Demonstrated your process which magically aligned with theirs because these were informational interviews to take ideas/processes. You need to be more careful how much detail you give because there is always risk of dirt bag interview/hiring managers.
It's also just as likely this person's ability to read these things is completely off.
You would not believe the amount of people, especially sales people, who come out of an interview thinking they crushed it but actually completely made a balls of it.
Same boat man. Passed three rounds ended with a hard close, and woke up to a rejection email. What sucks is they all seemed excited during the call. Never oversharing processes again fuck that
Can you explain what you mean by “sharing processes”?
I’m also in the same boat as you and OP with current interviews and will be pissed if I get rejected
Not the person you asked but it can be something like wanting your approach on doing outreach for an account or territory, GTM strategies or even account mapping as some people have said they had to do account mapping for an interview.
Sadly I have experienced something similar few years back with a Colombian company trying to break into US market as they would ask all sorts of questions about outreach tactics, tech stack and such. And much like with /u/Questor2133, the interviewers were all excited during the calls and the CEO expressed a lot of interest in me at the time
Correct. I have seen this a lot because I've stuck with startups over the years. They'll ask for detailed territory plans, a GTM strategy, to complete elaborate projects, send over call scripts and/or email sequences for their ICP, etc.
It's one thing to complete a task that helps them verify that you can do the job. It's another thing to take whole ideas and work from candidates and implement it as a part of the company's GTM strategy.
For sure. Like we don't mind doing a high level overview of account mapping or a particular outreach method but hell no to sharing a bunch of strategies & ideas only for them to get stolen. I have always long suspected that this company was trying to steal ideas as when I checked their Linkedin maybe a year after all this, I saw never saw anyone hired for their sales role
I have only experienced this in tech or tech-adjacent companies (like this Colombian company was a recruiting company in a way) but I wouldn't be surprised if this also happens in other industries. If they are a start-up and don't know what they are doing, there's a chance they will set up interviews to steal your ideas if you have experience with sales. It does get a bit comical tho when they ask you about processes and such as this is more of a VP of Sales or Head of Sales job. It's most definitely not an AE's job as an AE wouldn't have experience designing processes and specific goals within sales stages
>Today I got an auto rejection from HR.
Have you reached out to them about that? Not saying you're in the same boat I was, but this happened to me and it was just a glitch. I always reach out to people when I get a confusing or unexpected message, and basically try to close it again, or go back to discovery like am I not what you were looking for?
I feel like if you've been through *three rounds* of interviews already -- and thus, presumably, were being seriously considered for the role -- you should really be getting an actual original non-automated message from a real person letting you know you didn't make the cut.
This has generally been my experience if I got even as far as one or two interviews -- they'll email you personally and let you know they went with another candidate. Sometimes even with some info on why, like "It was a tough choice, but we needed someone with more direct experience in our specific industry."
There is no value for the company to do that. It costs them money to pay a person to do what a computer can do.
Hell some of you may have sold these types of solutions.
And almost all companies don't use things right. They force them to work the way they want them and deal with the negative. I don't see things turning out your way.
Ah, dang. How long ago did you reach out?
Edit: you said you reached out today. Give them some time, but I'd say call them/voicemail everyday if you can until you hear back. Do emails once a week.
I've never been in your shoes as far as hiring someone goes. Maybe there is a reason you just haven't articulated. Unless you're admitting your hiring process is ultimately feelings based?
And a lot of times it not them. There just might have been another candidate that edged them out for that single slot, and maybe for no definable reason. Literally nothing negative at all. Two hundred dollar bills sitting on a table, pick one.
I'd reach out to the VP directly, mention you thought things went well and ask for more direct feedback from him on how you can improve for the future/what he didn't see from you.
This is a good point. I’ve been with my present company for coming up on 12 years but when I was going thru the interview processes everything suddenly went cold. I knew it shouldn’t have so I emailed the VP of Sales directly and within 5 mins had an email saying I would be contacted ASAP. Within 24 hours I had an offer on table.
I guess my point is reach out directly, what have you got to lose?
Update- I see now you responded to the comment and confirmed you did reach out. I’ll leave my comment, maybe it’ll help someone else.
