Transitioning to tech sales after a 20 yr military career. Doing an internship for my last few months in military meant to help folks make the jump. Choices for entry point are: 1: Remote healthcare startup. Public via SPAC. Role is BDR working for the only AE in the company. Thrown into fire, minimal training, room for growth I hope. 2: Large tech company (Cisco). Sales leadership training program. Basic sales training, mentorship, and shadow a team. Could be inside/field or other roles if I land a full time offer. Strong potential to skip BDR. Cisco seems obvious choice. Am I missing something? #sales #sales #sales
Go with bigger company as the systems and processes will be in place as compared to a startup where everything will be unorganized and you will constantly need to ask for things you took from granted ( perks, resources etc.). It maybe too drastic a change to go from the biggest and most organized organisation to the complete opposite.
1. Enroll yourself in a sales academy like Lambda or SV academy. 2. Pursue sales opps in defense or security related industries that require their employees to have a high security clearance. Your background makes you uniquely qualified in this regard. 3. Reach out and speak to as many individuals with your background, they'll help coach you and introduce you to potential employers. 4. Leverage repvue to gauge earning potential. Inform yourself. Sound knowledge about salary parameters. 5. Thank you for your service, good luck!
Out of your two options go with Cisco. However also look at military programs that some tech companies have. I know aws has one. They are created for people like you.
Dude Large tech all the way! You’re going to love the lifestyle. Sell into SLED/Public Sector obviously. Look at companies that dominate these spaces like Rubrik, ZScaler, Cisco etc.
Check for: Cyber Security, Compliance, sovereign aspects