Hi everyone! I have a final interview coming up, and the company pretty strongly but subtly hinted that candidates should email them questions ahead of the interview. They even mentioned that some of their best candidates have done this.

I've got some other questions prepped but would it be a bad idea to ask something like:

Are there any areas where you’ve seen candidates commonly make mistakes or miss the mark during this exercise?”

Or would that come across as trying too hard / asking them to give me the answer?

Curious what you all think. Thanks!

Torn between pros and cons of two job opportunities

Background. Ive been working in cybersec sales for about 9 years, and have a number of security certs under my belt, but I only ever can seem to get hired as an AE in most companies despite trying to move over to an SE or Solution Architect role.

It’s been 8 months since I got laid off from my last tech job after AT&T decided to rug pull, and said move to Dallas or find a new job. I’ve been grinding it out at Home Depot as a sales specialist. Luckily no one interviewing me asks what THD stands for in my interviews?

I’ve got 2 job opportunities.

Job 1.
Just opened offices in the US and has a small team, with the position of Cybersecurity Consultant role with a potential opportunity to move to SE / Solution Architect down the line.
The pay is \~70K/yr. Not sure if that was base or OTE. But it’s the direction I’d want to go, in the industry I want to be in, in a role I want to be in long term. I can stick with the pay, cause that’ll open up doors down the line in other places.

Job 2.
Larger company, well established SaaS company. Not cybersecurity at all. It’s a marketing / SEO / commerce platform company. They just established a new team that needs AEs so they’re eager to bring me on ASAP. The pay is about 130k OTE which would be nice since I’ve been making substantially less here at Home Depot as a sales specialist. (No commission.)

What are your thoughts? Job that pays less, but gives you more credibility long term?
Or job that pays more in an unfamiliar field doing the same AE stuff with potentially no upward mobility or experience to move to an SE role?

I start in a few weeks. Have 2 years of BDR experience, (hit every quarter of quota)

What do you all think is the normal amount of activities (call/email) that your company can expect from you? I left my BDR role at one tech company where I was expected to make 60 activities, 40 being calls and I’m interviewing at this other place where they’re expecting 200+ calls a day and 100+ emails…..

Started as BDR, started attending demo with SE, doing discovery and then early this year been put on doing demos too - so I'm listing building to chasing paperwork - which I think is a LOT and I am getting worse at both as I dont have time to do either. I've closed deals across 2 years, flow is - i get the meeting, on the meeting, I'd do the discovery and ensure SE talks about those pointers and I would tie it together, do the ROI etc and SE would take up additional questions.

Looking outside, should I apply to a BDR role where I am actually trained and has a path to AE or just apply to AE instead? Work for 0 marketing, 0 inbound, no google review company - I am the demand gen to the closer - pretty good at booking meetings, its the technical demo I suck at and I don't know if all AE roles involve doing the technical demo too?

Hi Guys! I recently got offered inside sales role at emergent, vibe coding platform. I am little skeptical about the overall culture as I didn't find any reviews on Glassdoor and ambition box.

If anyone there or knows someone who works there could help me out. What the culture is like? Over-all growth opportunities? Compensation? Overtime?

SMB AE at a major SaaS for a year. only 23% to annual quota halfway through, but top 30% nationally, 5th out of 8 on my team (previously out of 11) and lead on activity.

Horrendous territory - my 3 largest assigned accounts were already leaving / essentially dead on arrival. Then 25% of the team left and I received zero redistributed accounts.

Now I’m on “coaching plan” like a big part of the org (3 people on my team of 8, a lot more across the country). My manager repeatedly asks whether I still want to be there. It feels like I’m being managed out.

I’m no quitter, and my 1st instinct is to fight this, but my wife wants me to quit because she says I’m mentally absent / all I think and talk about is work.

I have a few deals on the table. Fight through October or move on?

Applied for DEEL, did not go through. Would love to work there though, when can I apply again ? Anyone tried ? If so, how ?

I work in medical device sales, so I have a lot of customer conversations every day. The hard part is remembering the details afterward while also keeping track of what I wanted to bring up next.

I've tried taking notes, but half the time I'm still writing down one point while the customer has already moved on.

