bomboclat

BDR

The job market seems extremely awful

I got laid off. I applied to 1200 jobs in a week. That resulted in 30 ish first round interviews. Almost none of those have moved past the initial stage, maybe 10-15% max. This is a huge contrast to last year where I was moving forward almost everywhere I interviewed and was getting multiple offers. Is anyone else experiencing this or am I doing something wrong?

I am applying to BDR roles with about 1.5 years of SaaS BDR experience.

Also, the base for anywhere left hiring SUCKS. Everyone is acting like their 50k base is enough to retire off of.

👥 Hiring

27 comments

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TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

dude......1200 jobs in a week????? hate to break it to you but that does NOT sound like a winning recipe!
what is holding you back from being more targeted in your job hunting??

bomboclat

Opinionated

BDR

I thought it would be a good idea. It didn't get me very far. I've decided to do a 180. made a list of 24 companies, going to do extremely targeted outreach to those companies.

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

BOOM! love that. let us know how that works

antiASKHOLE

Tycoon

Bravado's Resident Asshole

This is a great turnaround.

GDO

Politicker

BDM

this sounds like a person that I would hire if I made those decisions

Director of Business Development

That's what I've been doing. Also, targeting my network heavily too. It's super competitive and tumultuous out there.
Good luck everybody!!

Sales Account Executive

What job-search sources are you using (Indeed, ZipRecruiter, CareerBuilder, etc.)? Also are you using any no-fee recruiters (MRI, other)?

Gasty

Notable Contributor

War Room Community Manager

Sorry to hear of the news. Carpet-bombing the job applications like cold emails to prospects might not be the best idea though.

Maybe, sit for an entire day and cherry-pick the companies you actually want to have a career at (from the ones which are hiring at the moment)?

That'll obviously better your interview conversions, and maybe also help with moving past the initial stage, since your prep would be a lot better.

You are correct about the base pay though. Many companies seem to have reduced it, post Q3.

Check if you can find something here - https://bravado.co/war-room/posts/100-companies-hiring-for-sales-roles-currently-part-4-4

Good luck!

punishedlad

Tycoon

Business Development Team Lead

The spray and pray method could certainly be your downfall here. Definitely take Gasty's advice here, and maybe try reaching out to hiring managers/team leads personally on LinkedIn/Email to make yourself stand out a bit more.
Could be worth a resume share as well if you're open to it.

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

also it is CRAZY how the market went from SO HOT for sales ppl to no a total blood bath in what felt like 2 weeks.

Coastal_crusher

Politicker

Sales Director

1200?? THIS guy is the one taking all the interviews 😂

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

ALLLLLLLLLL of em 😆

Space_Ghost20

Valued Contributor

Account Executive

Yeah, well I got laid off too, back in the fall. 8 years of total sales experience, two of which are in SaaS (1 as an SDR, 1 as an AE). Only offer I've gotten in that time is as an SMB AE making $50k base, $75k OTE.
Not only is the pay bad here, but there are no upmarket teams here. They simply do not sell to MM or Enterprise companies, so there's no real "moving up" here either. There's no prospecting, just leads thrown into a sequence and you call and email them. So all of my hunter skills are not just wasted, but going unused.
This is not why I got into SaaS, and I'm honestly considering leaving the industry entirely. It's just a mess out there.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

It will turn around - the pendulum just swung far in the other direction. For me, purgatory back in the dotcom collapse was about 18 months. I wouldn't completely turn your back on it.
I'm sorry it's happening. It's so hard when you're caught and you end up in what I'd consider a bridge role that's getting you by for now.

bomboclat

Opinionated

BDR

How much effort have you put into getting a new role and what roles have you been applying to? For the first half please provide something quantifiable

Space_Ghost20

Valued Contributor

Account Executive

I've been applying to jobs and reaching out to people on LinkedIn 5-6 days a week. 140 jobs, of which 5 went to phone/initial screening stage. One went to a second interview, but they went in another direction. Not spray and pray, there are far too many experience laid off AEs to rely on that tactic.
I've been applying to mostly AE jobs, a few SDR/BDR jobs, and a handful of CSM jobs.

ChumpChange

Politicker

Channel Manager

That sounds like a spray-and-pray strategy. I urge you to have a more precise strategic approach to not only where you want to work. Don't sell yourself short.

GreenSide

Politicker

Sales manager

Not even 1200 companies I would want to work for

Justatitle

Big Shot

Account Executive

2021 and early 2022 should really be looked at as an anomaly. Companies were overfunded and hiring was not given second thought. Spraying and praying with applying is almost guaranteed to lead to the frustration you expressed here. My advice to you would be to treat the companies that you want to go to as you would a company that you were prospecting. Find 3 people to reach out to, if it’s a BDR role I would target BD manager, VP of sales and say screw it also reach out to the CEO with a note of why you want to be there. Do this for 10 companies strategically and your luck will change

salespal

Good Citizen

Account Executive

Keep your head up. Keep doing the research and finding the right industries and companies you want to work for!

HVACexpert

Politicker

sales engineer

It’s all about who you know, I’m sure you have colleagues and mentors in your industry you know? Reach out to them. Grab lunch or coffee, and catch up. If you never burn a bridge those will be waiting for you when you need it most. And it’s those relationships that will pay off the most when looking for a new job.

Director of Sales

Depends on what SaaS product you are selling, and in which market, but $50,000 per year base is not bad. If it comes with a good benefits package and a good commission structure, it's actually pretty good. Remember you have 1.5 years experience, not 11.5.

emerge.life

Valued Contributor

Field Sales Development Executive

What about going in a different sales role, like field sales? There's vacancies for field sales account manager, bde, etc

RandyLahey

Politicker

Account Executive

1200?! I’d consider drawing that down to maybe 25 specific companies in a targeted industry. Best of luck and let me know if I can help in any way.

kelvin26

Fire Starter

administrative manager

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Sales Account Executive

Sorry to hear that, bomboclat. Actually many say this is the best job market (in general) in decades. May I take a look at your resume to see if it can be spruced up or improved?

Sales Account Executive

???

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bomboclat

The job market seems extremely awful

27 comments

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