On the hunt for a new AE role. Should I be blasting out tons of applications? Connecting directly with hiring managers on Linkedin?

I have three years of AE experience, and one year of SaaS experience. My current wages are way under market value (40k base / 70K OTE???) but I took the role so I could get some verifiable SaaS experience. Anyways it's time to make the jump. I paid for a resume / linkedin service and it all looks great, I've been getting tons of inbound from recruiters but nothing especially promising.


As for my question: should I just go on Compgauge / RepVue, filter SMB and Mid market organizations, sort by highest base pay (Or OTE), and just blast out applications to the top 30-50 companies on each list? Should I be reaching out to hiring managers and recruiters in these orgs directly? both?


I have some preferred industries but all I really care about is that I get a role in Tech/Saas, and that I get as much $$$$$$ as possible. What's the ideal course of action here?

๐Ÿ’ฐ Compensation
๐Ÿš€ Career Goals
๐Ÿ˜‹ Job Searching
18
antiASKHOLE
Tycoon
6
Bravado's Resident Asshole
I would do both for sure.
CuriousFox
WR Officer
5
๐ŸฆŠ
Did you know what you want to do? Is there a product you want to sell?
detectivegibbles
Politicker
3
Sales Director
I recently just left the capital equipment sales market in the medical space for an opportunity with a start-up tech company in the medical supply space. $25k higher salary than I had, uncapped commissions, paid healthcare, and stock options.

How did I hear about it? I've always shunned recruiters on LinkedIn as they typically seem like they are full of shit.

However, this one was a rockstar. Point being, make sure your linkedin profile is turned on to actively looking for recruiters to reach out.

I haven't utilized the Bravado jobs yet, but I'd recommend connecting with as many people in the War Room. Lot of bright people in here with proven track record that are willing to help.
TennisandSales
Politicker
3
Head Of Sales
im totally against blasting out resumes. its just not the most effective way to do it.

but if all you care about is $$$ and the product, industry, and market dont matter then i guess this is the easiest way.

the most ideal way would be to:
1 do research on the best verticals/markets to be in
2. find the top companies in those spaces (3-5 max)
3. research who is running the sales teams
4. connect with them on linked in
5. DM them saying you want to work with them and if they would be open to chatting with you for 15 minutes.

the ones that reply will hopefully like you, and make the interview process easier.
jefe
Arsonist
3
๐Ÿ
Definitely both. Don't just prospect one channel.
Sunbunny31
Politicker
3
Sr Sales Executive ๐Ÿฐ
Just a note - large companies have SMB and MM divisions. That's not where the $$ typically is for the reps in those orgs, but those roles are a foot in the door in order to work up to the big money.

And you get that by knowing how to sell, communicate value, and penetrate accounts.

Kind of like what you need to do now.

Would you limit yourself to one approach to get into an account? So why would you limit yourself here? You do need to understand the business that you're applying to, so you will need to do a fair amount of prep work, so it might be best to at least at first, focus on those industries you're interested in so that you're well versed in those industries.
DevSomeBiz
Valued Contributor
2
Senior B2B Sales Guy.
You should do both, and more. Cast your bread upon many waters. Apply to a lot of stuff, talk to everyone. It's really hard to gauge where you personally will make the most money. I've worked for massive F500 multinationals, small startups, mom and pops, and everything in between. The Fortune 500 companies have their systems nailed down, which means it's really hard to have real breakaway success. Most of the rockstars are making $250k a year. I worked at a 45 person VC backed tech company where the top sales guy was making over $1m a year. I'm at a 5000 person privately owned tech company now. Top people are making $400-$500, average are at $200-$250.
BadColdCaller
Politicker
2
Account Executive
Run it like a sales process - prospect into their AEs to get warm referrals, introduce yourself to the VP directly to stick out against the crowd, build an account plan of top Repvue companies
ThatNewAE
Big Shot
2
Account Executive - Mid enterprise
Before that, I think it's worth the shot to do this:

1. Also understand the product you'd be selling. Do you want to sell that product in the first place ?

2. What's the market you'd be working. Market = ICP, Persona and sorts. Again, do you want to sell them ? Do you think they would get you the commission ?

I believe these two points can affect your liking towards job + Commissions.
SaasSlingin
Politicker
2
Sr AE
Holy hell 70k OTE?
Iโ€™d agree with the resources youโ€™ve added and everyone else, along with the research criteria:

Pay
Location/remote
Product
ICP + persona
Glassdoor + repvue ratings
Talk to AEs

Iโ€™m picky with interviews. Itโ€™s a lot
ChunkyButters
Tycoon
2
AE
Can you think of a reason not too?
Kosta_Konfucius
Politicker
1
Sales Rep
Start with research, to learn current market rate and typical interview questions. Once you do that there is no harm blasting to any company. Especially if its the LinkedIn easy apply it takes 3 seconds.

However, make sure you are picky with who you start interviews with. Applying won't take too much time, but interviewing takes a lot of mental stress
Rallier
Politicker
0
SDR Manager and Consultant
Multi-channel all day. Calls, emails, LinkedIn. Get their attention
Dannie22
Good Citizen
0
SDR (Sales Development Rep)
I would do multi channel just like you would a prospect. Try vidyard and create a personalized video selling the reason why they need you.
FranchiseSalesQB
Politicker
0
Franchise Sales QB
yes, yes, yes
16

Can your internal recruiting team see that you're "privately open" to new roles on LinkedIn?

Question
17
14

Rejected by recruiter for SDR position before any interview, despite having referral and track record. My inner-salesman is telling me to ignore the rejection and start reaching out to Sales Managers directly.

Question
15