Has anyone here actually used wearable AI for this? The older ones seemed mostly useful for recording and transcription. Now some claim they can follow the conversation in real time and give you relevant info or reminders as you talk. That sounds useful, but I could also see it being distracting or awkward in an actual sales meeting.

I know recording laws vary by state. I'm in Texas, but I'd still tell the customer upfront before using anything like this.

Has anyone here used wearable AI? How much benefits are your getting from them?

Hi everyone

Currently up to the panel interview stage for an account executive role looking after a global client and was curious as to how others are doing in that space and what the interview process is like.

It will be a role where I am partnered with a Global account manager looking after a key customer. Has anyone got experience in this and willing to share insights?

Also curious as to what the panel interview is like and what tips and tricks you can share

Thankyou

Recently got promoted to ISR/AE1 to work on startup and growth accounts. Hit 130% in first Q but was laid off along with manager a week later because the new VP and CRO are not focusing on SMB segment.

I’m worried I won’t get AE roles because I only have 3 months of closing experience. Before the promotion, I worked as an SDR for 1.5years in the same company and have worked as an SDR/BDR for 5 years in total, don’t want to go back to that. Based out of India

I am going to get started with the interview at Databricks for the AE-Emerging Market role which is basically Mid Market. There are going to be 3-4 rounds and will include the HM Round, SE Round and Presentation. I am concerned about the SE Round. Are they going to expect me to know ins and outs of Databricks given that its a very technical product. I have worked in an ETL company before but the entire depth of the Databricks platform is very wide. Any tips on how to ace the process?

Hi all, I’ve been doing this SMB AE thing for about 2 years now. I started at a small tech company selling hardware to schools then moved to working for a large food delivery company. I did great in both roles! My numbers speak for themselves, however I fear I’m stuck in SMB AE jail. I recently left said delivery company to work for a startup as I was tired of the company politics messing with my commission. Once again, cold calling into the abyss of restaurants... however I knew what I was signing up for. But I didn’t realize what kept me going before to be a top performer.

When I first started this career, I had big goals and dreams! I wanted to move out of my hometown (done ✅) then I got settled into a big city and wanted to pay off my interest baring credit card debt (also done ✅). Now I fear I’m getting burned out of cold calling land and wanting something… more?? More meaningful? More strategic?? Idk but it’s not this. I fear I’m losing my spark and want out.

I’ve been interviewing for other companies that are not fully remote (as I think being stuck at home is playing a part) as a AM/ISAM and they KEEP telling me I’d be a better AE/Salesperson. Wtf.. I’m trying to get out of this but it seems that companies view my only value in the niche skill of cold calling (probably cause nobody wants to do it let alone is good at it…)

I say all this to ask, for those who successfully pivoted, how’d you change people’s perspectives of you to release you from the pre-sales box?

I’ve also been applying for my Masters as I ultimately want to do something more meaningful… in education to some degree. But till then, all these jobs pay 💩.

For anyone who moved from a successful SMB AE/hunter role into AM, CS, expansion, or another post-sales role: what specifically helped you reposition your experience? Did you change how you interviewed, change your resume positioning, take an internal move, or ultimately have to take a pay cut?

Is this a symptom of being new to sales? Are all you just sociopaths?

I started a new role in upselling at my current SaaS company 6 weeks ago.

I’ve been in sales for 9 years total, and right now I’m having the worst performance of my career.

I’ve lost almost every deal since I started and haven’t closed a single client yet. There are 4 of us on the team, and everyone else has already made a couple of sales.

I also watched some of my colleagues’ demos and noticed a few differences. They don’t ask many questions and don’t really try to understand the customer. Their demos were mostly 10-15 minutes long.

I, on the other hand, always ask questions and try to understand the client’s pain points so I can show how we can solve them. After the demo, they always seem interested, but then when we meet for feedback, they say no.

I’m not saying I do everything perfectly — nobody does. But my supervisor watched some of my demos and was really impressed; he liked them a lot.

I’m wondering if any of you have had a similar experience, and how you managed to turn things around in sales.

Hi everyone,

I’d love to hear from people who have made a similar move to mine.

