Interview Preparation

Switch Mobility: Interview Preparation For Sales & Marketing (Campus Hire) Role

Switch Mobility: Interview Preparation For Sales & Marketing (Campus Hire) Role

Switch Mobility is a next-generation electric bus and light commercial vehicle company created from the EV expertise of Ashok Leyland and Optare. With a mission to enrich lives through green mobility, the company blends a century of engineering heritage with modern EV technology to deliver zero-emission transportation solutions.

Switch Mobility Automotive Limited set up its India operations in November 2020 and is developing India as a global manufacturing hub, serving markets across India, the UK, and beyond. In a sector propelled by policies such as FAME II and growing urban sustainability mandates, Switch is positioned at the forefront of electrified mass mobility and fleet decarbonisation.

This comprehensive guide provides essential insights into the Sales & Marketing (Campus Hire) at Switch Mobility, covering required skills, responsibilities, interview questions, and preparation strategies to help aspiring candidates succeed.


1. About the Sales & Marketing (Campus Hire) Role

The Sales & Marketing (Campus Hire) role at Switch Mobility contributes directly to the company’s growth engine by building a robust funnel of B2B and B2C opportunities, nurturing partner ecosystems, and supporting channel expansion. Core responsibilities include developing and maintaining a network of business partners and dealerships, executing micro and macro marketing strategies, and running targeted lead generation aligned to client requirements. The role also involves mapping customer needs, pitching solutions, and supporting conversion across priority segments such as public transport undertakings, corporate fleets, and last-mile logistics.

Positioned at the intersection of market development and product feedback, this role collaborates with senior sales leaders, product managers, and service teams to translate market insights into actionable plans. By cultivating industry contacts, tracking market trends, and channeling feedback for product improvements and new product development, campus hires help strengthen Switch’s competitive edge. Their work ensures dealership readiness, consistent brand messaging, and measurable pipeline progress—critical to scaling zero-emission mobility across regions.


2. Required Skills and Qualifications

To thrive in this role, candidates should bring a strong academic foundation, analytical capability, and communication skills, along with a results-oriented, collaborative mindset. The following categories summarise what Switch Mobility typically looks for in campus hires.

Educational Qualifications

  • Mandatory: An MBA from an accredited institution.
  • Mandatory: A Master in Engineering (M.E)/Master in Technology (M.Tech) in Mechanical, EEE, ECE, Power Electronics, or IT.

Key Competencies

  • Communication Skills: Good communication skills.
  • Teamwork: Demonstrated team working ability.
  • Self-Motivation & Learning: Self-motivated to learn and contribute, with an urge for knowledge.
  • Application-Oriented Approach: A practical, application-oriented approach to work.

Technical Skills

  • Sales & Marketing Strategy: Ability to develop marketing strategy at micro and macro levels and execute B2B lead generation and sales.
  • Business Development: Skill in developing and maintaining a network of business partners and setting up new dealership networks.
  • Market & Product Knowledge: Deep understanding of market trends, product, and industry knowledge to support product improvements and new product development.
  • Digital Proficiency: Tech savviness, proficiency in Advanced Excel, and good presentation skills.
  • Industry Knowledge: A certification program on EV is considered a "nice to have" skill.

3. Day-to-Day Responsibilities

The role blends fieldwork, stakeholder engagement, and analytical activities that drive pipeline creation and market development. The following tasks illustrate a typical week for a Sales & Marketing campus hire at Switch Mobility.

  • Business Development and Network Management: Develop and maintain a network of Business Partners to assist with lead generation and sales. This includes setting up new dealership networks across different markets and developing contacts within the industry and with potential clients.
  • Marketing Strategy and Execution: Develop marketing strategies at both micro and macro levels. Execute B2B and B2C marketing initiatives, including digital marketing, to promote the company's electric buses and light commercial vehicles (eLCVs).
  • Sales and Client Engagement: Execute B2B lead generation and sales by developing a strong understanding of client requirements. Manage tendering, institutional sales, private sales, and export activities to drive commercial success.
  • Product and Market Intelligence: Develop deep product and industry knowledge to support product improvements and new product development. Use an understanding of market trends and competitive strategy to inform business decisions.

4. Key Competencies for Success

Successful campus hires blend commercial rigour with curiosity about EV technology and a service mindset. The competencies below consistently differentiate high performers.

