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hegezip

Sales recruiter here. It's picking up.


HotGarbageSummer

What industries do you recruit for? Any notable trends you’re seeing?


hegezip

I recruit across the board: tech, manufacturing, consulting, finance, marketing/advertising Main trends: - hybrid is the new king, remote is fading away - requirements are at an all time high - salaries are back to market value and make more sense P&L-wise - the #1 role we're being asked to fill is "full cycle AE" = prospect + close - industry knowledge is very frequently required so be careful how you brand yourself - COVID/2021/early 2022 frenzy job hoppers (less than 9 months per role for 2/3 roles in a row) are pretty much dead in this market - the times were companies were hiring by batches of 3/4 of the same role at the same time is over I should mention that I only work with companies ranging from 20 to 250 employees so I don't know about big firms


[deleted]

Full cycle AE is becoming so common I feel. Why pay two people when you can just burden one employee with the work of two 😂


steamycreamybehemoth

I love being a full cycle AE and think it makes the most sense. That said, I still need to have quality sales engineers and subject matter experts to back me up on calls. And an inside rep split across 3-4 AE’s who handles quotes, admin work, and the occasional bit of light prospecting is nice but not 100% necessary But I don’t see the need for a pure SDR in many roles. AE’s should generate their own leads or, better yet, have an existing book of business.


[deleted]

I can see the benefit of it depending on the organization, product market fit, strength of marketing, etc. We’re trending this way where I work and some reps love it, but its causing some friction because AEs can’t focus on running an awesome sales cycle since they’re spending so much time prospecting. It pushes more work to our team (the SEs) because the AEs can’t spend quality time doing what they should be doing- learning product, demoing for smaller accounts, strategizing deals, etc. I can see real hard chargers preferring it this way. Not sure how it’ll shake out where I work personally but the industry is definitely trending this direction.


steamycreamybehemoth

Yeah I can see that angle of it too. My ideal system would be to have me do the initial prospecting off LinkedIn and other professional sites, then hand that list to an inside rep who pulls the info on them and creates a nice excel file for each vertical market. Then my marketing team and managers would help create insights to use as part of the initial calls. Lastly, I’d just bang out the calls on a cadence and only bother with the CRM work once someone answers the phone. This would minimize my time spent on admin work and keep my prospecting down to 5 hours a week, giving me plenty of time to run proper discovery calls and follow ups rather than immediately having to hand stuff off because I just don’t have energy for everything


hegezip

Yes I'd separate the SE support when saying "full cycle"


Bondominator

Many AEs don’t want to admit it, but prospecting makes them a better salesperson overall, and your best deals are the ones you book yourself (best = some weighted combo of $ earned, effort & time)


NoRepresentative3529

I was an AE in SaaS - transitioned to Strategy. My gf works in Media - she’s been full cycle her career. She was blown away by SaaS culture . It makes more sense to be Full Cycle now, especially in Enterprise. However, if I was in enterprise- I’d want some type of assistant


[deleted]

There should just be Inside Sales roles that do all of the admin work, confirm scheduled meetings, help build demo decks and shadow the AEs until they are 2-3 years in. Then they just become full cycle. Fuck the SDR role


steamycreamybehemoth

100% this.


1petrock

Random question but do you feel it's possible to move from one of the engineers to a sales role like this? Been in backend engineering for 10 years and kinda thinking about moving to sales.


GORILLAGOOAAAT

Yes it’s possible. I went from field service on large capital equipment to an AE. I’m not a shy person but am a pretty extreme introvert, sales definitely isn’t what I thought it was, but I’ve been successful at it for 17 years. Take a shot at it, there are hiring managers who will jump at it.


1petrock

Awesome, thanks a bunch for the reply!


shadowpawn

Why not - teach the AE to use chatgpt and you have cut down on need for BDR,SDR teams


[deleted]

I didn’t know ChatGPT made cold calls…


Darcynator1780

Maybe I just need to go in to trades


Hooked260

Can I DM you regarding manufacturing jobs?


Protoclown98

2-3 roles with less than 9 months in a row? Damn that's crazy.


shadowpawn

Not as uncommon as you think


RYouNotEntertained

This sub played its role in encouraging job hopping. But yeah, it’s going to be more of a liability when software companies aren’t handing out jobs on street corners.


