ATXBartleDoo

Account Executive

Why can't I land a decent AE job with 3 years of experience?

So I've got three years experience as an AE. Two years of transactional sales doing trade show booths, and 1 year selling SaaS. I went from a 60K OTE to an 80K OTE and have out performed OTE all 3 years. Everybody seems to say "Tech sales SDRs make 60-75K!! SMB AEs are getting 100-120K OTE, Sky is the limit!"

I've been looking for jobs for the past three months. I started out super hopeful and confident that my experience would land me a solid role with a more reputable organization and a pay raise, but that hasn't been the case. I've had at least 30 round one interviews, 15 round two, maybe 5 or 6 round three. Of these, I've turned down 7 job offers, either because they were "Churn and burn" orgs, had very low quota attainment, or far beneath my salary expectations.

I started out applying for only Mid-market roles with 120K OTE or better, but I found that no organizations seemed interested in an applicant with only SMB experience. Dissapointing but I've decided to lower my expectations to an SMB role, but I'm seeing few if any SMB AE roles with 100K OTE? I dont want to take a job earning the same as what I was making before, but I'm starting to get a little desperate.

I've been using linkedin and Indeed for my job search, I've been directly applying AND taking calls with recruiters. Am I an outlier in my lack of success? I've been way better at closing than most people I've worked with, all of my roles have been fully outbound full cycle - cold calling/emailing/presenting/closing, have both remote and hybrid experience.

Am I an outlier in my lack of success? What should I be doing to land a decent job? I'm almost considering starting from 0 and applying for BDR jobs, but that feels so wack after I've closed over $1 million worth of business myself already.

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23 comments

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jefe

Arsonist

6

🍁

It's a tough market out there, things are very different than they were months or a year ago.

I've heard similar things about comp, but it doesn't really line up with what I've actually seen and heard in the real world, so take it with a grain of salt.

Have you been getting feedback on the interviews? Do you seem to keep stalling out at the same place?

I would not recommend going back to BDR

CuriousFox

WR Officer

5

🦊

It's hard out here for a pimp

Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

5

Sales Rep

What is the feedback you are receiving when getting rejected? Is it not experience selling Mid Market?

Also I highly recommend disqualifying roles when they are below your expectations. Don’t waste your time with 3 interviews if you know pay isn’t aligned

TennisandSales

Politicker

2

Head Of Sales

for suuuuure protect your time and dont interview for roles that are not what you want.

ATXBartleDoo

Fire Starter

2

Account Executive

Oh trust, I've been disqualifying with great prejudice. I'm always open to round 1 interviews just in case, but I wouldn't go to a round 2 or 3 if pay or industry aren't aligned.

I've been turning disqualifying pretty much anything in the categories below:
-B2G
-real estate
-"startup accelerators"?
-anything under 100K OTE (i was turning down under 120K OTE but I'm running out of savings so I need to lower my standards)
-medical
-advertising/marketing (unless it's a well established org with a good reputation)

Unfortunately it's starting to feel like I've been way too unrealistic with my standards. I'm gonna have to start considering roles that are below my expectations.

SaasSlingin

Politicker

0

Sr AE

I don’t think your standards are unrealistic by any means. It’s a tough market right now, as a few have pointed out.<br>That said, maybe it’s disadvantage having sold trade show booths for a majority of you’re career if your going after roles similiar to a sprout social AE. Just my take.

antiASKHOLE

Tycoon

4

Bravado's Resident Asshole

I’m with @jefe don’t go backwards. Check out the jobs tab here as well as dig into your network.

Diablo

Politicker

3

Sr. AE

The market is a but though but that doesn’t mean there is no job at all. Congratulations on having a strong goal of only having MM role.

Great to know that you are better than others, however, does the same thing reflects in your resume? If yes, do you get any feedback from these recruiters?

ATXBartleDoo

Fire Starter

2

Account Executive

I always ask for feedback, and it's pretty much always generic-
the team have identified a different candidate that is better suited for the role and have decided not to move forward with your candidacy.

I did get one true actual feedback from a role at Sprout Social after round 2 of 3:

"the team has decided to move forward with individuals who were able to provide a greater degree of specificity in answering the hiring manager's questions and in providing examples. We were also hoping for stronger responses to [sales manager's] questions around professional growth and about why Sprout Social and this role are of particular interest to you. Additionally, with the recent tech layoffs happening across the country, we've seen a substantial influx of candidates which has resulted in a very competitive applicant pool, so this was also a factor in the hiring team's decision."

Biznasty

Opinionated

1

Lead Business Development Manager

This feedback sounds like it’s not the jobs you’re applying to but more that you may need help answering interview questions which is very common. Lots of strong performers and amazing candidates under perform in interviews because they are trying to be too humble or too agreeable. I work in recruiting and see it every day. Feel free to slide in my DMs and I can help you.

