GTM OpsSales and Selling

6 Months Job Hunting. Finally Landed an AE Role

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Why I picked this

massive anecdonetal story of the shift structurally in GTM, we should pay attention to this one

“80 interviews for 36 positions over 6 months. Many reputable companies offering less than half my previous salary - I was making more doing gig work.”

Key takeaways

  • Sales job market in 2025 showing severe compression: 80 interviews across 36 applications over 6 months, with only 4 reaching final rounds (11% final-round conversion rate)
  • Salary deflation evident: multiple 'reputable companies' offering <50% of previous AE compensation, forcing candidates to reject offers that pay less than gig work
  • Entire sales teams being managed out simultaneously (August 2025), suggesting widespread GTM restructuring or company failures, not individual performance issues
  • Successful job search required multi-modal approach: 50-60 hrs/week gig work for income + 1 hr/day dedicated LinkedIn prospecting + maintaining recruiter visibility
  • Ghost job phenomenon confirmed: candidate filtering for 'serious management' vs positions used to 'gauge market and lowball candidates'

I cover AI×GTM intelligence like this every Wednesday.

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  • 67% view LLMs as opportunity not threat, signaling industry acceptance and strategic pivot rather than defensive posture
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This analysis was produced using the STEEPWORKS system — the same agents, skills, and knowledge architecture available in the GrowthOS package.