Firstly – I want to acknowledge that what you are going through is rough. It will get better but these first few days are brutal. None of what follows is meant to diminish that. Here goes….
Competition
As harsh as this sounds, one of your biggest challenges will be differentiating yourself from your fellow recently-let-go ex-colleagues. Suddenly there are lots of previously-hard-to-get SF people on the streets. How do you set yourself apart from them and others in the market?
Working harder at job search than them
a. Don’t take a break – Work the job market now. It will likely take you at least 6 weeks to get a job. After 3 months of not working recruiters (rightly or wrongly) will be less interested in you. Secure a job THEN take a break before it if you need it – otherwise that 3-month gap comes up really, really fast
b. Get proactive in your search – don’t just wait to be found (do that too but set yourself up to be found)
Here’s how to do both: https://lnkd.in/eEETSDtk
c. Put your “open-to-work” beacon on now so we recruiters can see if you were affected
Differentiating your experience from theirs (on Linkedin and on your resume)
a. Start with your SF experience.
To outside recruiters “Salesforce” looks generic. Saying you worked there doesn’t tell us much. Give us detail! Yes, it is CRM at its core, but have you described what products and verticals you were exposed to there so that people interested in more specific exposure can find you, especially more niche startups?
Here’s how you do that.
Divisions and Products – Spell out if you worked at specific divisions – e.g. if you worked at SF Marketing Cloud, Commerce Cloud, Sales Cloud etc. break those out in EITHER in the company name OR title (“Account Exec, SF commerce Cloud”). Name drop products you sold (eg CPQ) including acquired products. Speaking of that…..
Acquisitions- If you got there through acquisition e.g. Heroku, Datorama, Demandware, Buddy Media – make sure you break out those experiences from your SF experience. It will
* make you look like less of a big company person
* break up your tenure
* show that you know how to work at both big and smaller companies.
Vertical exposure – Break out your clients (name drop) by verticals so companies with specific vertical interests can find you. Loads of SF people put “Retail & Consumer Goods” In their title but the truth is generally one or the other. Recruiters care, so get specific.
Management experience – Add detail to the role. Dont assume that outsiders understand the difference between a SF RVP and AVP – show how many people you manage by function.
Achievements – Yes, you need to brag a little to separate yourself ESPECIALLY in sales.
b. Make sure you add detail to what you did before SF – This is what is truly going to set you apart from colleagues. Add detail and keywords to your profile and resume.
