Hoping this helps those who are looking into the Verkadamy Program. Recruiters don't tell you much on how it is besides that it will be hard for 4-6 months. Daily metrics will be around 100+ cold calls, 7,000 seconds in dials and also getting qualified signals/opportunities. Depending if you get Corp or SLED, you'll have an easier time if you got assigned to SLED. They have test outs of product knowledge and sales cycle every week so you will have to sacrifice time after work and weekends in order to pass, if you fail you will have to retake it again next week and hold up your progress. Some of the biggest tests are Fundamental knowledge which is about 300-400 questions/answers to memorize. Another big hurdle is getting your Perfect Demo in which you have to get a prospect to sit on a 30 minute demo while you ask them 15+ questions prior to demoing the platform. They expect you to ask questions in a specific way and want you to dig more to each of the prospect's response. If you miss 1 point they will have you redo it over again. 60% of Verkadamy either quits or get let go even if they have finished the program with solid metrics to show. Your spot to AE is not guaranteed if you finish the program and have done well (Top 5) or helped sourced deals that closed due to your efforts. They mainly promote at the end of the quarter so depending on your timing of completion of the program, you might have to wait until EOQ to get promoted. You will have to interview with inside sales managers at the end of the program to get promoted and they must know and like you in order to get the position. It is easier to get the role in some of the newer satellite offices. They recently paused hiring for East sales at the San Mateo HQ due to the fact that they have new offices in the East Coast which means less spots available for possible AAEs to get into. The biggest takeaway from all this is that the company is downsizing but they are still over hiring AAEs. Verkada pay is the lowest around compared to similar roles with 2x less work involved and you can help source $1 million dollar deals (which AAEs have in SLED) and get 0 commission from that. Timing is a big factor in success here, the first few AAE graduates only had to book 50 meetings to get into an AE role. They have made it extremely more difficult since then and you'll be working in patches where all the previous AAE has already called into for years. There are people who have graduated and make a lot of money but everything has to line up perfectly. You can't control your territory you get or if you are Corp or SLED. You'll be making more in other similar roles and doing twice as less work. The sales cycle is also a bit more difficult than a SaaS company due to the fact they need to partner with local integrators to install the products. I've seen a lot of reps on the sales floor get hung up on bad partners messing up certain deals. In hindsight, it would have been better to go with a traditional SaaS company with Hybrid work in the Bay Area.
