Hi everyone, Jamie here - welcome to my new blog! As part of my role as a Brand Ambassador at NGTU, I have decided to begin spreading the message about the massive
opportunity in tech sales and how it has become an ideal entry-level role for school/college leavers.
In this blog, I will be covering:
- About Me
- What is tech sales?
- The potential pathways available
- Where to apply
About Me:
My name is Jamie Martin, I am 20 years old and I am currently an Account Executive for a Cloud Consultancy company called Rebura. I began my tech-sales journey 18 months ago at my prior employer, who was also a Cloud Consultancy. After leaving school in 2020, I was puzzled about where to go or what to do next. It was time to fly the ‘schooling nest’. As we all know, COVID-19 threw a spanner in the works for many of us, whether that be for; university applications, apprenticeships or full-time roles that were simply no longer available due to the pandemic. I was very fortunate to keep my offered role and started my first job out of school as a Junior Business Analyst. After a short time in this role, I realised my potential lay within sales, which led to my role as a Junior Business Developer. Fast-forward 18 months and I am now 8 months into my Account Executive position.
What is tech sales?
According to LinkedIn, in 2022, Business Development Representative roles made the top 5 for ‘The most in-demand jobs in the U.K’ but why? Tech sales is a role that involves identifying a customer’s common business challenges and using the latest technology to solve them. As a sales individual, you may be selling Hardware, SaaS (Software as a Service) or in my case Cloud Computing (in particular, Amazon Web Services) depending on your company's offering. The concept remains the same - you work towards fixing your customer’s business challenges with a technological solution.
Potential Pathways in Tech Sales:
Getting into tech sales after you finish school/college is becoming more accessible to students. If you are studying either Business or IT at sixth form/college, these roles could be perfect to expand your knowledge and find out what really interests you. If you are studying other subjects but have a genuine interest in the industry, this could also be for you! Typically in tech-sales, an entry-level role would be a Business Development Representative (BDR) or Sales Development Representative (SDR).
A typical day in the life of a BDR may include:
- Contacting potential clients through cold emailing/calling
- Scheduling discovery meetings/demos for Sales Engineers
- Actively updating the Customer Relationship Management System (CRM) - I would recommend taking the free courses found on Salesforce and Hubspot!
What you may be targeted on:
- Number of demos/discoveries booked per month/quarter
- Number of phone calls/emails made per day (less common now)
Once you have been in a BDR/SDR role for at least a year, opportunities may arise to go into more advanced roles such as an Account Executive.
To discuss your future career in tech sales, please connect with me on LinkedIn!
Where to apply:
In my experience, job boards like Indeed and TotalJobs do not target entry-level roles. Companies are now searching for talent via LinkedIn, particularly start-ups who may have a smaller acquisition team. Building your personal brand on LinkedIn is crucial. It’s the perfect way to stand out to other candidates and connect with potential hiring managers/executives. LinkedIn also allows you to find people who have been successful in the role and see how they have progressed. Connect with those people, find out their experiences and pick their brain. They may even give you some tips once you get to the interviewing stage!
Summary:
Please feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn, I always love to hear from students/college leavers with an interest in tech. I look forward to seeing you on my next blog!