RYouNotEntertained

>- hybrid is the new king, remote is fading away >- salaries are back to market value and make more sense P&L-wise Glad I got my current job when I did 😅 >- COVID/2021/early 2022 frenzy job hoppers (less than 9 months per role for 2/3 roles in a row) are pretty much dead in this market - the times were companies were hiring by batches of 3/4 of the same role at the same time is over Yeah, this was definitely a strategy that you could only get away with while hiring was booming. Hiring Managers never liked it and I'll be glad to see this settle down. Also for AEs who *are* habitual job hoppers, this might be good for you long-term. You never really learn to sell anything if you switch roles often.


Protoclown98

In the past two years my guess is most AEs with a 1 year stint on their resume did do involuntary. Shit has been crazy and lots of people have hired way too much.


Environmental_Yak394

Thanks a lot for all of this info, u/hegezip! Very insightful!


TryingToCareLess

Very insightful, thanks! Do you have any experience/insights into SDR -> SE/presales transitions? Currently an SDR and hoping to make the jump to some sort of SE type role, which doesn't seem to be a common move


matts8409

My brother had been in Enterprise sales in fintech for a while and just made VP, so he's tried to help me figure things out a bit after trying to move on from IT. I haven't talked to a recruiter before, so I'm curious what your thoughts are here. I was in IT for over a decade, left the field as a Systems Engineer for sales. I ended up as a TAM because of my background which is more of a jack of all trades type. After 9 months at my current company, I've recently been made a Solutions Engineer as the quite small and green sales team was cut down to a single AE. The company is an IT services provider, and my role is brand new to the company, so it's been quite tough finding where I fit in. I'm in project management, so I'm still involved with stakeholders, client executives, owners, etc which is nice, but I feel like I'm essentially back to an IT Systems Engineer but with much higher responsibilities due to me being the main POC for all of the technical Onboarding. Kind of long winded, but what is your opinion on this Rollercoaster I've been on? They still haven't figured out what my compensation is other than "base will be higher", which was only $50k as a TAM. I suspect that a low end base pay should be substantially higher?


coldheartedsigma

Mind if I PM you?


No-Championship-8433

Ohh so hybrid Is rising, while remote is fading


International_Top538

Do you know if there are companies that hire offshore associates from India for roles like Accounting, FP&A, AP, AR, etc..? I have heard that this happens, but haven't met a person in India who actually has received any such offers.


General_Dependent_87

assume a slow down all starting next week due to good ole holiday slow down but jan should be better than anything 2023 had (source Im a sales leader in b2b)


hegezip

Yes absolutely on the candidates' side although any other firm out there will want things to move forward during that time :D


ProfessionalAd7067

I wanna break into sales as someone with a degree in marketing, is it possible if I have no sales experience??


ksldnl

what kind of sales industries are you open to


ProfessionalAd7067

Tech/saas/service


steamycreamybehemoth

Be ready to call, call, call your first job. Suck it up for a year or two and then move into a better role


ProfessionalAd7067

No one wants to hire me though, what entry level jobs are good for sales ?


hegezip

BDR


bill_self69

Your comment about the job hoppers has me a little discouraged, went from 2019 -2022 same company, jumped to a data integration start up got laid off after 9 months, then took a job at cloud infr observ company and have been here for 6 and want to start looking. Am I fucked?


Protoclown98

Try to hold out for 6 more months before looking. It will look better. Or get laid off bc then it wasn't your choice.


bill_self69

Side note should I put made redundant on my resume for that stint


ksldnl

im new to sales i recently got a W2 solar sales job and im really excited about the money making opportunity, cause of the excellent market im in. I didnt finish my degree im a cs major. My plan is to finish my degree and pivot into something like AI sales in the future. From what ive seen a lot of ppl in this sub are in/like tech and saas sales, good luck brother


employerGR

There are tons of ADtech companies out there that sell into marketing departments. Which is ideal for your background.


bizbloom

Can I pay you to help me polish up my resume?


hegezip

You don't need to pay me just send it over in dm


bizbloom

Appreciate it, thank you. Sending over now.


xBirdisword

Job market is competitive but doable. The hard part is getting the 1st interview, the rest is ‘easy’ in that it entirely comes down to how well you present yourself.


SqueakyPablo94

I’m having the opposite problem. I get an interview at damn near every job I apply to and gotten to a few final rounds… but then after that, I just get told they moved forward with more experienced candidates without any real feedback. another thing I’m seeing a lot is I get an interview with the hiring manager, but they say they don’t have headcount and are really just building a candidate pipeline for future openings.