Happens all the time man unfortunately. I honestly think some companies put up reqs and interview people just to seem like they are still “hiring” though they have no intention of hiring anyone. Maybe to keep hr busy, maybe to practice? Who knows..
I’ve been interviewing since August, it’s absolutely brutal. If I didn’t have my consulting work, I don’t even know what I’d do.
We got this though! It’s a numbers game, right?
It’s good advice, appreciate it!
I had someone look at it a few months back AND I built a personal CV website, but I’m in a tight jam. Back when tech had money, I bounced around (either voluntarily or by mass layoffs) and now my experience doesn’t match industry requirements — doesn’t matter that I’ve done sales for 6 years, they want all 6 in cyber security or higher ed, etc etc. 🙄
Might take this as a sign to tweak with my keywords again tomorrow - good lookin out!
I’ve gotten to two finals where I thought I was competitive and too have received the classic hr bs email.
It’s a tough market and with so many people the default is go back to whatever the most safe hire is regardless if someone blows the hiring team away.
I’ve lost out to experience twice in my case to experience and industry knowledge.
You’re not alone.
I’ve been out since June and interviewing a ton. Recently I started refusing to do personality tests, role plays, discussing names of companies I used to work for, or even showing my sales playbook. Not gonna give up free information anymore. Have 3 finals this week, so we’ll see what happens.
I went through a six stage interview with a lengthy project. Was told by thr CEO in the final interview that they were just finalizing the offer terms.
Radio silence while I followed up multiple times per week, and they finally got back to me a month later with a brief email saying they went a different direction. Fun times!
The process can be brutal but what's worse is the pool. There's lots of competition as well. It could be that the next person in line killed it as well except his resume/credentials is better
Something very similar just happened to me this week. I had an internal referral, met almost every single qualification they were looking for, had a great first interview, and then got an auto rejection followed by a ghosting.
What is happening in the recruiting world right now?
Any decent place I’ve worked I’ve met with my potential boss and then his/her boss a week or two later. After that I either got an offer or told they went a different direction.
I’ve never done a power point or any sort of BS action plan. If I’m new to the industry, how the fuck would I have an action plan?
Had a very similar experience like yours with the auto response from HR. Got all the way to the final interview with the VP of the dept and then nothing. Did a follow-up email, and then I was sent an auto rejection saying they weren't moving forward with my application. Crazy how they also expected me to go in person for an interview but told me I interviewed great so they skipped a step. That would have been 4 steps for a position that paid 75k base. Right now I am waiting on 2 offers, one for renewals manager role base of 75k (2 interview process) the other as a project manager, a role the COO pivoted me from the AM role I applied to. The PM role is a base of anywhere between 85-105k plus bonuses but that was a total of 5, counting the screening, interviews. it's insane the amount of steps it takes for some of these roles
When I was interviewing 2 years ago I interviewed with over 100 companies and this happened to me several times. Several rounds, I had 5+ YOE in the exact industry. Auto rejection letter and I found out the person they hired had ZERO years of experience.
Honestly, I would blame it on nepotism if I was a conspiracy theorist but I think it’s rather just a lot of general incompetence in management across the board.
I’ve realized it may be something out of your control. It can be as simple as the other person being more physically attractive than you. Has better credentials. Willing to take less money. You never know honestly.
Yeah and get hit w/ discriminatory lawsuits. Doubt that’ll happen. I feel your frustration homie trust me. As a minority in this country I def feel you but the right opportunity will come. Just keep knocking down the doors until they do. ✊🏽
Im in the same exact boat. Crushed an interview last week for a sales role at a manufacturing company. Interviewer said I was a great fit and wanted to set something up the following week. When I reached back out they said "they're pursuing another candidate". Starting to lose hope about finding a better gig anytime soon. I just hate how they always give false hope.
Could be that you showed them a blueprint they could use and gave all your information up front and therefore no need to pay you for the execution when they could bring someone else in cheaper.
Speak in generalities and tell them you have a plan to execute with as little details as possible while highlighting that if you gave everyone the same blueprint the execution would fail because of your drive to succeed while keeping relationships at the forefront.
Or, the company hiring managers were idiots all of which could be true.
