Role Ladders: Where You Can Start (and Grow)
Sales Ladder
SDR / BDR (pipeline generation) → AE (closing) → Senior AE → Sales Manager → Head of Sales / VP. Parallel tracks include Sales Ops/RevOps and Enablement.
Marketing Ladder
Content/SEO/Performance/PMM/Growth → Senior IC → Manager → Head/Director → VP Marketing / CMO. Bridges: Growth PM, Lifecycle, Partner Marketing.
Funnel Stages: Speak Outcomes, Not Activities
Hiring managers buy outcomes. Tie your work to the funnel: Awareness → Consideration → Conversion → Retention → Expansion.
- Awareness: impressions, reach, share of voice, brand search.
- Consideration: CTR, time on page, MQL quality, demo requests.
- Conversion: SQLs, win rate, ACV, cycle length.
- Retention: activation, DAU/WAU/MAU, churn, NPS.
- Expansion: expansion ARR, upsell/cross-sell rate, NRR.
KPIs That Actually Matter
Sales
- Pipeline coverage (3–4× of quota)
- Win rate & average deal size (ACV)
- Sales cycle length, time-to-first-meeting
- Quota attainment & forecast accuracy
Marketing
- MQL→SQL conversion & Sales acceptance rate
- CAC / ROAS by channel, blended CAC
- Organic growth (non-brand), content velocity
- Activation, retention, and LTV uplift
Resume Hygiene: Parser-Safe, Proof-Heavy
Use action + metric + outcome. Example: “Built a 6-step cadence that lifted reply rate from 3.2% → 9.1% and created $1.2M pipeline in Q2.” Avoid images/tables for core text. Export a clean PDF. Run the Honest ATS Resume Scanner to catch structure, keywords, and impact gaps.
Interview Prep by Stage
- Entry (SDR/Content): mock calls, objection handling, cold email rewrites, a content sample or short teardown.
- Mid IC (AE/PMM/SEO/Perf): deal review or campaign deep-dive; show choice → hypothesis → result.
- Manager: pipeline math, territory planning, budget allocation, coachability examples.
- Leadership: quota model, org design, narrative, and cross-functional wins with Finance/Product/CS.
30-60-90 Plan (Template You Can Reuse)
Sales
- 30: learn ICP, build 30-acct focus list, run 10 A/B email tests, book 8–12 first meetings.
- 60: progress 3–5 opps to stage 2+, refine qualification, share call library plays.
- 90: close first 1–2 deals, show repeatable outreach → meeting → proposal motion.
Marketing
- 30: audit channels, map baseline CAC/ROAS, ship 3 fast experiments.
- 60: scale 1–2 winners, fix 1 retention gap, align with Sales on SQL criteria.
- 90: cut waste, publish dashboard, deliver KPI lift (e.g., +15% SQL quality).
Weekly Routine (Low Pressure, High Signal)
- Mon: align goals, pick 3 levers (not 30 tasks).
- Tue–Thu: execute blocks; protect 2 deep work sessions/day.
- Fri: review KPIs, ship one proof artifact (call clip, teardown, or report).
- Sun (15 min): plan experiments for next week.
Common Traps (and Fixes)
- Activity theater: count outcomes, not emails. Fix with weekly KPI review.
- Channel hopping: run 3-week experiments; decide with data.
- Generic resumes: tailor to ICP, stage, and KPIs; run an ATS check.
- No portfolio: host 3–5 artifacts: sequences, decks, case studies, dashboards.
Next Steps
Pick a lane (Sales, Marketing, or Growth). Run the Clarity Quiz, tighten your resume, and follow the 30-60-90 outline. Calm wins beat frantic sprints.