Vendition Deep Dive: A Paid Sales Apprenticeship

Sales is one of the oldest professions, and the landscape has evolved drastically over the years.

What if you could break into the tech industry without breaking the bank? What if you could get paid to train as a sales development representative (SDR) and launch a lucrative career? What if you could do all of that without a traditional sales background, and with the help of mentors?

Here in 2022, all of this is possible. Tech companies are seeking sales reps who can navigate and capture customers in different brand touchpoints, maintain the grit and curiosity to propel their product forward, and do it all with a growth mindset. They partner with companies like Vendition, a paid SDR apprenticeship program, to hire trained reps, faster.

Ready to skip the guesswork and get hired in sales? Learn how you can become a talented industry-ready SDR in three months with Vendition’s free and immersive sales training program.

What Is Vendition’s SDR Apprenticeship Program?

In a nutshell, Vendition is a training program for aspiring tech sales professionals. Their apprenticeship model allows those accepted into the program to get on-the-job training for three months while becoming skilled in their new sales profession. The best part? Each apprentice is paid $3,000 per month (for a total of $9,000), unlike other bootcamp models that cost money.

Vendition is the brainchild of James Nielsen, a pioneer of sales development, who built his name by leading and managing high-performing sales teams in tech companies like Ustream, Wizeline, and IntApp. With over 10 years of sales experience in tech, he noticed a gap in the field: the lack of sales-focused education and training institutions.

“I found it frustrating that there were no opportunities to learn about sales. No majors, minors, or bootcamps at the time. It seemed like people earned jobs based on who they knew, and you had to be in the right circles,” James shares.

Now, companies like Vendition are changing the narrative around the cost of higher education by creating opportunities for people to grow in their careers without taking on more debt. This is a critical and necessary shift when you consider that, according to the Education Data Initiative, “The number of people with student loans outstanding is now 44.7 million, out of whom 42.3 million carry a balance on a federal loan.”

Where is the upward mobility in that? Options exist.

“We value helping individuals from under-resourced communities and underrepresented backgrounds to acquire the skills and experience they need to get started in tech while not taking on student debt,” James shares on closing the gap between minorities and sales opportunities.

According to Vendition, at the end of the three months, 96% of their apprentices are offered full-time jobs as SDRs at their partner companies. Vendition alumni report earning an average annual salary of $82,000 at said companies, a highly competitive compensation rate in comparison to the national annual salary average for SDRs at $45,424.

Quick recap: Through Vendition, aspiring tech sales professionals are hired by partner companies where they then apprentice while being trained and paid by Vendition for three months, earning $9,000. This free apprenticeship program ensures that they learn the ropes of tech sales and shape their skills before fully committing to a career in sales.

Vendition for Aspiring Sales Talent

In this section, you’ll learn more about what types of applicants Vendition is looking for, how their sales training process works, and what apprentice support they provide.

What Types of Applicants Is Vendition Looking For?

If the idea of a career in sales piques your interest, but you need some strategic direction, you’re in the right place. Vendition is looking for highly motivated career starters, switchers, and explorers who are eager to learn and start a sales career. Vendition fosters an all-inclusive community with a focus on diversity, giving many a shot at a fulfilling career in sales development.

First, ask yourself: Am I genuinely curious? Am I coachable? Does problem-solving excite me?

These are just a few of the top qualities Vendition finds in their apprentices, regardless of the different industries or roles they may be pivoting from. Some apprentices have prior experience in customer-facing roles. While beneficial, this is not a requirement. Whether you’ve sold products door-to-door, worked in restaurants, been on a sports team, run your side hustle, or anything in between—acquired skills like clear communication will take you far in tech sales.

Vendition’s sales training apprenticeship is open to applicants at various stages in their career journey. From soon-to-be grads and recent graduates to military veterans and diverse industry switchers, the program is designed to help people who are ready to take action in their careers. The first step? Submit your application today. Applicants must be authorized to work in the US.

“Vendition welcomed me with open arms. I was able to get resume help, interview prep help, and tangible career advice to help excel in my current role at Bevy.”

—Krystal Beachum, Senior SDR at Bevy

“Vendition helped me get my foot in the door after graduating from college. Their program taught me the fundamentals of being a successful SDR and how to go beyond. I am truly grateful for all the support they offered me during and after the apprenticeship. Thank you, Vendition!”

—Adam Nguyen, Sales Development at Asana

You can read Vendition’s blog to check out their series highlighting real apprentice stories.

How Does Vendition’s Sales Training Process Work?

After submitting an application, the initial phase of the sales training process focuses on how to prepare you to get a job where you can start your apprenticeship. You’ll consult with a Vendition Career Advisor, who proceeds to understand your interests and your long-term career goals.

After which, you will learn how to craft an effective resume and cover letter, how to apply for jobs, win interviews, and familiarize yourself with sales fundamentals and software tools. All of these resources are accessible online on a part-time schedule.