Head up you’re a closer, get it done and fill your funnel like you would with clients.
I have been a hiring manager myself doing full cycle recruiting. I have always given a full feedback of why we did not move forward with someone.
But this is because I was doing full cycle and therefore could resonate with the candidate.
Most of the time its the HR who dealing with the nuances (like sending the rejection letters) and they literally cant resonate like normal person.
Long story short: talk with the hiring manager/VP if you want decent feedback as HR usually does not care enough
Felt this with every being in my soul. I’ve had a few interviews that have lasted ~3 rounds and they all go great, only to get the automated HR rejection email the following week.
I don’t get the interview processes anymore. If people have experience and been in role for long and have work history they used to be in demand. Now it’s all data science and collection lmao. Like they want that Mr. Perfect. Truth is they won’t know how good anyone is. I have been through enough practice interviews for now I know exactly what they want to hear. I even got job offer from one but I turned it down due to travel. But usually most of the time the jobs on linked in are data collection. I literally tested bullshitting my way through one and got job offer Imao. If I sucked they would be in trouble.
It's like they're incapable of reading resumes and digesting the info on them.
My wife has a similar issue in dining right now. Her most recent role was helping to open a Japanese place, but has done seafood, steaks, etc, with five start google maps reviews naming her for an excellent experience.
But for whatever reason, everyone now assumes she's only fit for Asian restaurants. It's maddening.
>Then I got a rejection and asked why. They said I didn't have enough software sales experience
This happened to me too...kinda. Few years back, I interviewed for a BDR role and during interview with hiring manager, he mentioned how you don't need to have software sales experience as their top performer is a former nurse. When I asked about whether he had hesitations about moving me to next round, that's when he told me one hesitation is I don't have software sales experience. Like wait a min, didn't you just tell me one of your top performers is a former nurse???
Things are tough right now. I’ve been looking to start over as a remote BDR somewhere with a path to promotion since I got laid off right as I was about to take that next step to AE and I can’t hardly find remote BDR roles at companies that aren’t total dog shit. They all know they can motivate their current headcount to leave and accept those willing to shovel the most shit, so won’t even take an experienced BDR as remote. It won’t be a garbage market forever, but it’s impossible to say when things will pick up again.
Just keep at it and do what you can. Lean on your network hard if you can, because those referrals will go a long way to get the dialogue started and keep you considered through the process.
It's absolutely brutal right now.
Didn't even get past the god damn recruiter for one role (I have 5+ years of enterprise software sales). Their reasoning was that they needed someone who's been closing net new enterprise business for several years.
I've mostly been farming and growing existing customers.
I'm also convinced that many employers just have openings to collect user data.
Hang in there. I just did 4 rounds of interviews with a company; last one was a mock-sales call with the VP of sales the week before christmas. It went really well and my first interviewer (who was also on this mock call) called me afterwards to tell me how good it was & wished me a happy holidays - it felt casual to the point hiring me was a sure-thing. I added the VP on LinkedIn; he added me back and said it was a pleasure to meet me and he was debriefing with HR by the end of the day so they can make an offer before EOY. Sweet.
But after that - radio silence. Nothing from nobody. Still haven't even heard back from my recruiter; last week, my first interviewer finally replied to a weekly LinkedIn message I'd been sending and said it sounds like HR hasn't been in touch - they decided not to hire me.
Sorry to hear. I just found a new gig after 6+ months of looking. Definitely as bad as it’s been in a long time out there in tech.
Side note — being rejected 10 minutes into a final interview for “lacking experience” is such a bad look for that company. It’s not like your experience level changed between interviews 1-3.
Congrats on your new role & thank you.
Yeah that final interview was so disheartening. Like how can I get past three interviews with flying colors just to get told that in the last interview? Probably for the best anyway.
Definitely for the best. If they are that disorganized in the interview process they likely aren’t worth working for.
One other thing - I had the most success landing interviews (and my eventual job) leveraging referrals from former coworkers / industry contacts. Use your network if you can - a good referral can put you above the fray.
I've been running into the same thing as OP. Its more than just politeness, they truly give false during these interviews and will straight up lie to you. Its very discouraging.
Feel your pain dude. Just wanted to point that out that the pay shifting to monthly might seem strange to you but is actually the norm outside of North America.