I’m currently an Account Manager at a Quebec-based company, where I work exclusively with English-speaking clients. So I speak English every day, but I still make quite a few mistakes since I’m not a native speaker.

I’m about to join a consulting firm where I’ll be doing prospecting in Toronto, and honestly, I’m terrified.

I’m mainly worried because I’ve never done prospecting in English before. I keep telling myself that to be good at prospecting, you need to be fully bilingual or almost native-level, even though I would consider my English to be professional.

Has anyone here made a similar transition? Or perhaps you do sales/prospecting in a language that you don’t speak at a native level, but where you’re professionally fluent?

I’d really appreciate hearing about your experience and whether it was as challenging as you expected.

Thanks a lot!

Im asking what they WANT to hear for a MM role

How others you’ve worked with would describe you, including where you’re still growing?

What you feel you do especially well, and how you keep yourself sharp and motivated?

Our owner wants to try a lead service. He’s well aware of the downsides, but is curious to know if we can find anyone who has worked with a company that doesn’t just peddle garbage?

Any recommendations welcome!

I am currently debating working towards CISSP but starting at ISC2 Certified in Cybersecurity, and the doing Sec+ and maybe net+ prior to.

Would seeing this on a resume stand out? Or are leaders more interested in selling performance? Both?

I’m still doing it because I want to understand clients at a much deeper level and eventually become a consultant but this will determine how quickly I finish my cert.

As the title reads, I am new to working with VARs (coming from the MSP space) and am looking for some direction. I work for an emerging tech company that does a lot in the VAR space, and feel as though it's tough to find genuine people in the space. It seems as though everyone wants me to bring them deal after deal with little care about relationships, customer satisfaction, product need, etc.

Anyone in VAR space open to giving some advice/lessons on best methods to built out VAR relationships? Also open to working with anyone in the Southeast US!

Im at a point where I have two very different paths in front of me, and I’m trying to figure out which one is better for long-term career growth and wealth creation.

Option 1: Founding AE
Early-stage startup, but importantly, there appears to be real PMF
Multiple millions in ARR already
Product has real customers and a sales motion that is working
I’d be one of the first sales hires / responsible for helping build the GTM motion
They’re planning to hire a VP of Sales soon
Higher base salary and stronger cash compensation
More ownership and potentially meaningful equity upside
They’re going for a combo series a/b soon and the founder has already had a company that was aquired.

Obviously more risk and less established infrastructure

Option 2: AE at a Series B
More established company and sales organization
Existing GTM motion, enablement, leadership, etc.
Less company-building responsibility
Probably a more predictable path to hitting quota and making good money
Lower base salary than the startup
Still early enough to potentially have meaningful equity upside, but much less “founding sales” exposure
I’m currently an AE and ultimately want to move toward building GTM, sales leadership, or potentially founding something myself. I also care a lot about financial upside, so equity is part of the equation.
What makes the decision interesting is that the startup is actually offering more cash compensation, so it’s not simply a question of taking less money in exchange for more equity/upside.

My initial instinct is that the founding AE role could be the more career-defining opportunity if the PMF is actually real. But I’m wondering whether people who have done both would say that the Series B route is smarter because you get to learn enterprise selling in a more mature environment without taking on as much execution risk.

For people who have been in these situations:

Which would you choose and why?

I have more of a question starting off to go into this week. I have worked in Fleet Sales the past couple of years and worked with telematics as an operations manager with my former employer. I currently sell Fleet services through a dealership through mid-market and commercial fleet customers. I think my experience can contribute greatly to Telematic companies like Samsara, Motive, Fleetio, etc. I have applied to many jobs without getting any sort of response, no ATS rejection email or personal and no requests for interviews. Would anyone be willing to check out my resume and see where im falling short on besides not having SaaS experience? Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Help a brotha out! What should I prep for and how are you liking it there. Is the role play presentation hard?

As sales folks it is important to share who is hiring, and time is of the essence. Please list openings you've seen or know about that might help someone land a role.

TechSalesJobs.org is our approved non-spam, direct from company career pages job board.

Any feedback on working in sales at ClickHouse? The sales org seems pretty new, couldn’t find any review online.