  • Customer-Centric Discovery: Ability to ask the right questions, uncover decision criteria, and tailor proposals to business outcomes and TCO.
  • Data-Driven Decision Making: Use of CRM and spreadsheet analytics to prioritise accounts, forecast accurately, and optimise campaign ROI.
  • Channel Building: Structured approach to identifying, onboarding, and enabling partners to extend reach and accelerate conversions.
  • Cross-Functional Collaboration: Coordinating with product, engineering, and service teams to ensure solution fit and delivery readiness.
  • Resilience and Ownership: Staying organised through long enterprise cycles, following through on actions, and taking accountability for outcomes.

5. Common Interview Questions

This section provides a selection of common interview questions to help candidates prepare effectively for their Sales & Marketing (Campus Hire) interview at Switch Mobility.

General & Behavioral Questions
Tell us about yourself and why you are interested in Switch Mobility.

Connect your background to green mobility, impact-driven work, and the EV bus/LCV space.

What motivates you to work in sales and marketing?

Highlight customer impact, problem-solving, and measurable outcomes like pipeline and revenue.

Describe a time you worked in a team to achieve a target.

Use STAR; emphasise collaboration, communication, and accountability.

How do you handle rejection or a lost deal?

Show resilience, learning mindset, root-cause analysis, and next-step planning.

Give an example of taking initiative without being asked.

Demonstrate ownership and application-oriented thinking.

How do you prioritise tasks when deadlines collide?

Explain frameworks (impact vs. effort), stakeholder alignment, and calendar discipline.

Describe a presentation you delivered that influenced a decision.

Cover audience analysis, storyline, data, and the decision outcome.

What is your approach to learning about a new industry quickly?

Mention primary/secondary research, expert calls, and structured note-taking.

How do you build trust with new stakeholders?

Active listening, reliability, clear follow-ups, and value-adding insights.

Where do you see yourself growing within Switch Mobility?

Show openness to channel, enterprise, or marketing specialisations aligned to business needs.

Prepare 2–3 concise STAR stories showing teamwork, ownership, and communication excellence.

Technical and Industry-Specific Questions
Explain the total cost of ownership (TCO) factors for electric buses.

Discuss acquisition cost, energy cost, maintenance, battery life, incentives, and utilisation.

What policy drivers are accelerating EV adoption in India?

Reference FAME II incentives, state EV policies, and procurement by public transport undertakings.

How would you differentiate Switch Mobility’s value proposition to a fleet operator?

Highlight zero-emission operation, lifecycle economics, reliability, and service ecosystem.

What charging strategies are relevant for bus depots?

Overnight depot charging, opportunity charging, power availability, and route scheduling.

Describe a basic B2B sales funnel and key conversion metrics.

Stages from lead to qualification, proposal, pilot, and close; track conversion and cycle time.

How do you assess a micro-market for dealership setup?

Evaluate demand, competition, policy, infrastructure, and partner capability/readiness.

Which metrics would you use to evaluate a marketing campaign?

Impressions, CTR, MQLs, SQLs, CAC, pipeline contribution, and win rate uplift.

What are common objections to EV adoption and how would you address them?

Tackle range, charging downtime, battery life, and cost with data, pilots, and TCO models.

How does product feedback from customers influence roadmaps?

Translate use-cases into requirements; prioritise by impact and feasibility with product teams.

Outline the basics of CRM hygiene for pipeline accuracy.

Timely updates, stage definitions, next steps, owner accountability, and data completeness.

Anchor answers in real metrics and EV concepts; keep explanations concise and structured.

Problem-Solving and Situation-Based Questions
A prospect is unsure about depot power availability. How do you proceed?

Coordinate a site assessment with technical teams and propose phased or opportunity charging.

Two key partners want exclusivity in the same territory. What do you do?

Assess performance, potential, and coverage; propose clear KPIs or differentiated sub-territories.

Your campaign delivered leads but low SQL conversion. Diagnosis?

Check targeting, qualification criteria, messaging, and handoff; A/B test and retrain SDRs.

A competitor undercuts price. How do you defend value?

Shift to lifecycle TCO, reliability, service, and financing options; provide proof via pilots/case data.

A public tender has tight specs misaligned with your solution. Next steps?

Seek clarifications, propose compliant alternatives, and engage early for future tender design.

Deal cycle is stalling after demo. How do you re-energise it?

Identify stakeholder map, missing proof points, and define a time-bound pilot with success metrics.

Channel partner is not meeting targets. What is your enablement plan?

Run capability gap analysis, training, joint calls, and performance-linked plans or exit criteria.

Customer raises concern about battery life degradation.

