The AAE program, labeled Verkademy. Is an extremely underpaid SDR position in which you receive zero commission for any pipeline built, demos, deals closed that you sourced. They will tell you the success rate of promotion for AAE to AE is 50-60% when in all actuality it is guaranteed to be under 20% - go ahead and ask your recruiter what the success rate of the program (promotion to account executive) has been over the last 1 year or 2 years. Make sure they give you current numbers that include resignations. On top of this, each week you will have an interview-style test out where you must memorize 100's of product knowledge questions, Verkada sales scripts, and answers to product objections. The studying is extreme, you will study more for this than any college class. And of course, this will largely need to be done on your own time, outside of working hours (aka unpaid). The 'grading' of these tests is extremely tedious and seems more of a weed out tactic. They will dangle the AE promotion on a stick instead of paying well. There is 100 other (sdr/bdr) jobs that will pay better and offer the same chances, if not better, to an AE role. As I mentioned, between people quitting because they see through the mirage, burnout, being fired for doing poorly on weekly tests, or not attaining cold call metrics, the chances of getting through the program to AE promotion are definitely under 20%. Once promoted, you are still largely underpaid compared to other jobs in tech sales. There's also a strong chance you get promoted to a 'Growth AE', in which your days will look no different from before you were promoted as you will be cold-calling 24/7 because you are not given an existing book of business. Your new 'territory' was likely a remote parcel of an existing territory that the rep didn't touch because there was minimal opportunity there, so they cut it out and threw it to a Growth AE. Pro is they give you a low quota if growth.