From there, a Vendition Relationship Manager will work with you to identify ideal companies and help guide you through the interview process, mentoring you for the best chances of success.

If hired, the three-month sales apprenticeship starts on your first full-time day with that company, simultaneously kickstarting your immersive training. Working in a corporate setting while training gives you the advantage to apply what you learn in solving real challenges. Whether this corporate setting requires apprentices to work in a fully remote, in-person, or hybrid environment will depend on the policies of the hiring company. Vendition does not decide this.

It may sound a bit intimidating at first, especially for the non-experienced, but each apprentice is assigned a dedicated mentor to guide you and provide holistic support throughout the process.

How Does Vendition Support Its Apprentices?

A Vendition coach sits down with you to set weekly goals and metrics and track your progress effectively. Your mentor will also conduct regular check-ins to see how you are assimilating into your role and how it affects your mental and emotional health.

Vendition CEO James shares, “We believe sales is best taught through experiential learning, and the Vendition apprenticeship model allows students to get the learn by doing experience with our structured coursework.”

Together with business leaders and managers, Vendition mentors create an environment where you are free to open up about your struggles and gain insights on how to overcome them. Noting how stress intensive the sales field is, this end-to-end approach shapes you into a well-rounded SDR ready to deal with industry challenges head-on.

And remember: The program pays you $3,000 per month for three months while you train. You commit your time and gain everything you need to pivot to a career you love.

Vendition’s Diverse Alumni Network and Close-Knit Community

After completing your 12-week apprenticeship, you are considered a graduate and can communicate and network with fellow alumni in Vendition to share ideas or even discover other job opportunities as you move up the ladder.

Vendition alumni gain access to monthly alumni newsletter, private alumni LinkedIn group, and soon-to-launch Vendition Alumni Ambassador Program and regional meetups. Vendition also hosts mixers and networking events like Lunch & Learns, where tech professionals give valuable insights on how to upskill.

Leveraging the active Vendition community, which is composed of over 600 alumni working as business development representatives, marketing associates, customer experience managers, project managers, and so forth, can prove priceless in terms of building relationships and diversifying your network. In this industry, the relationships you make early in your career have an overwhelming ability to contribute to future opportunities, promotions, and wins. Lean in!

As an element of their commitment to diversity, 80% of Vendition’s candidates are women or people of color.

Vendition for Employers

At this point, you might be curious to learn more about some of the companies Vendition partners with (AKA your potential future employers!) You also might be wondering why a company would choose to hire from Vendition versus traditional outlets.

Vendition partners with employers to find the best entry-level tech sales talent, expose them to how the company works, and let Vendition mold them into job-ready sales professionals. Doing so lowers the company’s turnover rate, shortens the hiring period, and creates a team of high-performing sales talent.

In this section, we’ll review case studies from two of Vendition’s dozens of partners, Limble CMMS and BrightTALK. Grads also work with partners like Asana, Zenefits, and more.

Limble CMMS + Vendition

Limble CMMS, a Utah-based CMMS software provider, struggled to grow its team with highly motivated talent that ticked all the boxes.

• The problem: Its staff suffered from a slow hiring process, spending an inordinate amount of time weeding out candidates that didn’t match its culture and values.
• The solution: With the help of Vendition, Limble CMMS went from 0 fully ramped SDRs to 10 fully ramped SDRs in five months, a goal their VP of Sales, Jake Westbrook, projected would take nine months to achieve.

BrightTalk + Vendition

BrightTALK, a B2B platform that hosts professional webinars and other online events, echoes this sentiment. Like many companies, BrightTALK has an internal hiring team and has even tapped countless recruiting agencies for their hiring needs in various positions.

• The problem: When it comes to sourcing SDRs from a competitive market, finding candidates with the right skills and knowledge exhausted its resources.
• The solution: After two intro sessions, Vendition and BrightTALK were aligned on hiring needs and decided to partner, leaving BrightTALK with only positive things to say about the program.

“The process to get candidates in the door from Vendition was very easy. Vendition was very receptive to our feedback and preferences, and we appreciated their flexibility in accommodating our processes and making it as seamless as possible.”

-Jonathan Watanabe, Sales Development Manager @ BrightTALK

A Track Record of Excellence: Go Vendition

Serving as the go-to hub for immersive sales development training since its inception in 2016, Vendition successfully catapulted thousands of career explorers and career shifters into sales.

The program prides itself in nearly 100% of hiring partners retaining the majority of Vendition apprentices and offering them full-time jobs due to their excellent performance. As a reminder, Vendition alumni report earning an average annual salary of $82,000, with the potential to earn a six-figure salary as their career progresses.

Unsure where to go next? Go Vendition! Don’t let your lack of experience or qualifications hinder you from landing your first tech sales job. Get the help you need and pave the way toward one of the most lucrative careers in tech when you apply to join Vendition’s sales apprenticeship.

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