PhlipOut

Politicker

0

Account Executive

hey OP good luck!
regarding the specificity point: you need to have a few deal stories you can go into in DETAIL. It doesn't even matter if it's a combination of a few different real ones.

how did you get access to the decision maker?
example of deal you almost lost/did lose and why?
example of dealing with different stakeholders
example of using various internal resources
example of competitive situation

STAR answers:

Situation: Describe the situation and context/challenges Tasks: Explain the tasks you needed to do and what was the goal. Action: Provide details about the actions you took to attain this. Result: Conclude with the outcomes

Sunbunny31

Politicker

2

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Also interested in finding out where you're stalling out and if it's the same place every time (or not).

And if you have been able to get any feedback at all.

Finally, it's not going to be as easy as it was, as jefe correctly pointed out. There's a fair amount of belt tightening going on, which affects hiring and adds just another hurdle. The jobs are out there, but it may take more time.

ATXBartleDoo

Fire Starter

2

Account Executive

Feedback is always super generic. i shared the feedback I usually hear in my response to Diablo's comment

I feel like i'm stalling out on my rd 2's with the hiring managers most often (recruiter -> sales manager/hiring manager -> mock presentation)

Sunbunny31

Politicker

1

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

When I look at the response from Sprout Social, they note the influx of candidates from tech layoffs. That's the real challenge - how you rise above that pool. The specifics they gave you are helpful in that they can help you prepare for the next set of interviews; be prepared for why you want to work there, in the role, and go farther into how you'll provide value to the company in that role. Specificity in answers may just be stronger stories about your wins and how your practice and process brought the deal in - though I'm curious about the questions that were asked and if there was any additional level of detail you could have added.

It's going to be a numbers game, but try not to be too discouraged. You are getting the interviews, which is a good indication that your resume is working.

ATXBartleDoo

Fire Starter

1

Account Executive

The sprout interview was generally pretty generic:

What do you know about our company and what made you want to interview for this role
Tell me about your previous roles
What are your career goal for the next 2, 5 years.
Why are you currently seeking a new job
What is important to see in your next role
etc etc,

We scheduled 45 minutes. Interviewer was finished with his 'checklist' in 20 - 30 minutes. I spent the last 15 asking more in depth questions, trying to uncover any holdups as to why he might not move forward, asking for feedback, building some rapport. The guy told me everything looked good, didn't have any criticisms, seemed generally satisfied with the discussion. I assume they just chose somebody with more years of Saas on their resume and made up some generic feedback for me

Sunbunny31

Politicker

2

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

It's entirely possible. Hiring managers have a lot of options right now. Sounds like you're doing what you can.

VFG

Good Citizen

2

SDR

Not sure if you’re necessarily an outlier, but I started looking in OCT and found & accepted a role for $140k total compensation within 3 weeks. I have 3 years of B2B sales experience total, though only 1 in SaaS. Here’s a few things I learned that may be helpful in your search:

1. Be strategic about how you spend your time and energy. Don’t just apply blindly. Make a target list of 10 - 25 companies that are likely to meet your qualifications (You can use Repvue and CompGuage for this) and target the hiring managers via outbound. Research the companies. Understand what they sell and who they sell it to. Stalk the hiring managers on social. Understand what kind of people they are, what they care about, and what types of people they tend to work with. Read the job posting as it tells you exactly what they are looking for. Tailor your resume to be in line with it. Have very good answers to why you want to work there specifically and how you will add value. Make cold calls. Send videos. Be a salesperson.

2. Come off as somebody who they’d want to work with. Almost all hiring managers tell me they want somebody coachable, solution oriented, and hardworking. In other words, come off as someone who will be willing to work hard, take feedback, and not complain.

mastersfan

Opinionated

1

Account Executive

I’d look at fields outside of tech that still need sales people. Most of these tech OTE’s and salaries are rooted in the same reality as FTX accounting…

SADSAAS

Valued Contributor

1

Account Executive

It might be an unpopular response but a burn and churn job at a well-known company is the best way.

I've found that once you work for a recognizable SaaS company, smaller SaaS companies will give a nice salary bump and a shot to work with larger clients

SADSAAS

Valued Contributor

2

Account Executive

Keep in mind you might hate your life for 2 years but early and often happy hours will get you through

lifelonglearner

0

President

Sorry to hear of your trouble getting past the hiring managers.
Think of getting hired in the same way you would approach closing a deal with a prospective customer. If the gatekeeper slows you down (aka the hiring manager) what would you do?
Call higher up in the organization?
Get referred in?
Nothing better than getting through to a C-level, President, or VP (which is what you’d need to do to sell their products), building some rapport, and then getting introduced to the sales manager as a possible recruit.
Your chance of getting hired goes way up.

Salespeople who leave brochures with gatekeepers have much smaller returns than those who employ creative means to find the decision makers.

WhoDey

Opinionated

0

VP of Sales

Do NOT go backwards. Keep looking. Definitely leverage your network. Good luck!

Baylor24

Executive

0

Senior Account Executive

Have you had a professional review your resume/linkedin? Find a mentor to guide you in the interview process once you land roles. For your next gig, to gain credibility perhaps take a pay hit and try to go to a large, well known org and spend a year or two there.

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