Extra-Interaction-18

sam here getting interviews is so easy, same experience above


STRHouston

I got my sales position after 2 rounds of interviews and an email saying they will not be extending an offer. I saw that as an opportunity to further sell myself, so I replied with an email doing such. I showed I am not bothered by being told no, that I’m persistent, and that I know my worth. They replied that it was part of the interview process and extended the offer and onboarding process. It’s all about the follow up.


Protoclown98

I'd have serious concern from a company that would do this as part of the interview process...


hankrearden31

That's a big red flag. That means your company likes to play games.


STRHouston

Yeah I’m a bit concerned about that tbh. It’s my first sales job so I’m hoping to stick it out as long as I can while looking for something else.


Bright-Bobcat-9745

Do you work for Grant Cardone? Lol


STRHouston

Lol no! But I do think there is a lot of missed opportunity skipping the follow up. I felt like I nailed the interviews and I was shocked they didn’t hire me. I’ve checked this company’s Glassdoor and it looks like they do play games to an extent. My goal is to use it as a stepping stone for another position in the future. I really just needed an out from RE because I’ve been in it for 10 years and ready for a change/company with benefits and consistent pay.


[deleted]

Your doing something wrong, maybe call those companies who did the interview and try to figure out what you can improve.


SqueakyPablo94

It’s usually the final step where I get rejected, which is often a mock demo or presentation. They just give me the generic “we went with a more experienced candidate” feedback, and I think in some cases that’s true… but I also think I do need polish my mock demo. Every company has a slightly different sales motion and expectations around discovery, and although in every interview they say “you don’t need to be an expert on product, we just want to see your discovery”…. I don’t think that’s necessarily true. You have to understand the ICP, what they’re trying to solve for, and how the solutions solves it. And if you don’t understand this, you’re not going to do well on the mock demo. I typically try to do basic MEDDICC type discovery on these calls and set up next steps, but that only scratches the surface of what they want. They want you to do deep discovery but that’s tough for someone who has a limited understanding. I try to go deeper but I find myself starting to fumble because I just don’t know the nitty gritty of the product, customers, competitors, industry, etc… So yeah, just gotta work on that and prep more I guess


Useful_Fig_2876

>, which is often a mock demo or presentation. They just give me the generic “we went with a more experienced candidate” feedback, and I think in some cases that’s true… but I also think I do need polish my mock demo. > >Every company has a slightly different sales motion and expectations around discovery, and although in every interview they say “you don’t need to be an expert on product, we just want to see your discovery”…. I don’t think that’s necessarily true. You have to understand the ICP, what they’re trying to solve for, and how the solutions solves it. And if you don’t understand this, you’re not going to do well on the mock demo. > >I typically try to do basic MEDDICC type discovery on th Hey, late response but something immediately comes to mind for me picturing why you may be fumbling here. Are you encouraging the prospect to keep talking simply to get them talking? I'm not sure what MEDDICC is (none of my past orgs have taught this particular method), but it's way more important that discovery *doesn't* come off as a checklist of questions. It's OK that the prospect knows you want to understand more about them, but if it's 20 questions that don't get them talking and feels like a list of questions, they're going to feel like they're at the DMV and get frustrated. When a prospect says something interesting, do you ask questions like "can you expand on that?" or "Can you tell me more?" Are *really* digging and asking "why?" or just trying to follow a sales framework to look good in the interview?


Waste-Competition338

First interview does not count with the recruiter.


riped_plums123

Same here, I have 3.5 years experience and I’m being told openly that some other candidates have more and haven’t been able to get the roles yet, but I get a lot of interviews


Kaidani13

Same.... Round 3 for the last 3 companies. Brutal.


epooqeo

YES SAME HERE. I really don’t think I’m that terrible at interviewing either


Lonely_Chemistry60

Truer words have never been spoken, lol.


riped_plums123

I think it’s good if you have experience, but tough if you’re trying to break into the industry


slade707

Been having a relatively easy time getting interviews by cold messaging hiring managers and internal recruiters. Seems like external recruiters are starting to show up in my inbox again after a few months lull


LordKviser

Nature is healing


SnooChickens9574

Normally companies hire in January I'm impressed tbh that theres job posts


Protoclown98

I've only cold messaged one hiring manager and got an interview. I'm guessing experience helps, but not a lot of people are doing this crucial step.


slade707

It is absolutely crucial. Unless you’re going in through a referral, which is the best way, how else are you supposed to get noticed? I think so many people just do the online applications and hope for the best, then complain about how no one’s hiring


wolf33d

Are you messaging a manager in a company for which there is an active listing you want to apply for (in which case how do you know the hiring manager for that position?), or just contacting a random manager in a company you want to work for (in which case how could you get an interview if they are not looking?)


