Deconstructing Job Openings

And how to Apply for them

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Before I dive in to today’s deconstruction of an AE job a quick reminder:

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Account Executive Role in Boston, MA

Found this job opening for an Account Executive at a company called Jellyfish. According to their website they “take engineering data and put it into business context.”

I have no connection to this company or any of the members of their hiring team. However, I’ve recently been working with clients who are looking to transition their careers in “sales roles” and I’ve been researching roles that are currently (as of 5/18/23) open on the company website.

TIP: For every job you see posted on LinkedIn, go to the company’s website directly and see if the job is currently listed there. Sometimes recruiters forget to close job postings on third party sites.

I’m posting the entire job description with my notes below. If you want to apply for this position, you can do so on the website.

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Account Executive

at Jellyfish (View all jobs)

Boston, MA or Remote. Note the location listed is Boston. They are going to give priority to candidates in or around the area, region or time zone (if all skills are the same)

The sales team at Jellyfish is maturing, and[AA2]  after a year of record growth we are looking to add people who are passionate about making an impact and playing a role in helping us scale. We are looking for highly motivated individuals with a strong track record in B2B sales of over-achieving their sales goals, but also who care deeply about winning as a team and helping build up others around them. 

 [AA2]This is a young company and a growing team. Maturing says to me that they know they are new to the field and don’t have name recognition yet, so they are looking to bring in proven hunters to help them continue to grow and meet their high volume goals.

Let’s talk about responsibilities.

• Responsible for building/sourcing your own B2B pipeline by outbound targeting CTOs, VPs of Engineering, etc[AA3] . [AA3]You won’t be given a book of business to build out, rather you’ll be expected to have PROVEN your ability to work directly with CTOs and VPs of Engineering at new clients. (I don’t know enough about their clientele to tell you what industry specifically, but if you do some digging you’ll be able to see if you’ve worked with/sold to the type of clients they want to engage)

• Engage in both technical and business oriented conversations with startups to the Fortune 500.

• Manage a complex/technical deal cycle by performing product demonstrations that highlight the value of Jellyfish, managing POC and onboarding processes, assembling business case studies and executive read-outs, etc[AA4] . [AA4]Congratulations! You’re going to do it all – at least at the outset. From identifying new business to being your own presentation/proposal team to onboarding and trouble shooting for new clients.

• Provide analytics/insights through regular reporting, updates, and forecasts[AA5] . [AA5]You will be collecting and dissecting your own data to prove your business case and that you are meeting KPIs (HINT – in the interview, make sure you understand what/how much income you’ll be responsible for)

• Partner closely with our Customer Success team to manage both pre-sales and post-sales motion.

• Maintain strong relationships with customers post-sale to drive both expansion and renewal business.

Let’s talk about what you need to excel[AA6]  [AA6]HERE’s THE REAL DEAL of what they expect you to have proof of doing, in order to call you for a pre-screen.
These are pretty lame “Must haves” but if you can align proof of implementing passion, collaboration, ambition, persistence, drive and humor in your resume they’ll give you a buzz. With a list like this, I’d recommend a cover letter where you can share a relevant story about how you  did these things.

• Passion -  from learning to self-development.  You enjoy being challenged

• Collaboration - want to go above and beyond in making those around you better, but also do not possess an ego that prevents you from learning from your peers and reaching out for help

• Ambition - a competitive person who has a strong track record of success in quota attainment and consistently finishing at the top of the leaderboard

• Persistent- from written communication, to sales calls, to relationships built with customers, you strive to put your best foot forward and avoid complacency wherever possible

• Drive - you thrive in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment

• Sense of Humor - We know sales is a hard job, and there’s a lot of work to do to accomplish the lofty goals we have, but we also want to make work fun along the way

Bonus points if[AA7] : [AA7]Bonus Points, or the real “must haves”? Since these are tangible, black and white accomplishments, I know the recruiter is looking for someone that can demonstrate (via resume)  these skills.

• 4-6 years B2B sales experience at a startup[AA8] . [AA8]After 4-6 years, is it still a start-up? If you’ve worked at various start-ups in their infancy stages, this is something to be sure to showcase - bonus points of the company received funding and continued to grow with you as a sales leader.

• Sold into the CTO / VPE / Director Engineering personas[AA9]  [AA9]Make sure your resume indicates the decision-makers you sold to, and be prepared to speak to how you built relationships in the CSuite and Executive levels, i.e., “Responsible for identifying key decision makers and working with 10+ name brands seeking solutions for their data mining initiatives.”

• Closed full-cycle closing deals in the range of $50k-$200k+ ARR[AA10]  [AA10]Speak to your revenue directly in your resume, specifically in your current and most recent role

A list of job experiences and qualification requirements is great, but humility, a performance-driven attitude, and a team-player approach are most important to us. We love to have fun and win in the process. We only hire people who have a passion for building great companies in an environment where a sense of humor is a must[AA11] . [AA11]They think of themselves as the cheerful, playful, underdogs of their industry. So while they want top producers, they want those producers to appear laid back. Likely not a lot of work-life balance here.

Let’s talk about us!

This is all about you, but you want to know a little about us. Jellyfish was started in 2017 as a team of three with one big idea: engineering is the core of modern business, so let’s create and manage it that way!  With the help of our customers, we have built the first Engineering Management Platform, providing visibility into engineering organizations, their work, and how they operate. We enable leaders to align engineering decisions with business initiatives and deliver the right software efficiently and on time. 

We[AA12]  believe that it takes a diverse team to build the best company we can. Jellyfish welcomes people from all backgrounds and especially encourages applications from members of groups underrepresented in the software industry.  [AA12]This is their statement on DEI – you’ll need to determine yourself through the interview process if they truly have a diverse team (of suppliers, colleagues, and customers)

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What do you think? Is this type of review/guide useful for you as a job seeker?

What types of roles would you like me to present in the future?

Interested in this job? Here are some additional tips for you as you pursue the role.