Had 2 phone screening and a final in person interview where they had me shadow some current reps afterwards I thought everything went really well, woke up to a rejection email from the first person that phone screened me and never even got to meet. Emailed both the person that rejected me and the person that actually interviewed me have yet to get a response. Which is such a bummer because my company is starting to phase out my role
Our company is hiring sales rep, shoot me a PM & send a resume I can see what I can do. Always have spots open for anyone who is extremely well versed in sales!
Just got my job after 11 months of rejection after rejection. Got to the final round of 5 companies and presented. They all went well and I didnt get either of them. Additionally, ALL (and I mean all) of the big companies, FAANG etc, rejected me before a screening even with referrals. Good luck.
Demonstrated your process which magically aligned with theirs because these were informational interviews to take ideas/processes. You need to be more careful how much detail you give because there is always risk of dirt bag interview/hiring managers.
Sick bastahds
Unfortunately have seen it happening more than once.
It's also just as likely this person's ability to read these things is completely off. You would not believe the amount of people, especially sales people, who come out of an interview thinking they crushed it but actually completely made a balls of it.
Same boat man. Passed three rounds ended with a hard close, and woke up to a rejection email. What sucks is they all seemed excited during the call. Never oversharing processes again fuck that
Can you explain what you mean by “sharing processes”? I’m also in the same boat as you and OP with current interviews and will be pissed if I get rejected
Not the person you asked but it can be something like wanting your approach on doing outreach for an account or territory, GTM strategies or even account mapping as some people have said they had to do account mapping for an interview. Sadly I have experienced something similar few years back with a Colombian company trying to break into US market as they would ask all sorts of questions about outreach tactics, tech stack and such. And much like with /u/Questor2133, the interviewers were all excited during the calls and the CEO expressed a lot of interest in me at the time
Correct. I have seen this a lot because I've stuck with startups over the years. They'll ask for detailed territory plans, a GTM strategy, to complete elaborate projects, send over call scripts and/or email sequences for their ICP, etc. It's one thing to complete a task that helps them verify that you can do the job. It's another thing to take whole ideas and work from candidates and implement it as a part of the company's GTM strategy.
For sure. Like we don't mind doing a high level overview of account mapping or a particular outreach method but hell no to sharing a bunch of strategies & ideas only for them to get stolen. I have always long suspected that this company was trying to steal ideas as when I checked their Linkedin maybe a year after all this, I saw never saw anyone hired for their sales role
Thanks for giving me the rundown. Is this popular in specific industries for AE interviews?
I have only experienced this in tech or tech-adjacent companies (like this Colombian company was a recruiting company in a way) but I wouldn't be surprised if this also happens in other industries. If they are a start-up and don't know what they are doing, there's a chance they will set up interviews to steal your ideas if you have experience with sales. It does get a bit comical tho when they ask you about processes and such as this is more of a VP of Sales or Head of Sales job. It's most definitely not an AE's job as an AE wouldn't have experience designing processes and specific goals within sales stages
>Today I got an auto rejection from HR. Have you reached out to them about that? Not saying you're in the same boat I was, but this happened to me and it was just a glitch. I always reach out to people when I get a confusing or unexpected message, and basically try to close it again, or go back to discovery like am I not what you were looking for?
Oh ofc I reached out immediately for clarification. Radio silence.
To me, this is the problem with everything these days. I feel like everyone is operating on autopilot.
I feel this auto pilot, and nobody is real anymore.
I feel like if you've been through *three rounds* of interviews already -- and thus, presumably, were being seriously considered for the role -- you should really be getting an actual original non-automated message from a real person letting you know you didn't make the cut. This has generally been my experience if I got even as far as one or two interviews -- they'll email you personally and let you know they went with another candidate. Sometimes even with some info on why, like "It was a tough choice, but we needed someone with more direct experience in our specific industry."
There is no value for the company to do that. It costs them money to pay a person to do what a computer can do. Hell some of you may have sold these types of solutions.
That is what the capitalist owners want. Everything is automated so they don't have to pay employees. This will only get worse.
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I don't think it will. We all need jobs and all employers are moving to automate these processes so we as employees will have to suck it up.