Share warranty terms, cycle data, charging best practices, and residual value or repowering options.

You have conflicting requests from sales and product teams.

Clarify business priority, quantify impact, and align on a sequence with transparent timelines.

How would you plan a city-level EV awareness event?

Define audience, partners, venue logistics, demo routes, PR plan, KPIs, and follow-up cadence.

In scenario questions, state assumptions, list options, pick one with trade-offs, and define clear next steps.

Resume and Role-Specific Questions
Walk us through a project where you generated leads or demand.

Quantify targets, channels used, conversion, and learnings.

Which courses or certifications prepare you for EV sales/marketing?

Mention EV fundamentals, Excel/analytics, CRM, and any industry-recognised programs.

How have you used Excel to analyse data for decisions?

Share examples of pivots, lookups, and dashboards driving actions.

Describe your experience presenting to senior stakeholders.

Focus on structure, clarity, visualisation, and outcomes.

What attracts you to channel/dealership development?

Discuss scale, local market insight, enablement, and performance management.

How would you approach your first 90 days in this role?

Onboard fast, map accounts/partners, build pipeline, and establish a reporting cadence.

Which Switch Mobility customer segments interest you most and why?

Tie rationale to problem severity, readiness, and strategic fit.

Share an instance where you converted insights into a product suggestion.

Explain insight source, requirement, impact, and how you prioritised it.

How do you ensure CRM discipline day-to-day?

Daily updates, next steps logged, and weekly hygiene reviews with dashboards.

What unique value would you bring to Switch Mobility?

Combine domain curiosity, data fluency, partner empathy, and execution speed.

Customise examples from your resume to Switch’s priorities: partners, B2B sales, and market development.


6. Common Topics and Areas of Focus for Interview Preparation

To excel in your Sales & Marketing (Campus Hire) role at Switch Mobility, it’s essential to focus on the following areas. These topics highlight the key responsibilities and expectations, preparing you to discuss your skills and experiences in a way that aligns with Switch Mobility objectives.

  • EV Fundamentals and TCO: Understand battery basics, charging, range, duty cycles, and TCO levers to speak the customer’s language and justify ROI.
  • B2B Sales Process and CRM Discipline: Be fluent in lead qualification, stakeholder mapping, pilots, proposals, and maintaining accurate pipeline stages.
  • Channel and Dealership Enablement: Learn how partner selection, onboarding, training, and KPIs drive scalable market access.
  • Marketing Strategy and Measurement: Prepare to design micro-market campaigns with clear KPIs (MQLs, SQLs, CAC, pipeline contribution).
  • Policy and Market Landscape: Track FAME II, state EV policies, and competitive positioning to anticipate buyer constraints and opportunities.

7. Perks and Benefits of Working at Switch Mobility

Switch Mobility offers a comprehensive package of benefits to support the well-being, professional growth, and satisfaction of its employees. Here are some of the key perks you can expect

  • Mission-Driven Impact: Contribute to zero-emission public transport and sustainable urban mobility at scale.
  • Learning and Mentorship: Work with experienced sales leaders and engineers, gaining exposure to both commercial and technical aspects of EVs.
  • Cross-Functional Exposure: Collaborate with product, service, and operations teams to deliver end-to-end solutions.
  • Career Growth in a High-Growth Sector: Build capabilities in B2B sales, channel development, and marketing within a rapidly expanding EV ecosystem.
  • Global Perspective: Engage with practices and standards across multiple markets as India emerges as a manufacturing hub.

8. Conclusion

The Sales & Marketing (Campus Hire) role at Switch Mobility places you at the heart of India’s EV transition, blending market development with product and partner collaboration. Success demands strong discovery skills, data-driven decision making, channel-building capability, and crisp communication.

Focus on EV fundamentals, B2B processes, CRM hygiene, and micro-market strategy to present yourself as a ready contributor from day one. For candidates who are motivated by impact and growth, Switch offers a mission-led environment and the chance to help scale zero-emission mobility across regions—making it an excellent launchpad for a career in modern, sustainable transportation.

Tips for Interview Success:

  • Quantify Your Impact: Bring numbers for lead gen, conversion, or campaign outcomes; link them to business results.
  • Show EV Literacy: Be ready to explain TCO, charging strategies, and policy drivers like FAME II in simple terms.
  • Demonstrate CRM Discipline: Walk through how you manage stages, next steps, and dashboards to forecast accurately.
  • Think Channel-First: Prepare a short plan for assessing and enabling a potential dealership or partner in a city.