Thoughts And Prayers Are Not Enough

Employers in the tech sector collectively cut more than 150,000 jobs in 2022 — and in just the first three weeks of 2023, layoffs climbed to more than 30% of that figure. - https://www.computerworld.com/article/3685936/tech-layoffs-in-2023-a-timeline.html?

Thoughts and prayers are not enough

Let’s not sugar coat things, it’s a bloodbath out there.??

Now before the cynics chime in and say this was overdue, that these companies are “trimming the fat” lets remember these are human beings, just like you and I.? These are people with families, some of them being sole breadwinners and others being single parents.? These are people with mortgages to pay…these are people who are funding their kids' education and dreams of making it big in the big leagues.? These are people putting food on the table and keeping the lights on.??

Sure, some of them may be underperforming and would be let go regardless of the economy, but the majority of them are hard working, loyal, tax paying constructive members of society.? These cuts will decimate many of them, causing undue stress on the individual and their families.??

This is personal for me as some of my friends and former colleagues - who are all incredibly talented - have been caught up in these cuts.? To say that it’s unfair is an understatement.

Now that I’ve humanized these cuts, I’d like to talk about some practical tips for those that are now entering the job market.? I’m not going to give you thoughts and prayers - lord knows there’s enough of that out there already (pun intended).? I’m not going to say you can call me and I’ll lend an ear.? That’s not going to help.

My lens is coming from someone who has worked with HR and L&D professionals for 11 years.? 9 of them at LinkedIn and 2 of them at BetterUp.? I’m also speaking as a sales professional and a human being.? See below for some practical tips and questions to ask your future employer.? Some of them are sales specific, but many of them can be used regardless of your role.

1 - Know your worth and be confident - Just because you have been laid off, does not diminish who you are as an individual or as a professional.? The worst thing you can do is interview with a lack of confidence in your abilities and the value you can bring to your new employer.? It’s an employers market (for now) so it’s up to you to bring your best self to your upcoming interviews.? The past is the past and this is your new reality.? Accept that and move on.

2 - Be a storyteller - People resonate with stories, not facts.? Be prepared to tell your personal and professional story and how you got to where you are today.? Bring your own flare and personality to the interview.? After all, now one knows your own story better than you.

3 - Have your references (customer, bosses, colleagues, personal) ready - Reach out to these people right now.? Give them a call, not an email, and explain your situation…be honest.? Believe it or not, most people want an opportunity to help.? This is why building relationships and being an honest and forthright person is extremely important.? You should always be building relationships, every single day.??

4 - Have your LinkedIn profile up to date - Have an updated professional picture of yourself, not one from 20 years ago on a sailboat sailing in the Caribbean.? Tell a story on your profile of who you are, personalize it.? Make it fun.? Make sure all of your professional experiences are up to date, including your recent trainings.? Put your volunteer work on your profile, because believe it or not this may differentiate you from other candidates.? Make sure your references are up to date.? This is imperative as the recruiters and hiring managers will go their first.? Make the first impression a good one.

5 - Find out who the hiring manager is - Differentiate yourself by reaching out to them directly for a conversation.? Research who they are, who they are connected to, what they like, see what you have in common with them.? Key is to build rapport early, which will break the ice and allow you to have a real conversation about the potential opportunity.

6 - See who you are connected to at the company you’re looking at - Use LinkedIn to see if you know anyone (1st or 2nd degree) at your potential new employer.

7 - Financial acumen - The majority of contracts in B2B sales during these times are getting scrutinized and looked at at all levels of the organization.? Gone are the days of finding a champion that can sign off on a contract.? Assume your proposal is to be examined by finance, most likely the CFO if it’s a significant investment.? Be prepared to talk wisely and succinctly on how you’ve done this in your previous company.

8 - Research the company - This is one of the most important things you do.? Just because you are out of work doesn’t mean you should sell yourself short (see point one).? This is not to say to not take the job if you really need it, but if you can afford to be selective make sure you do this research.??

