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Trying to get a promotion that requires full sales cycle experience, yet my current role does nothing to give me full sales cycle experience when it’s the requisite role

I currently work as an entry level, software sales representative (SDR/BDR). I’ve been in the role for 2.5 years now, which is about 12 months longer than what I was told is the standard tenure. No worries, I enjoy the company, our direction and my coworkers. The actual work itself, not so much, but I’ve done well and have made myself into the top performer for our office. Well, the next role to move into would be account management, which I’ve had my sights set on since I joined this company. I’ve let everyone from my managers, coworkers, and friends know this was my goal. All have supported me and have told me I’d be the ideal candidate, and I’ve been patiently waiting for a position to open so that I can apply, and have said they’d take my professional development seriously and mentor me (haven’t heard from them since…


I currently work as an entry level, software sales representative (SDR/BDR). I’ve been in the role for 2.5 years now, which is about 12 months longer than what I was told is the standard tenure. No worries, I enjoy the company, our direction and my coworkers. The actual work itself, not so much, but I’ve done well and have made myself into the top performer for our office.

Well, the next role to move into would be account management, which I’ve had my sights set on since I joined this company. I’ve let everyone from my managers, coworkers, and friends know this was my goal. All have supported me and have told me I’d be the ideal candidate, and I’ve been patiently waiting for a position to open so that I can apply, and have said they’d take my professional development seriously and mentor me (haven’t heard from them since they’ve said this).

A few spots have finally opened up for an account executive position, and I initially applied internally. I met with the hiring managers, met with members of their teams, other internal teams, etc. This was all on my own time, not through the formal application process – I wanted to let it be known that I’ve worked my ass off for this role and have prepped for this sort of promotion.

Every person I spoke with said they were impressed and would love to have me. Well, I never heard anything back from our internal recruiter and every sales manager I spoke with hasn’t reached out in over 3 weeks. I ask my current manager if they knew what was going on, and they said they’re actually looking to hire external candidates due to me(and other SDRs/BDRs) not having full sales cycle experience.

My role doesn’t see the full sales cycle through, nor are we trained/taught on full cycle sales. We sell the initial meeting with a client and that’s where it gets passed off.

Obviously I’m a little annoyed so I ask what I should do and my manager suggests I take on the responsibilities of an account executive (the role I applied for) to prove that I’m capable of doing the job.

While I have no doubt in my mind that I can do that, I would not receive a pay increase and take on responsibilities that I’m not trained on. There are no plans in place to train my team and I on full sales cycle experience either, so a lot of team members are feeling stuck and morale has been low since senior members aren’t seeing the path to promotion we were sold on. Even if I took on these responsibilities, the next time I apply would not even guarantee a promotion because I have no formal record of full sales cycle experience.

Just venting my frustrations, but I wish them well when I submit my 2 week notice. I’ve been applying to other account executive roles and have spoken with recruiters at great companies so I’m excited to see where my next role will take me.

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