge. Provide enough context about your product's purpose and functionality for candidates to demonstrate their approach. Focus evaluation on their process, questions, and problem-solving rather than specific product knowledge.

How should we adapt these for remote interviews?

All these exercises can be conducted via video conferencing. Use screen sharing for presentations, collaborative documents for planning exercises, and breakout rooms for role-plays. Consider providing slightly more preparation time for remote candidates to account for potential technology challenges.

The Technical Account Manager role requires a unique combination of technical expertise, client relationship skills, and strategic thinking. By incorporating these work samples into your hiring process, you'll be able to identify candidates who can truly excel in this multifaceted position. Remember that the best TAMs demonstrate not just knowledge, but adaptability, communication finesse, and a genuine passion for client success.

For more resources to improve your hiring process, check out Yardstick's AI Job Descriptions, AI Interview Question Generator, and AI Interview Guide Generator.

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