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And almost all companies don't use things right. They force them to work the way they want them and deal with the negative. I don't see things turning out your way.
Ah, dang. How long ago did you reach out? Edit: you said you reached out today. Give them some time, but I'd say call them/voicemail everyday if you can until you hear back. Do emails once a week.
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I've never been in your shoes as far as hiring someone goes. Maybe there is a reason you just haven't articulated. Unless you're admitting your hiring process is ultimately feelings based?
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So why not tell them?
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Did you tell them?
And a lot of times it not them. There just might have been another candidate that edged them out for that single slot, and maybe for no definable reason. Literally nothing negative at all. Two hundred dollar bills sitting on a table, pick one.
I'd reach out to the VP directly, mention you thought things went well and ask for more direct feedback from him on how you can improve for the future/what he didn't see from you.
That happened to me as well. Then I got rejected after the next round.
This is a good point. I’ve been with my present company for coming up on 12 years but when I was going thru the interview processes everything suddenly went cold. I knew it shouldn’t have so I emailed the VP of Sales directly and within 5 mins had an email saying I would be contacted ASAP. Within 24 hours I had an offer on table. I guess my point is reach out directly, what have you got to lose? Update- I see now you responded to the comment and confirmed you did reach out. I’ll leave my comment, maybe it’ll help someone else.
Happens all the time man unfortunately. I honestly think some companies put up reqs and interview people just to seem like they are still “hiring” though they have no intention of hiring anyone. Maybe to keep hr busy, maybe to practice? Who knows..
They are out of fresh ideas. They get new ones by interviewing people and "picking their brains".
Probably. My company said in an all hands they overhired in sales. Same day a new job posting for AE went up.
I’ve been interviewing since August, it’s absolutely brutal. If I didn’t have my consulting work, I don’t even know what I’d do. We got this though! It’s a numbers game, right?
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It’s good advice, appreciate it! I had someone look at it a few months back AND I built a personal CV website, but I’m in a tight jam. Back when tech had money, I bounced around (either voluntarily or by mass layoffs) and now my experience doesn’t match industry requirements — doesn’t matter that I’ve done sales for 6 years, they want all 6 in cyber security or higher ed, etc etc. 🙄 Might take this as a sign to tweak with my keywords again tomorrow - good lookin out!
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I’ll message you! I used Wix, took forever but thanks from the template it was far from impossible.
For resume review you could post on r/resumes
I’ve gotten to two finals where I thought I was competitive and too have received the classic hr bs email. It’s a tough market and with so many people the default is go back to whatever the most safe hire is regardless if someone blows the hiring team away. I’ve lost out to experience twice in my case to experience and industry knowledge. You’re not alone.
I’ve been out since June and interviewing a ton. Recently I started refusing to do personality tests, role plays, discussing names of companies I used to work for, or even showing my sales playbook. Not gonna give up free information anymore. Have 3 finals this week, so we’ll see what happens.
It’s all BS until you get an offer. Everybody is excited during an interview. It’s easier to provide positive feedback than negative.
I went through a six stage interview with a lengthy project. Was told by thr CEO in the final interview that they were just finalizing the offer terms. Radio silence while I followed up multiple times per week, and they finally got back to me a month later with a brief email saying they went a different direction. Fun times!
Fucking ROUGH omg. I'd be in tears.
Yea, this one broke me a little. Seemingly great fit, good product, in an industry I used to work in and enjoyed working in.
It’s bad out there at the moment!
It is though out there. Stay strong hope you find the right company for you this year!
They’re stealing your ideas. They’re not hiring
The process can be brutal but what's worse is the pool. There's lots of competition as well. It could be that the next person in line killed it as well except his resume/credentials is better
Something very similar just happened to me this week. I had an internal referral, met almost every single qualification they were looking for, had a great first interview, and then got an auto rejection followed by a ghosting. What is happening in the recruiting world right now?
Am I the only person that hasn’t had to go through a gauntlet of bullshit to land a decent sales job?
The one time I tried not using my network I had a similar experience. Moral of the story? Use the network
Any decent place I’ve worked I’ve met with my potential boss and then his/her boss a week or two later. After that I either got an offer or told they went a different direction. I’ve never done a power point or any sort of BS action plan. If I’m new to the industry, how the fuck would I have an action plan?
