Space_Ghost20

Account Executive

Valued Contributor

The only interviews I get are for SDR jobs. Am I underqualified for AE roles?

Obviously it's best to network in order to get in front of hiring managers. But I supplement those efforts with cold applications. I've gotten great jobs from cold apps, and crap jobs from networking efforts (and vice versa) so I figure diversifying my efforts can't be a bad thing.

But I've noticed a recent trend: the only cold apps that result in interviews are for SDR jobs. So I'm wondering, am I just underqualified for AE jobs in this market? My current job title says AE, my last job was AE, but somehow my resume is screaming "SDR" to people hiring SDRs. Am I reading too much into this? Also, why would a company want to fill an SDR spot with someone who has been an AE? Wouldn't they be worried about that person leaving for an AE job once one comes available? Or is the job market that bad, and they know that likelihood is low?

🎯 Career Development

16

41 comment

Sort by:

braintank

Politicker

8

Enterprise Account Executive

Stop applying for SDR jobs then ;)

jefe

Arsonist

7

🍁

.

HVACexpert

Politicker

1

sales engineer

🤯

jefe

Arsonist

2

🍁

This was my first thought but I wasn't on mobile. Can't go wrong with Neo, though.

GDO

Politicker

0

BDM

great solution though :D

RealPatrickBateman

Politicker

4

🔪Amateur Butcher🔪

With a flood of "talent" on the market looking for positions, companies have leverage to lowball higher-level contributors into lower paying positions. Acquire for the low is the name of the game.

Space_Ghost20

Valued Contributor

3

Account Executive

And I suppose if one were to take the lower paying position due to market conditions, it'll be held against you once the market turns around ("why did they move down in title?" etc.).

RealPatrickBateman

Politicker

3

🔪Amateur Butcher🔪

100%. Some will understand, some will overlook the "market conditions" at the time. In the end, it's how YOU "sell it".

Sunbunny31

Politicker

5

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Always - someone will always use any metric to justify some decision. Worked as an AE? Overqualified for SDR. Been at a company for 8 mos? Concern about tenure.
Being able to position whatever comes up as a positive is going to be very helpful to you.

RealPatrickBateman

Politicker

2

🔪Amateur Butcher🔪

Preach, sister.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

1

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Just piggybacking on your excellent comment.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

4

🦊

If that's what they offer then decline the interview my dude.

FinanceEngineer

Politicker

3

Sr Director, sales and partnerships

The current market is bad/weird for most people. I have seen a former CRO take an AE role. A lot of people, some very good, are on the hunt. Don’t be discouraged.

SPT

Valued Contributor

0

Director, Channel Sales & Partner Alliances

Agreed. This is a very, very tough job market. And the Holidays never help.

Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

2

Sales Rep

How big of a sample size are we working with? How many jobs have you applied for AE and SDR roles? What is the response % of each?

I would assume if your two previous roles are titled AE, you might be reading into it too much that the last couple of interview requests are for AE roles.

HOWEVER!!! I would recommend interviewing with HR and mentioning that you are interested and more aligned with their AE role that have posted on their website

Space_Ghost20

Valued Contributor

1

Account Executive

I've been on the job hunt since I was laid off last year, and haven't stopped even during my current employment (current job isn't a good fit or really a place I ever wanted to work for). Vast majority of my job applications have been for AE roles. I haven't had a cold app result in an interview for an AE role since March. But to restrict it to a manageable (and comparable) time frame: I'm 0/36 on AE apps from mid August to mid September. SDR is 3/8.

Diablo

Politicker

2

Sr. AE

If you don’t want something, don’t apply that would be the simple solution. What type of companies are you applying to for AE.

Space_Ghost20

Valued Contributor

2

Account Executive

Tech companies. Startups, established companies, in between. I tend to avoid to super big players like Oracle, Salesforce, etc. (recruiter from SAP a couple years ago told me he never wanted to see an application from me ever again, so I definitely avoid them)

My intent here is to figure out if what I want is even feasible in this market.

Diablo

Politicker

0

Sr. AE

Its feasible for sure but as you correctly identified the market is off balance with more supply and less demand. Keep trying and have patience + faith :)

Sunbunny31

Politicker

3

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

I'll bite: what happened with SAP? It's unusual for a recruiter to issue a cease and desist.

Space_Ghost20

Valued Contributor

2

Account Executive

I'm not exactly sure. And it's not like he issued a formal UN declaration or something of that nature. I applied to 12-15 jobs with them over ~5 years. Got in front of a hiring manager in 2019, but didn't get the job. About a year later a buddy of mine I used to work with (who now works in a non-sales role) referred me to an AE job, which is when I had the aforementioned conversation with the recruiter.

Maybe he didn't like who referred me. Maybe he didn't like that my friend referred me directly to the hiring manager instead of the recruiter, maybe he didn't like that I had applied 15 times and had been rejected every time. I don't know. Regardless, I figure there are plenty of other companies and SAP is a bit of a dinosaur anyway. No need to worry about them.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

1

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

It's just weird, then. Pretty sure recruiters, even in house, don't get to tell you things like that. But yeah, there are other fish in the sea.

HVACexpert

Politicker

2

sales engineer

This is actually wild I’ve never been told or heard of a recruiter doing this. In fact with the way the get paid it goes against how they operate, it would better to have you apply and part of the pool of talent they could possibly pull from.

Strange.

jefe

Arsonist

1

🍁

So weird to me. I'm glad @Sunbunny31 asked the question we were all thinking.
Forget that guy, @Space_Ghost20 . And good luck !