• Are they profitable or do they have an over inflated valuation? - If the valuation is inflated, you may be at risk for layoffs in the near future.
• Are they the market leader and if not, where do they stack rank in their industry?
• How well is the brand known in the area you’ll be selling into?
• Is there support (marketing / branding efforts) in the area you are selling into?
• Does the organization have a multi faceted sales approach (SMB / MM / Enterprise) and do they recognize that selling to large enterprises is very different then an SMB customer?? What approaches do they take?? For example, strict cold calling will most likely not get you a large contract at a multinational organization.??
• Are they well funded and who’s funding them.? What series of funding are they in? - You’ll want to know this, especially if you’ve moved from a large established company to a smaller organization that’s private.? If they are burning through cash, you may be laid off again in the near future.
• Tools - What kind of sales tools do they have to support your efforts (ie - LinkedIn Sales Nav, Outreach, CRM etc…).? If all you have is a yellow pages and a rotary phone, you may want to look elsewhere.
• Who are their customers - Most organizations have a customer page, which is easy to find.? See if they have notable customers, bring them to the interview and ask about how and why they become customers.
• Average length of sales cycle - Dig in and find out for SMB/MM and Enterprise.? Extremely long sales cycles typically indicate that you will have to involve many people in the sale of your product.? Be prepared to multithread and tell stories of how you did this in your previous role.
• What is the quota? - If you are looking at many companies selling the same product or service, you should aim to learn what the quota is for their competitors.??
• What is the % of reps hitting quota - According to Sales Hacker (powered by Outreach) “A healthy sales organization should aim for about 60% of reps hitting their quota. - This makes it achievable, but not out of reach.? If the % of reps hitting quota is low, dig in and ask why that is. Typical reasons are the quota's are set too high, not enough brand awareness, the product is too expensive, lack of training.
• How many of your leads come from outbound vs inbound.
• What is the percentage of closed won deals that came from inbound vs outbound. This will give you an indication of how well know the company is in their space.
• Average size of sale - this will give you an indication of how many deals you need to close to hit quota
• Average number of deals won by reps in a given year.
• Ask the person you are interviewing with why they decided to work at the company.? What drew them there, why are they staying there?
• If you are in a sales role and if you are interviewing with a potential colleague (standard in many orgs) ask why deals are lost.? Is it price, competition?
• Who are their competitors?? How busy is this space?
• Are you able to keep the customers you sell to (if you’re an AE) to grow them or do they go to an Account Manager.? If this is the case, can you hold accounts and if so how many per year?? What is the policy?
• Customer attrition, renewal rate and net revenue retention - In a SaaS business, these are extremely important metrics.? If their customer attrition rate is high, you may want to look elsewhere. If the renewal rate is high, this is a sign of a healthy business. If the net revenue retention is low, this means the customers aren't buying more of their product once they become customers. Make sure you dig in and ask questions.
• Percentage of voluntary and involuntary attrition in the department you are applying to - If the numbers are high, dig in and ask why.? If they aren’t willing to share with you, that’s a red flag….you can also find this information out on LinkedIn in the Insights section.
• Leadership - This is crucial.? You need to understand the leadership from the top, all the way to the person who may be managing you.? What companies did they previously work at?? How long have the leaders been there?? Is there high turnover for leadership?? If so, why?? Were the leaders promoted internally or hired externally?? You can find most of this out on LinkedIn.
• Culture - I was lucky enough to be in a closed door meeting with Jeff Weiner a few years ago with the CEO of a large Canadian company.? The discussion between Jeff and this CEO was all about culture.? The importance of it, how to create it, the importance of the leadership driving it.? Culture trickles down from the top.? A poor culture will result in fiefdoms and everyone watching out for their own backs.? You don’t want that.? Poor culture typically results in a poor employee experience.??
• Training and development - Extremely important.? Find out what tools they use, what the onboarding process looks like, what the ongoing training and development looks like.? Do they have an e-learning platform?? Do leaders have access to coaching?? Who has access to development and training?? Is it across the board?? Dig in here, as some companies say they focus on it but it may not be as robust as you think.
• Promotions - Ask this question.? Do they promote from within?? What does that look like???
• Have they done massive layoffs previously?? - Find out why that happened and what role(s) were impacted.
• Does your potential new employer have plans for growth?? If so, what kind of growth (new geographies, products, acquisitions).? This could open new opportunities for you.
• The person interviewing you should be on time and if not, they should let you know.? Remember, your time is as important as theirs.??If they are late, this is a red flag.
• Does your contract grant you equity?
• Ask how open the company is to open, honest and constructive feedback.? If they are, this indicates an extremely safe and healthy culture.??

9 - Help others where you can - Even if you are laid off, if you have an opportunity to help someone else in the same position do it.? It will pay off.?

10 - Have fun and maintain a positive mindset - You are going through a stressful time, but having a negative mindset will not help.? Look at this as a new opportunity.? Bringing levity to your searches and being positive on the phone with your potential employer will only help.

Be well and keep your head up.