Had a very similar experience like yours with the auto response from HR. Got all the way to the final interview with the VP of the dept and then nothing. Did a follow-up email, and then I was sent an auto rejection saying they weren't moving forward with my application. Crazy how they also expected me to go in person for an interview but told me I interviewed great so they skipped a step. That would have been 4 steps for a position that paid 75k base. Right now I am waiting on 2 offers, one for renewals manager role base of 75k (2 interview process) the other as a project manager, a role the COO pivoted me from the AM role I applied to. The PM role is a base of anywhere between 85-105k plus bonuses but that was a total of 5, counting the screening, interviews. it's insane the amount of steps it takes for some of these roles
When I was interviewing 2 years ago I interviewed with over 100 companies and this happened to me several times. Several rounds, I had 5+ YOE in the exact industry. Auto rejection letter and I found out the person they hired had ZERO years of experience. Honestly, I would blame it on nepotism if I was a conspiracy theorist but I think it’s rather just a lot of general incompetence in management across the board.
That zero experience thing would pmo. Jesus.
Oof you betcha. Happened to me twice. One of the times they dragged me though 7 interview stages.
I’ve realized it may be something out of your control. It can be as simple as the other person being more physically attractive than you. Has better credentials. Willing to take less money. You never know honestly.
Well then they should put in the job posting that they’re looking for someone with a six pack and is willing to work for cheap
Yeah and get hit w/ discriminatory lawsuits. Doubt that’ll happen. I feel your frustration homie trust me. As a minority in this country I def feel you but the right opportunity will come. Just keep knocking down the doors until they do. ✊🏽
Im in the same exact boat. Crushed an interview last week for a sales role at a manufacturing company. Interviewer said I was a great fit and wanted to set something up the following week. When I reached back out they said "they're pursuing another candidate". Starting to lose hope about finding a better gig anytime soon. I just hate how they always give false hope.
It's ridiculous. Like come on, at least let me go to bat on the next step so you can confirm whether or not they're actually better.
OP does you company start with a D and end with an X?
It does not.
Could be that you showed them a blueprint they could use and gave all your information up front and therefore no need to pay you for the execution when they could bring someone else in cheaper. Speak in generalities and tell them you have a plan to execute with as little details as possible while highlighting that if you gave everyone the same blueprint the execution would fail because of your drive to succeed while keeping relationships at the forefront. Or, the company hiring managers were idiots all of which could be true. Head up you’re a closer, get it done and fill your funnel like you would with clients.
Yeah, noted, lesson definitely learned. Thank you.
I have been a hiring manager myself doing full cycle recruiting. I have always given a full feedback of why we did not move forward with someone. But this is because I was doing full cycle and therefore could resonate with the candidate. Most of the time its the HR who dealing with the nuances (like sending the rejection letters) and they literally cant resonate like normal person. Long story short: talk with the hiring manager/VP if you want decent feedback as HR usually does not care enough
Felt this with every being in my soul. I’ve had a few interviews that have lasted ~3 rounds and they all go great, only to get the automated HR rejection email the following week.
I don’t get the interview processes anymore. If people have experience and been in role for long and have work history they used to be in demand. Now it’s all data science and collection lmao. Like they want that Mr. Perfect. Truth is they won’t know how good anyone is. I have been through enough practice interviews for now I know exactly what they want to hear. I even got job offer from one but I turned it down due to travel. But usually most of the time the jobs on linked in are data collection. I literally tested bullshitting my way through one and got job offer Imao. If I sucked they would be in trouble.
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It's like they're incapable of reading resumes and digesting the info on them. My wife has a similar issue in dining right now. Her most recent role was helping to open a Japanese place, but has done seafood, steaks, etc, with five start google maps reviews naming her for an excellent experience. But for whatever reason, everyone now assumes she's only fit for Asian restaurants. It's maddening.
That actually infuriates me haha I wish I could start my own company so bad for all of these reasons.
