goldengophers21

Account Manager

Advice for College Students Jumping into SaaS Markets with this financial instability

Currently a college student that accepted an internship within a SaaS organization that is holding very strong in this market, even with all of the turmoil going on right now (Don't want to add more info as I do not want to dox myself). Still I would like to prepare myself for potential instability as I have many friends that are SDRs and interns that are starting to feel the heat of the fluctuations in the job market right now. Really looking into learning new strategies about how to safeguard my career and hopefully grow during this unstable time.

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Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Always budget off your base, not your OTE.
Work hard, don't slack, and learn the difference between meaningful activities and ones that don't build pipeline.
Shadow successful SDRs and AEs to refine your own practice.

Go Gophers!

antiASKHOLE

Tycoon

Bravado's Resident Asshole

idk about the Gophers, but I agree with everything else @Sunbunny31said

goldengophers21

Opinionated

Account Manager

Row the boat!

Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

Sales Rep

PJ rowing with some plastic surgery

goldengophers21

Opinionated

Account Manager

Lol looks like he is battling demons after that Penn State loss

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Ski-U-Mah!

goldengophers21

Opinionated

Account Manager

I appreciate it! What was your budgeting strategy when you were an SDR, was all of your commission considered income that should be put into savings/mutual funds?

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

I was never an SDR, but learned early on that I needed to survive on my base - don't splurge on things thinking that your OTE is always going to hit. Also payment dates on comp are typically not as steady and reliable as base. So you budget your expenses and things like travel, on your base. Don't assume your OTE is going to always be attained or consistent - budgeting on your base is a very good financial exercise that should keep you out of debt trouble.

That said, I contribute the max to 401(k), spread out into savings/funds, and I have also been putting money into 529s (which you could instead put into earmarked mutual funds once you have kids and if you're interested in contributing to their education). It isn't so much what you do with the commission money, it's that you don't use OTE to determine what rent/mortgage or car or weekends out you can afford.

I have used commission/bonus/equity on one time purchases (such as that car) but I bought those things AFTER the money hit my account.

jefe

Arsonist

🍁

Back in the day there wasn't really such a thing as an SDR.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Nope. And going even farther back in the day, my job didn't exist, because there was no internet. When I was in college, it was all dialup cradle modems and bbs. Nobody saw this coming!

jefe

Arsonist

🍁

Never stop learning. Work hard.

Also +1 for budget off your base.

Pachacuti

Politicker

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

No job is 100%. Job stability doesn’t exist.
It’s always been my POV that you need to be prepping for the You 5 years from now. Where do you reasonably want to be and how do you plan to get there.

If your internship is teaching you that SaaS is too unstable then maybe it’s not for you.

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

so the things that you should focus on is becoming really good at your job and the core sales skills that are transferable.

im assuming your internship is sales focused so what ever metrics you have to hit I would do everything you can to exceed them.

Then focus on the skills you are learning.
- can you find the right ppl to sell to on liked in
- do you know how to do effective cold out reach? (emails and calls)
- do you know how to run a discovery call?

if you can get good at these things, then you have skills that can transfer to a new gig if this one ends.

on the money side, make sure you budget off the base like everyone is saying and make sure you are saving money just put it in a savings account at the bank, you dont need to do anything fancy. but having money in the bank = freedom and flexibility which is SUPER important if you are leaving school soon.

goldengophers21

Opinionated

Account Manager

Appreciate the response, planning on soaking in as much information as I can, never thought about the financial aspect of sales comp. before which is really helpful!

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

you got it! keep us posted on how this goes. I dont know too many ppl that have had a sales internship. id be curious on your experience.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

Is this a paid internship?

punishedlad

Tycoon

Business Development Team Lead

@Sunbunny31Gives some great advice. My two cents is to just be cognizant of what's going on in the market/economy. Try to find an industry that seems to be weathering this storm/has historically weathered previous storms. It can definitely be nerve wracking to enter the job market in times like this.

commishcapo

Opinionated

Commercial Account Exec

Make sure you keep your activity metrics up in addition to crushing quota. IMO it’s easier to fire the guy that makes 0 cold calls than the guy that makes 100/day

Arzola

Valued Contributor

Business administration

Always keep investing in yourself and learning, work hard. There is no 100% guaranteed job, but normally if you do your job well you will be noticed, you will be valuable and you will have a little more stability.

WhoDey

Opinionated

VP of Sales

Live within your means. Start saving now (6 months worth of living expenses in a non-retirement account that can be accessed in a pinch if needed). Keep your resume up-to-date. Network your ass off.

Mendizo

Opinionated

Sr. Director

I would say that generally, SDR's, interns and other 'entry-level' types of roles are safer (this is not putting down those roles by any means, but the reality from an OpEx point of view). If you are making cuts as an organization, what do you cut first? The highly-paid AE's and managers, or relatively cheaper resources who you can then cajole into covering some of the same responsibilities, and voila, saving tons of OpEx?

There is no certainty in any business, so don't be too let down by external circumstances. As others have said, always live off your base, and tuck your variable comp away (if that's relevant for you).

To your question though, I would just say this: Hopefully you are actually putting in effort, which I would assume you are. Next is to ensure that you have visibility within the org, so that others know and can articulate the value you bring. In times of uncertainty, this is really the only way to give yourself the best chance should something untoward occur. Do your job well (and truly give a sh$t), build your reputation and your brand, and you stand a better chance than most of lasting.

goldengophers21

Opinionated

Account Manager

I appreciate all of the truly helpful comments, best of luck in this nerve racking time!

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goldengophers21

Advice for College Students Jumping into SaaS Markets with this financial instability

22 comments

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