60 days, 200+ apps, 1 offer $100k SDR role

I spent the last 2 months trying to get a tech sales job here is what worked and what didn't work for me.

Stats

Well over 200 apps, 20+ interviews, 5 final round interviews, 1 offer. AI start-up $100k total pay, not OTE. The OTE (commission structure) will kick in soon, once the management starts putting everything into place.

What worked

• Using AI tools to customize applications for each job post
• Doing mass cold outreach to recruiters on Linkedin landed me over 10 interviews
• Doing interview prep A LOT with other people, getting friends to ask me questions and answering questions in the STAR format, working on being super specific and concise and quantifiable
• Working on my CV every single day, getting friends, family and connections to review it and making changes DAILY to improve stats, layout, structure, job titles, etc
• Going all in on 10 top companies that I liked, and doing prep for multiple days for each interview
• Following up with everyone after each interview via email and LinkedIn
• Asking for the job at the end of each call, thanking people for their time, asking for advice, summarizing there advice and feedback to show that I listened
• Top job sites that I found are - Otta, Startup jobs, Remote Jobs, and recruiters. Indeed waste of time, LinkedIn mostly waste of time and any other generic job site a complete waste of time. Don't bother.
• Using Glassdoor for everything

What didn't work

• Generic online apps WITHOUT customizing my CV using an AI tool for each job posting
• Applying on LinkedIn jobs
• Asking current employees for referrals, was a complete waste of time for me, I am sure it would work for some people here
• Doing generic high-level interview prep

Happy to dive deeper into any of these topics, I am happy to help some people out as I KNOW how painful this whole process is.

- Final advice put all your effort into getting a job in AI, don't bother with anything else. Pay is much higher, the growth is much faster, and it will take over the whole world very very soon.

- Also don't settle for a shitty paying role either, you can 100% find roles that can pay you more, much more with enough effort, I had AE interviews that were paying less then $100k much less even, SDR interviews that were paying in the $50k range but I knew that I could get the $100k+ offers if I put more effort in. THINK BIG boys.