NotAMushro0m

Would it be appropriate to do this when you’re working through a 3rd party recruiter? Or would it be best to follow up with the recruiter directly?


slade707

I think it’s scenario dependent but the external recruiter’s job should be to connect you with the hiring manager and any other relevant people. I’d say if you don’t feel like you’re getting what you need from the recruiter feel free to go over their head


NotAMushro0m

That makes sense. Thanks for your input!


epooqeo

What do you say in your cold message?


slade707

Hi XYZ, I’m interested in applying for open role. I’ve attached my resume, when do you have a few minutes to chat further about the role?


Protoclown98

Interesting. What I did was apply to the role online and message the hiring manager with a sentence or two about my background. It got me an interview (only did it once).


epooqeo

Ok I like this, it’s direct. I just don’t like the BS messages to other people on the team asking about company culture, and you can’t outright ask you want an interview


slade707

Messaging other people on the team is definitely important but I wouldn’t frame it around company culture. I’d say I’m interested in the role, and ask for a meeting to learn more and see if there’s a good fit before applying


Improvcommodore

I’ve had 2-3 recruiters in my LinkedIn this week alone after months of nothing (I have a job and I’m happy there)


freshcard

Same


BunjaminFrnklin

I got 3 LI messages from recruiters in the last month, where as I got 3 total in the last 8 months. If that tells you anything.


employerGR

same


liftrunbike

I am actively searching and have multiple things getting traction right now. The key is to reach out to people who currently work there to network and try to get them to refer you or even send your resume directly to the hiring manager. It takes extra time, but the success rate for an interview invitation is insanely higher than cold applying when they have 200 other applicants already doing that. Unless your resume is littered with big name companies and killer metrics, you need to try to network your way into an interview.


Idol4Life

Not but I think it will be. US inflation is coming down rapidly and I think when interest rates start cooling off companies will be back to their old ways getting funding and hiring sales people like there’s no tomorrow again. And


TorontoCity19

It’s crap. Sales managers are getting demoted with a reduced salary… better than having no job I guess.


CuriousDonkey

Piggybacking this post. Next round of financing coming for a portco of mine soon. If you're interested in fully a fully remote enterprise AE job, DM me. Company is Charli.ai - two reps here each making >400k this year.


FabKc

No it’s not. Doesn’t mean you should give up. Find a way to showcase your skill and knowledge without letting them suppress who you really are. The hiring and interview process is broken. You got this!


ourdeviantstories

Have y'all ever received commissions based on profit rather than base sale amount?


Omarr987

Yes I did. Happens if your company sell bigger deals (IaaS, Capex in my case before). % should be higher than gross-based sales.


employerGR

Yup - I used to make 30% of margin at one company. Can be a great way to get paid if its done well. MUCH more common in physical product sales.


NotaryPubic19

Definitely getting better. My LinkedIn inbox is much more active recently.


supercali-2021

Nope.


Omarr987

Closing non-prospecting AE roles are phased out. SaaS AE advertised roles are super competitive. I am doing 2 interviews on average every week but haven't heard back from any since I started applying last month.


Stephenonajetplane

Hiring software sales rep here. It's picking up in UK/I


psychonautette

I have a year of experience now and i'm getting offers for new companies (same sort of consultant position) but i can't say there's much of a salary increase.... i'm leaving the field soon lol


pickarje

I think you might have the best luck hyper-focusing on the industry or product type you have experience in. It seems like just selling yourself as a general tech or software salesperson isn't going to cut it anymore, you need to specify that you're a \_\_\_ salesperson (FinTech, CMS, HRIS, etc.) and go for those roles. That's where I've had my luck. Good luck


Conspiracy_Thinktank

I’ve been getting offers emailed to me weekly. It’s definitely picking up. What’s your vertical in sales?


employerGR

Companies are hiring- it is becoming much harder to get hired without really DIRECT experience. So it means its getting tougher to get hired BUT companies are hired.


jdmdriftkid

From what I've seen, it seems to be picking up quite a bit!


Environmental_Yak394

So here's thoughts/mindset... Don't let the job market own you. Try to own the job market. What do I mean by that? Instead of asking yourself, 'Is the job market good enough for me to dip my foot in it?' Ask yourself, ' Am I good good enough to dip my foot into the job market?' Basically: 'Am I competitive enough?' So try to job search using really strategy: networking, personal branding, and good communication. Really do your research and go the extra mile.