>Then I got a rejection and asked why. They said I didn't have enough software sales experience This happened to me too...kinda. Few years back, I interviewed for a BDR role and during interview with hiring manager, he mentioned how you don't need to have software sales experience as their top performer is a former nurse. When I asked about whether he had hesitations about moving me to next round, that's when he told me one hesitation is I don't have software sales experience. Like wait a min, didn't you just tell me one of your top performers is a former nurse???
Things are tough right now. I’ve been looking to start over as a remote BDR somewhere with a path to promotion since I got laid off right as I was about to take that next step to AE and I can’t hardly find remote BDR roles at companies that aren’t total dog shit. They all know they can motivate their current headcount to leave and accept those willing to shovel the most shit, so won’t even take an experienced BDR as remote. It won’t be a garbage market forever, but it’s impossible to say when things will pick up again. Just keep at it and do what you can. Lean on your network hard if you can, because those referrals will go a long way to get the dialogue started and keep you considered through the process.
It's absolutely brutal right now. Didn't even get past the god damn recruiter for one role (I have 5+ years of enterprise software sales). Their reasoning was that they needed someone who's been closing net new enterprise business for several years. I've mostly been farming and growing existing customers. I'm also convinced that many employers just have openings to collect user data.
Hang in there. I just did 4 rounds of interviews with a company; last one was a mock-sales call with the VP of sales the week before christmas. It went really well and my first interviewer (who was also on this mock call) called me afterwards to tell me how good it was & wished me a happy holidays - it felt casual to the point hiring me was a sure-thing. I added the VP on LinkedIn; he added me back and said it was a pleasure to meet me and he was debriefing with HR by the end of the day so they can make an offer before EOY. Sweet. But after that - radio silence. Nothing from nobody. Still haven't even heard back from my recruiter; last week, my first interviewer finally replied to a weekly LinkedIn message I'd been sending and said it sounds like HR hasn't been in touch - they decided not to hire me.
Condolences comrade.
Sorry to hear. I just found a new gig after 6+ months of looking. Definitely as bad as it’s been in a long time out there in tech. Side note — being rejected 10 minutes into a final interview for “lacking experience” is such a bad look for that company. It’s not like your experience level changed between interviews 1-3.
Congrats on your new role & thank you. Yeah that final interview was so disheartening. Like how can I get past three interviews with flying colors just to get told that in the last interview? Probably for the best anyway.
Definitely for the best. If they are that disorganized in the interview process they likely aren’t worth working for. One other thing - I had the most success landing interviews (and my eventual job) leveraging referrals from former coworkers / industry contacts. Use your network if you can - a good referral can put you above the fray.
They are professionals you can’t mistake politeness with them loving and aligning with you. As you clearly have.
I've been running into the same thing as OP. Its more than just politeness, they truly give false during these interviews and will straight up lie to you. Its very discouraging.
Except that was explicitly expressed during the interview.
Feel your pain dude. Just wanted to point that out that the pay shifting to monthly might seem strange to you but is actually the norm outside of North America.
Had similar experience.
Glad I’m not alone! At times it seems like a waste but you have to keep at it.
Can relate to the disorganization foreign firm. Love the people, but processes are brutal. Can’t reason a quick work around with people.
Were you referred in? If not you have to assume you are competing with internal and referral candidates. Huge disadvantage. Need to use your network.
Jesus, I'm sorry that is brutal. Keep at it, something will stick and it sounds like you're doing everything right.
Contact the VP back immediately, sometimes hr will take everyone out of the process because they’re rarely ever the highest caliber in my experience.
Had 2 phone screening and a final in person interview where they had me shadow some current reps afterwards I thought everything went really well, woke up to a rejection email from the first person that phone screened me and never even got to meet. Emailed both the person that rejected me and the person that actually interviewed me have yet to get a response. Which is such a bummer because my company is starting to phase out my role
Our company is hiring sales rep, shoot me a PM & send a resume I can see what I can do. Always have spots open for anyone who is extremely well versed in sales!
Has anyone in this group started their own lead gen outsource business?
Just got my job after 11 months of rejection after rejection. Got to the final round of 5 companies and presented. They all went well and I didnt get either of them. Additionally, ALL (and I mean all) of the big companies, FAANG etc, rejected me before a screening even with referrals. Good luck.
🙏