Career Path of a Sales Development Representative at Everlaw
Sebastian's career path began with a formative experience in college at the Student International Business Council, which provided opportunities to travel, consult, and present to C-suite executives, a skillset that "set [them] up to be able to, you know, do sales and, and other things later on." Post-graduation, they worked at Tran Global, a finance and accounting executive search firm, where they wore "a lot of different hats" in a startup environment before moving to the Bay Area to pursue tech sales at Everlaw, where they currently generate leads in a more specialized role.
Sales Development, Lead Generation, Tech Sales, Career Path, Internships
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Sebastian Perez
Sales Development Representative
Everlaw
University of San Diego
Finance
Law, Technology
Sales and Client Management
Scholarship Recipient, Pell Grant Recipient, Took Out Loans, Worked 20+ Hours in School
Video Highlights
1. The Student International Business Council (SIBC) provided opportunities for internships abroad, travel to meet founders and entrepreneurs, and real-world consulting experience, including presenting to C-suite executives.
2. Working at a small startup, Tran Global, allowed for wearing many hats including recruiting, sales, account management, and contract writing, providing a broad understanding of business operations.
3. The move to the Bay Area was driven by the abundance of tech sales opportunities, a significant contrast to the limited options in San Diego, highlighting the importance of location for specific career paths.
Transcript
Could you walk me through your career path, starting with your experiences in college? Did you have any internships or jobs before your current role?
It's kind of a long story, but looking back to college, much like yourself, the most pivotal aspect of my time there was probably the Student International Business Council, or SIBC. I started there my freshman year and was involved all four years, with the exception of COVID during my sophomore year.
That program allowed us to take part in internships and programs abroad. We were able to travel and be on teams to meet founders and entrepreneurs across the world. It also provided real-world experience working on different consulting projects, which we wouldn't have been able to do otherwise.
One specific experience that comes to mind is presenting in front of CSA Energy, a renewable energy startup. We helped them find their ideal prospects and clients in the Vancouver area. It was valuable to be able to present to their C-suite. Not everyone gets that opportunity in college or even younger. That skillset definitely set me up for sales and other roles later in my career.
Overall, the real-world experience I gained in college was foundational. After graduating, I started working at Tran Global in San Diego. They were an executive search company focused solely on finance and accounting roles.
When I first started, I was primarily doing lead generation for John, the president and CEO. It was a very small company, with about six to eight people. The nice thing about my time there was seeing what it's like to work in a startup environment, where you get to wear many different hats.
I did recruiting, sales, and account management. I also learned how to write contracts, as we would send them out. We had a hand in every aspect of the business, which was really cool to see. Eventually, after my two-year mark, I decided to move closer to family.
I was also really intrigued by the tech space and tech sales. There's no better place to be in tech sales than the Bay Area. There are so many companies in tech here hiring for these roles, and there weren't many in San Diego.
Professionally, there are a lot more opportunities here, especially in the tech space, compared to San Diego. It really depends on the type of career and industry you want to be in. LA is likely decent too, but San Diego has very niche industries they specialize in. Outside of those, there's not much else besides maybe real estate or some finance companies.
The company I work at now is called Everlaw. It's legal tech, and we sell to law firm partners and legal teams at big corporations. Our company is larger than my last job, with about 200 to 500 employees.
In a mid-size or larger company, the role is usually more segmented. My role here is a lot more relaxed than my last position, where I had to wear many different hats. At Everlaw, I'm only in charge of generating leads, so there's definitely less pressure.
I love being able to work in that tech sales environment because selling software is very different from selling recruitment services. It's been pretty good so far. I've only been working there for a month and a half, but I'm enjoying it.