SDR2AE

Fire Starter

1

Account Executive

It’s hard out there. I have been sdr, sr sdr and now an AE. But I had previously been AE back in the days but not SaaS. I’ve been casually applying as well since July this year and have had some pretty good interviews and made it to final stages of a couple but still no luck which is so frustrating.

Likewise, I keep getting annoying recruiters send me SDR offers (pisses me off). I don’t apply for SDR jobs (been there, done that with flying colours).

Recruitment is tough right now. Most companies pay peanuts for AE jobs atm. The one that offer decent money, ask for a lot of experience mainly those with the “ product and market experience” aka someone who had sold kinda similar products in a similar market would always be a plus.

My advise to you, avoid enterprise AE roles. Look into SMB, Commercial etc. Not so big companies either like you mentioned above. But again don’t restriction yourself. Believe in yourself and trust the process. There’s something out there. Takes time.

Space_Ghost20

Valued Contributor

0

Account Executive

Yeah, I don't get too many recruiters reaching out to me. A few here and there, but always for AE jobs thankfully. Unfortunately once I express interest and a desire to have a chat about the role/next steps, etc., they don't respond. Back in August I did get to a phone call with an agency recruiter and everything appeared to be in order to get me in front of the hiring team for a decent AE job. But I haven't heard back in weeks and all of my follow ups (phone, email) have gone ignored. Since she told me the name of the company, I could go to them directly, but it's not considered proper conduct, so I haven't gone that route yet.

My current comp is $50k base/$75k OTE. I've seen one AE job pay worse than that, but otherwise I think it would be hard to have pay be worse than current.

SDR2AE

Fire Starter

0

Account Executive

I mean you need to have a decent LinkedIn profile as well and be able to sell yourself during interviews. Your LinkedIn should be somehow like a micro CV (consider and simple) AE roles is a numbers game.

On your CV/LI get as many success metrics as possible.

Mention things like💰for pipe generated. Also how much you helped influence move through the sales cycle aka cross stakeholder collaboration.

Be specific of industries you targeted, personas and methods of prospecting. Name drop any big accounts you landed. Also mention things like ARR, deal cycles you handled and be crisp on performance you hit against targets.

Keep everything factual and numbers based, you can use this framework for interviews or giving your CV some flavour. Good luck mate

SDR2AE

Fire Starter

0

Account Executive

Also consider messaging/networking with other AEs within the companies you’re applying for. Ask them to help refer you, besides most companies would a referral fee

Pachacuti

Politicker

1

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

STOP APPLYING TO SDR JOBS!!!!!!!

Space_Ghost20

Valued Contributor

0

Account Executive

What's the alternative? I'm getting zero traction finding another AE job. If I was a conspiracy theorist, I'd conclude I was blacklisted or something.

CRAG112

Valued Contributor

0

Account Executive

It’s easy to get a job that is a level down from what you once did.

Space_Ghost20

Valued Contributor

1

Account Executive

And impossible to get one that's at the same level.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

0

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

This is a very tough market, because there are simply a lot of people out there looking, so the balance has shifted in favor of the hiring companies. They can afford to be very very selective. That said, you're not asking for something unreasonable. Since you reworked your resume, has the response been better or worse?

Space_Ghost20

Valued Contributor

0

Account Executive

The same.

alCan

Contributor

0

Account Executive

What
companies do could sometimes be illogical or wrong from our perspective
and sometimes we are right. Having said that, your resume needs to show
that you are aware of, and have experience, in the full sales cycle. o
you point out your wins/closes?

Beans

Big Shot

0

Enterprise Account Executive

Are you applying for AE and they come back offering SDR?
Or are you applying for both and only getting responses for the SDR positions?

Space_Ghost20

Valued Contributor

0

Account Executive

Applying to both (at different companies) and only getting responses for SDR positions.

To be fair, the vast majority of the jobs (10 or 15 to 1 ratio) I apply to are AE jobs. So natural that I'd get rejected more often. The only AE interview I've had since April was through an agency recruiter. My own efforts (cold apps, networking, etc.) have yielded nothing.

I don't believe my resume is so bad (I've posted it on here about a month ago for review) that I'd be getting zero call backs, so I can only conclude I'm not qualified for an AE role in this market. At least not at any place I'd want to work.

ApocalyBoom

Politicker

0

Account Executive

Companies can push high-level partners into low-paying positions because there is an abundance of talent in the market for positions. The trick is to buy cheap.

goose

Politicker

0

Sales Executive

The market seems saturated as funding slowed. Companies over-hired and leveled up. Getting an AE job won’t be easy.

Space_Ghost20

Valued Contributor

0

Account Executive

That sounds like a reasonable take. I just would have thought that 1/50 or 1/100 applications would have resulted in something.

If I have no other options, then it is what it is, but at my age and experience level, I'm not sure how much patience I have to restart my career all over again.

SonnyVaccaro

Good Citizen

0

Growth Lead

Could be your resume and how it's positioned. Or, you need to find a company that is willing to take a chance on you - these are usually riskier companies but could have tremendous upside.

Bravado is a community of trusted sales professionals endorsed by their customers.

Products

The War Room Jobs Salary Guide Tech Sales U

Company

About Us How It Works Blog Bug Bounty

Contact

© 2024 Bravado Inc. All rights reserved.

Privacy Policy Legal and Privacy Center Sales Jobs

If you are hired as a contract sales rep by a Bravado customer, we may ask you to prove access to the employee email account provided to you by that customer. This data will be shared with customers to track your sales productivity; customers can use this data to confirm you meet the minimum activity requirements to pay out your ramp stipend and commission.