Down on my luck

Hi everybody, I was laid off back at the end of July before my baby was born in November. I have been a successful Enterprise BDR with 3 years of experience in SaaS and finally decided it's time to apply for AE roles. Since then, I've had 2 Fortune 500 companies make me jump through their interview hoops and passed with flying colors, promised the job and waited weeks for their offers only for them to put the position on freeze. It has been a challenge for me as of late to get more interviews and I am looking for anyone to help someone who is down on their luck. Any help is appreciated and happy to connect about any potential AE or Account Manager opportunities!
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15
Kosta_Konfucius
Politicker
7
Sales Rep
Really sorry to hear about the lay off. It’s a grind right now. Don’t let this affect your self worth at all!

Highly recommend networking with individual to separate from other applicants. I would review info on the academy also.

If you haven’t yet fill out the jobs tab here, and make sure to switch to actively looking on the jobs tab and “open to new opportunities” on LinkedIn.

Messages all former recruiters who have connected with you. Give recruiters of places that offered you to see if any roles have opened.
DrkKnight23
Contributor
0
Account Executive
Thank you Kosta_Konfucius, I appreciate the advice! It definitely has taken a toll on me mentally and will remember it’s not me. I’ve tried to connect with others but barely get responses. It even seems recruiters either don’t have AE roles or are thinking I don’t have enough closing experience.
Sunbunny31
Politicker
6
Sr Sales Executive 🐰
Not all tech companies have hiring freezes for sales. Definitely keep looking. If you’ve gotten to the point where you have the offer, then there’s nothing wrong with your experience, resume or interview skills. Sorry this has happened to you. I’ve got to think something good will come your way.

Congratulations on the birth of your baby as well.
DrkKnight23
Contributor
1
Account Executive
Thank you for the kind words. She has been keeping my head afloat during this!
ThatNewAE
Big Shot
4
Account Executive - Mid enterprise
Hi, I am sorry you had to go through this. Congratulations on your baby.
I observed a few things amid layoffs that might help you.

1. Most bigger companies are freezing hiring, or are hitting an uncertain plateau with the current economy. As bad as it sounds, I think it could be a good stop gap solution to look for smaller companies and mainly bootstrap startup’s. You don’t have to create an entire career there, but just stay for a while and keep earning money while this economy stabilises.

- Network with LinkedIn connections, and especially the ones who are in the higher up positions as sales managers or so. Let them know that you are looking out and drat a nice tacky message to sell yourself (in a good way).

- Update your resume and upload it in LinkedIn bio section as well. That too would get some recruiters reaching out.

- I wouldn’t recommend bashing your company that laid off on LinkedIn. It somehow sets the tone off. But again, you do you.

Good luck. Do keep us updated.
DrkKnight23
Contributor
2
Account Executive
Thank you for the kind words and great advice! Would you recommend Series A/B companies as an inside sales rep or SMB AE? I remember I tried to interview with one in the past for a similar role and they didn’t want to hire someone without closing experience regardless of my success as a BDR. This was because they didn’t have a training program so I assumed a lot of smaller companies are similar but curious what your thoughts are on that.

As for the LI connections, I got lucky selling SaaS to other sales leaders so I have recently started reaching out to people I’ve connected with but it seems everyone is too busy putting out fires to respond 😅

I absolutely agree, I always try to take the higher road and move on. Nobody wants to hear me bitch on LI 😂

Again I do appreciate all your advice and expertise on this!
alonzoharris
Politicker
2
Partner Manager
Check Bravado Jobs, Repvue, Glassdoor, LinkedIn and Indeed. All the best!
DrkKnight23
Contributor
0
Account Executive
Hi Alonzo, thank you for the advice. I’ve been using all of these but sadly had no luck
Sunbunny31
Politicker
2
Sr Sales Executive 🐰
Have you checked out Bravado Flex? Could help you get something going while you look for a full time role.
DrkKnight23
Contributor
1
Account Executive
No haven’t checked it out yet. I just read up on it and seems interesting. Have you tried it before?
alonzoharris
Politicker
2
Partner Manager
I’m sure @SADNESSLieutenant can provide some insight!
SADNESSLieutenant
Politicker
3
Officer of ♥️
Check out my hiring posts and daniel from hubspot will refer you he just posted on this
SADNESSLieutenant
Politicker
2
Officer of ♥️
DrkKnight23
Contributor
0
Account Executive
Thank you so much!
Sunbunny31
Politicker
2
Sr Sales Executive 🐰
I was going to point you at SADNESSLieutenant. We’ve got a couple on here who are getting started with BravadoFlex; they’ve been encouraged to post updates as they go, so check back.
DrkKnight23
Contributor
0
Account Executive
That’s awesome, I’ll definitely be checking for updates!
BlueJays2591
Politicker
2
Federal Business Dev Director
Been seeing this alot more lately. Really sucks and I hope you find something soon. Reach out to sales recruiting agencies. They might be able to help.
DrkKnight23
Contributor
0
Account Executive
Thank you for your advice and appreciate your kind words. Every recruiter I work with tries to push BDR roles on me and then ghosts me after/they are saying they don’t have anything. I know times are tough now so I thought I’d ask for help :)
BlueJays2591
Politicker
1
Federal Business Dev Director
The amount of quality AE jobs has tanked lately unfortunately. Have you thought about SDR management until the hiring market turns around a bit? Also, companies open up hiring for sales roles around this time as they clean up their org from some of the lower performing reps so you may find something soon.
DrkKnight23
Contributor
0
Account Executive
I’ve considered SDR management. I’ve been told by my peers I would be great at it but tbh I see what managers have to go through and to me it’s not worth it. I like the individual contributor path. I’m hoping that some positions open soon for exactly that reason 🙌
Diablo
Politicker
2
Sr. AE
Have you tried reaching out to hiring managers at a startup or you only want to work with F500
DrkKnight23
Contributor
0
Account Executive
I am pretty open to anything. I have tried messaging on LI but sadly didn’t get much success from it
Diablo
Politicker
1
Sr. AE
That’s sad, if you asking them for a reference you might not have much success. I would show my excitement to learn more about the role and ask if they can spare sometime to chat.
DrkKnight23
Contributor
1
Account Executive
I love that. I’ll give it a shot!
Diablo
Politicker
1
Sr. AE
All the best buddy
CuriousFox
WR Officer
2
🦊
❤❤❤
punishedlad
Tycoon
1
🧙‍♂️
See if there are any local recruitment firms you can get involved with. I've gotten a majority of my roles from that or LinkedIn recruiters who have reached out to me.
GingerBarbarian
Opinionated
1
Lead Sales
Can I offer some advice? Try hopping on podcasts and Live shows. It may not turn into something overnight, but it could help get you in the door. Plus it will help keep your public speaking skills sharp.

I'd also suggest start writing blogs and things like that to help other BDRs. It will force you to keep learn and grow, plus it can help you get some attention.
DrkKnight23
Contributor
0
Account Executive
I love that! Which podcasts or live shows do you suggest? I already follow many sales leaders like John Barrows but love to listen to others :)
DrkKnight23
Contributor
0
Account Executive
Hey everybody! I got a job as an AE 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳
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