College Experiences That Helped a Sales Development Representative at Everlaw Succeed
According to Sebastian, Sales Development Representative at Everlaw, "nothing really replaces real world experience" gained from extensive involvement with SIBC and other consulting internships, which provided invaluable communication and public speaking skills applicable to sales. Although a finance background was initially relevant for selling to CFOs, experience remains the most significant factor, highlighting the importance of practical application over classroom learning.
Real-World Experience, Internships, Communication Skills, Finance, Sales
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. Real-world experience, like SIBC (Student International Business Council), is invaluable and more impactful than classroom learning for career preparation.
2. Internships, regardless of the specific field, develop crucial transferable skills like consulting, public speaking, and communication.
3. While specific academic knowledge (e.g., finance for selling to CFOs) can be initially relevant, broader experience and transferable skills are more consistently valuable throughout one's career, even when the target audience changes.
Transcript
What did you do in college to set you up for success?
I think the biggest part really was SIBC. Nothing really replaces real-world experience. It doesn't matter how many classes you take, if you're not actually doing the work itself, then none of it is applicable to your job when you graduate college.
Outside of SIBC, which was the most extensive one, we were able to speak to so many people so far away and present in person, especially to C-suite level people. But even just doing internships helps as well, whatever kind of internship it might be.
All of the internships I did, whether it was SIBC or elsewhere, were consulting or public speaking, communication-based. So, even though I didn't know I was going to enter sales necessarily, all the skills I had from consulting internships transferred over to my job in sales afterward.
With my classes, I was taking finance classes and was a finance major with an economics minor. That was definitely relevant for my first job out of college because we sold to CFOs. That definitely helped there. But in my current job now, it doesn't really make an impact because I'm selling to lawyers and law firms. I think experience overall is key.