quotabeater

Head of Sales

Am I delusional?

Hi Everyone! I have been following Bravado for quite some time and have learnt quite a lot here. A little bit into my story- I am a serial entrepreneur in the Consumer Products industry having worked in 3 different countries and achieving 7 figure sales starting from scratch. A few months ago, I had to move to the US for some personal reasons and since then I am trying to get into tech sales selling to SMB. I am 29 and open to positions at any level. Any suggestions on how to make this transition? or am I just delusional to be wanting such a career move in the middle of a bad market?

I have also added my resume here, so if there are any suggestions, please do let me know

Files Attached

Sales Beast for Bravado.pdf

🌎 Economy

😋 Job Searching

📚 Resource

30 comments

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oldcloser

Arsonist

💀

At first glance, your resume makes a really solid statement. High level opinion- you’re just banging your head against the same brick wall we all are. The market is somewhere between tight and impossible. But if you look at the hunt as a pipeline exercise you’ll be seeing it clearly. Getting a sales job is virtually the same process as selling software.

List your target niche/vertical. Customize your resume to match. Apply. Write cover letters. Contact the job poster directly - multi channel style. Email, LinkedIn, cold call. Keep the messaging succinct.

The gig I started on Monday came after 2 interviews and getting ghosted. One email, two weeks later got it done.

“I havent heard back but you still have an open role and I can still set 20 demos in 20 business days.” My phone rang and the offer showed that day.

Moral to this story? Grind, buddy. Just grind. You’re not delusional.

quotabeater

Good Citizen

Head of Sales

@oldcloserThank you old closer! That is some very helpful advice. Do you have any job posting platform suggestions other than Linkedin, Indeed and Bravado?

oldcloser

Arsonist

💀

Check out wefunder com and ycombinator com too. That’ll round out your search into all stages of startups. Still, nothing beats the internal recommendation. Make lots of friends!

Sunbunny31

Arsonist

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Nothing beats networking and making those contacts. Fantastic advice in both these posts.

braintank

Politicker

Enterprise Account Executive

Are you authorized to work in the US?

quotabeater

Good Citizen

Head of Sales

Yeah, I have all the required authorizations

braintank

Politicker

Enterprise Account Executive

Can you post an anonymous version of your resume for feedback?

Black out your name and contact info

quotabeater

Good Citizen

Head of Sales

@braintankThank you so much for offering to give me feedback on my resume.

I have edited the post with my resume

FinanceEngineer

Politicker

Sr Director, sales and partnerships

You might need to start as an SDR/BDR or find a product/market you already sold into. That’s how you gain leverage. Days of selling car insurance and trying to transition into Enterprise Cloud sales seem to be gone (for now).

quotabeater

Good Citizen

Head of Sales

Thanks @FinanceEngineerIs there any job platform you better recommend than the other? Also, should I consider flex jobs just to get more industry experience?

FinanceEngineer

Politicker

Sr Director, sales and partnerships

Not sure about flex jobs, but it can’t hurt. I find LinkedIn to be the best to network and find things. Ask your contacts and see who has someone open or knows about openings

quotabeater

Good Citizen

Head of Sales

Thanks, will get onto it!

Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

ERP Sales

Good luck on the search!

quotabeater

Good Citizen

Head of Sales

Thanks

Space_Ghost20

Executive

Account Executive

As others have said, it's an incredibly tight market right now. Starting as an SDR/BDR is probably the way to go, but even then, it still will be hard. A lot of companies, even when the market favored job seekers, prefer their SDRs to be inexperienced or at least very early career. I think the perception is it's easier to train a recent college grad who's never set foot in a corporate setting than it is to train someone close to 30 (or over) who's been around a bit. Plus they probably think you'll want to move to AE as soon as possible, and if they're able to do that, then you'll leave and then they'll have to hire again.

Not saying all orgs are like that, but a lot of them are. I know I dealt with this a lot when I was making the move from banking when I was 32. It took a while, but I eventually found a company that hired me as an SDR. Good luck.

quotabeater

Good Citizen

Head of Sales

Thanks that’s helpful and good to know what companies really think when a 30 something applies! But don’t you think we are in times when everyone, regardless of profession just looks at switching jobs because of better pay opportunities

Space_Ghost20

Executive

Account Executive

I mean, that's why I left banking, software/tech looked like a better earning opportunity.

It's just unfortunately a lot of companies have an old school mentality, or a warped perception. If someone is 100% set on not changing their mind, all you can do is find someone/somewhere more open minded.

GrinchGotAPoint

Good Citizen

Service and Sales Associate

You're not delusional! Agree with @oldcloser -- just keep grinding!! I believe in you.

Maximas

Tycoon

Senior Sales Executive

Would strongly recommend the search bar&SalesGpt, as it does include many relevant useful threads that would certainly assist you in starting your tech sales career.

quotabeater

Good Citizen

Head of Sales

@MaximasThank you so much for the recommendation. I will get onto it now

Diablo

Politicker

Sr. AE

You have some great comments already, all the best !

Justatitle

Big Shot

Account Executive

It might be a decent option to get into revenue operations or something of the like to get your foot in the door

quotabeater

Good Citizen

Head of Sales

I am looking into that too. Thank you!

pirate

Big Shot

Account Executive

You're not delusional. You can and will find a job

CRAG112

Valued Contributor

Account Executive

I might flat out state no need for VISA sponsorship on my resume???

All I see is an international person applying for a job.....
Even if you answer their questions on the job form.....

quotabeater

Good Citizen

Head of Sales

Thanks for the idea! I will incorporate that

AnchorPoint

Politicker

Business Coach

wish you the best

quotabeater

Good Citizen

Head of Sales

Thank you!

SalesMama

Executive

Senior Account Executive

Do you have any contacts or warm intros you could leverage?

-3

VP Enterprise Sales

How about focusing on companies HQ'd outside the US who want to break into the US Market?
You speak multiple languages, this is a big advantage.
You might have to start as a SDR, try https://bettsrecruiting.com/