SaaSam

Account Executive

Either I interview bad or I'm no where near the hot shit I think I am.

In all honesty though it's probably both.

4th company I've made it through the 3rd round of interviews only to be told, "We like you but we don't LIKE you like you." Then when trying to see where I fall short so as to make improvements fuckin ghost town. Hell, maybe it's my face.

Obviously the common denominator is me so there is something that needs to be improved, probably several somethings.

Anyone here ever taken any interview coaching? Did it help? Asking for a friend cuz, I totally don't need it.

👥 Hiring

🤝 Interviewing/Offer

30 comments

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UrAssIsSaaS

Arsonist

SaaS Eater

First off, way to own it. A lot of people just say "fuck that company, I didnt really want to work there anyway."

Are you asking the recruiter for feedback or the firing manager? I just left this feedback on another thread, it might have been from you, but go directly to the hiring manager for feedback. I will never fail to give feedback to an AE that reaches out after the interview looking for it.

SaaSam

Politicker

Account Executive

Thanks, I'm not blind to the fact that I must be doing something wrong or need to tweak my process.

I always ask for feedback, getting it is another story. So far only one person got back to me with "feedback" and word for word was, "Her feedback was some of the responses to her questions just didn't make her confident in moving you forward."

Nothing all that helpful yet.

UrAssIsSaaS

Arsonist

SaaS Eater

Was that from the recruiter or the hiring manager?

SaaSam

Politicker

Account Executive

That was the response from the recruiter to an email that I addressed to the hiring manager and cc'd the recruiter.

UrAssIsSaaS

Arsonist

SaaS Eater

As a hiring manager my advice would be to cut the recruiter out of the convo. If the recruiter is on the thread, they will just distill the feedback and send to you but are worried about NPS scores from candidates and wont be real with you.

If a candidate reaches out to me directly, via either email or linkedin I will give them honest feedback every time. I dont worry as much about NPS score because I assume if I can help them in their next interview, its worth the shitty NPS score we might get.

It might at least help you get some real feedback

SaaSam

Politicker

Account Executive

Thanks for the advice! I assumed the hiring manager probably had more important fish to fry given she is the CRO but worst case is she just ghosts me anyways.

MCP

Valued Contributor

Sales Director

Maybe you can sell that to the next one as awareness, HR people love that shit. “Yeah, so, I think one of my strengths is personal awareness. I mean, before you guys I interviewed with like 17 other places and was rejected each time. But you know, I totally own that shit and I’m sure it’s something about me. I could have just said fuck them, I’m better off without them, but I didn’t. I don’t know, what do you think? Is it me?”

SaaSam

Politicker

Account Executive

I like it, might as well give it a shot. What I'm doing now clearly isn't working. I should be better about talking myself up but it's not really my style. Not much of a "bragger" unless it's about people I'm proud of. I'll brag about my friends and family all day. But talking myself up always leaves an off taste in my mouth. I'm a fan of self depreciating humor rather than dick swinging

hh456

Celebrated Contributor

sales

Odd question, but do you have a recording of your interviews? It's hard to provide feedback with no context.

Keep trying and maybe switch up your style if you seem to keep striking out. Good luck!

SaaSam

Politicker

Account Executive

Is that a thing? I haven't ever recorded any of my interviews but now I feel stupid for not thinking of it.

Honestly this is the first time this has ever happened to me. I feel like I used to be pretty damn good at it.

Thanks for the support!

chubbspeterson

Politicker

Business Development

I feel you, I bombed one the other week, and got zero reply when I asked for feedback (which isn't surprising I guess). Either way it was good practice, and the only damage done was to my ego.

Keep fire'n away, you'll hit the right one eventually!

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

Agreed here. The more your practice the easier it will become. Research more than you are currently doing.

SaaSam

Politicker

Account Executive

Definitely, as I was reading your comment it dawned on me that maybe the issue is that I want it too much and that's coming across negatively in my interviews. Interviewing is like cold calling, the more you do the more comfortable you get with it I have come to find out.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

Don't be so hard on yourself. It's ok. You are gonna be ok 😉

SaaSam

Politicker

Account Executive

Literally just got another nope and came here to see what everyone is saying. You're really right, only damage is to the ego which recovers pretty quickly. I just hope I don't burn through all the good ops before I finally get my shit together hahaha

Upper_Class_SaaS

Politicker

Account Executive

Hope it's not both... that would leave you in a bad spot

SaaSam

Politicker

Account Executive

Honestly I typically undersell myself. I pretend to think I'm hot shit but the honest truth is I'm pretty self aware. I know I'm good at what I do but in no way claim to be the best.

I am kind of unapologetically me and that can be a big turn off if your personality doesn't line up with the interviewer I guess.

TheOverTaker

Politicker

Senior Account Executive

"How do you take constructive criticism?"
"I'll let ya know after you send me some if I don't get this damn job"

CaneWolf

Politicker

Call me what you want, just sign the damn contract

Gotta keep shooting through the slump! This could be just a really unlucky run.

SaaSam

Politicker

Account Executive

Hoping so, I've got 5 years SaaS experience and been shooting for places offering a minimum base of 100k. Wondering if I'm shooting too high but all my research suggests that's an appropriate expectation.

CaneWolf

Politicker

Call me what you want, just sign the damn contract

It took me a little more than 6 to get there but it's definitely doable. What are the sizes of these companies? Are you looking to step up in terms of who you're selling to/ACV/complexity/anything else?

SaaSam

Politicker

Account Executive

I would say not so much breaking into new territory in the regards of complexity or ACV so much as it is making that my focus. I've closed the deal size and complexity these companies are targeting but it was never my strict responsibility if that makes sense. The roles I've held involved going after the small guys as much as the big guys but never a specific focus on enterprise.

CaneWolf

Politicker

Call me what you want, just sign the damn contract

Got it. What are the types of places you've been looking at? Size, ACV, public/private, etc.

SaaSam

Politicker

Account Executive

Pretty much exclusively start ups. I was the founding AE at a start up for 2 years and loved it, left for better pay and now really miss it. Average ACV is in the high 6 low 7 figure area

CaneWolf

Politicker

Call me what you want, just sign the damn contract

That might be the issue. I could see them thinking it's a big bet to have you exclusively go to enterprise.

SaaSam

Politicker

Account Executive

That's really been my thoughts as well

CaneWolf

Politicker

Call me what you want, just sign the damn contract

Try looking a little more upstream. I bet some Series C companies with a few hundred folks would love to have you.

SaaSam

Politicker

Account Executive

I'll give that a shot, thanks!

LordBusiness

Politicker

Chief Revenue Officer

Interviewing is hard, especially in sales because so many companies still expect us to be cliche “extroverted smooth talkers” who run around all day screaming “let’s goooo” while chugging monster and “closing” . If your naturally introverted or don’t fit the cookie cutter image, interviewing can be a drag. Also, ugh on 3 and 4+ stage interview process that sounds exhausting. Without knowing you, or being in an interview with you, it’s tough to identify what’s up. But stay the course, if you are sharp enough to write this post, you’ll find your gig

SaaSam

Politicker

Account Executive

Yeah I think I might need to just adjust my target a little bit.

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SaaSam

Either I interview bad or I'm no where near the hot shit I think I am.

30 comments

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