IT & Telecommunications Sales Jobs: What is the market like right now?

Posted: 03/08/2011 | By: Mark Neilan, Founding Director, Finlay James Associates Limited

Most Tech Companies are looking to Hire Sales Talent right now. The market is once again candidate driven.

I can tell you categorically that the ‘war for talent’ is back on. Search assignments given to Finlay James in the first half year of 2011 are up 57.6% on the number of assignments we were given in the recessionary climate of 2009. Vacancy submissions are up 15.8% on the same period last year and are showing no signs of slowing down.

Back in 2009, most Tech companies were not hiring sales people. In 2011, most companies are looking to hire sales people. Sales hiring is up and we can prove it. Finlay James only places IT Sales people and revenues for the first half of 2011 are up a full 77% on the same period in 2010.

As far as we can see, the shift from a ‘buyer’s market’ to a candidate driven ‘war for talent’ is complete. Quite simply, the demand for quality technology Sales professionals outstrips demand. At Finlay James we can only see this demand increasing in the weeks and months ahead…

Basic Salaries offered to IT Sales Professional are on the up again. Low Offers are twice as likely to be declined by Job Seeking IT Sales Professionals.

One of the areas we looked at to understand ‘what is the market like right now’ was the levels of basic salary being offered to our candidates at present. We looked at all IT Sales Job offers received in the months of June and July to date and found the following:

• 52% of IT Sales Job Offers were at basic salary levels higher than the candidate’s most recent basic salary
• 48% of IT Sales Job Offers were at the same or lower levels than the candidate’s most recent basic salary

In relation to these offers:

• 15% of Offers higher than the candidate’s most recent basic salary were rejected by the candidate
• 31% of Offers made at the same level or lower than the candidate’s most recent basic salary were rejected by the candidate

For me the interesting observations here are that most companies do understand the ‘supply and demand’ issue and are making competitive offers.

It also shows that even if you do offer an increase in basic salary – the offer may still be declined, as the candidate gets a higher offer elsewhere or stays due to counter offer.

Perhaps most interesting to us, was the fact that lower offers are twice as likely to be declined as opposed to offers which give an increase to most recent basic salary. This again points towards the candidate driven nature of the market right now.

Hottest Sectors For Sales Hiring right now.

Sales hiring has increased across all Tech markets. The following 3 areas represent the markets in which we have experienced the biggest increase in demand, based on the Vacancies Finlay James have been asked to work on in the first half year of 2011 compared to the same period a year earlier.

• Cloud / Virtualization: This is the sector in which Finlay James has seen the biggest single rise in sales vacancies. Our research suggests this is likely to continue (for example it is predicted that the European Virtualization market ‘will grow by a healthy 8.5% Compound Annual Growth Rate over 2010 2016 period’). This will continually increase demand for top sales people with a track record in Cloud / Virtualization solutions.
• Software as a Service: Saas has provided the second biggest increase in vacancies from one year earlier which is again in line with industry predictions – market research firm IDC predicted an increase in the SaaS market by 26% up to 2014.
• Network Security: This has always been an area with strong demand for experiences Sales Executives, however demand has increased further over the past 12 months. Again no surprise here given recent growth figures (worldwide network security appliance and software market grew 11% to $5.6 billion in 2010 over 2009).

It’s not really hard to work out why these markets have experienced the biggest increase in demand. The solutions are in demand as they can save the end-user money which makes the sell much easier in a tough economic climate.

Many Hiring Managers are making the same mistakes right now – and are ‘missing the boat’

For many hiring managers, the penny just hasn’t dropped. It may well still be a ‘buyer’s market’ in other sectors but I can honestly tell you that this is no longer the case with regard to Technology Sales people. Demand outstrips supply and the good candidates are going quickly.

Here are the most common mistakes currently being made by hiring sales managers right now, in order:

• Not moving quickly enough: Going back to the buyer’s market of 2008/2009 the hiring sales manager could shop around, interview lots of candidates and if they kept someone waiting chances were that they would still be on the market. The smart sales manager is moving quickly, trying to take candidates off the market before they get multiple offers. Move slowly and even if you end up getting your man you may end up having to pay more as the chances of getting into a ‘Dutch-auction’ increase. Candidates are moving on and off the market very quickly.
• Not offering enough to get the candidate on board: As above even though demand now outstrips supply we have found that nearly half (48%) of hiring managers will not offer an increase on the candidates most recent basic salary. Salary is still not the most important consideration to the best candidates however those coming in low should not be surprised if they fail to get talent on board as they are likely to be in competition with other hiring companies and indeed the candidate’s incumbent employer, who may deliver a counter offer.
• Not going the extra mile: I would also describe this as ‘not doing the basics’. Many clients are not. I put this down to them getting a bit ‘lazy’ based on complacency due to the ease of getting talent on board when no one else was hiring. This stems from the start of the process. More can be done to really hone in on your USP’s – salary aside, why would a top performer working at a competitor want to work for you? It’s a two way process and you need to push this at every stage. You should be ‘courting’ the potential new hire – even past offer / acceptance stage. A good recruiter will be doing everything (and I mean everything) to make sure your candidate ‘lands’ but you need to help us help you.

Tips for Hiring Managers & Sales Job Seekers, based on the market right now:

Hiring Managers - Understand 100% that the market is candidate driven and that you are not the only person hiring – most of your competitors will be too. You must strike the right balance between thorough qualification and moving quickly. If your offer is not competitive then you may lose the candidate to a competitor or to a counter offer and this could lead to the whole process becoming a waste of your time. To access more talent consider ‘opening up’ your specification to people with different solution or market experience. – You can sometimes end up with a higher calibre sales person at a lower price. As salary is not always the primary motivator, the more you can convey why, salary aside, the candidate should join the more chance you will have. Most importantly the more you understand that the interview is a two-way process and make a real effort to ‘woo’ the candidate at all stages, the more successful you will be in your talent acquisition.

Sales job Seekers – If you are good then you are back in demand. You no longer have to accept the first job you are offered. If the hiring company wants to meet more candidates, you can meet more potential suitors. You should be able to get an attractive package with a good company, however you should not misinterpret ‘candidate driven’ as an excuse to holding the hiring manager to ransom. Whilst salaries are rising, they are not rising dramatically. Understand which technologies / sectors are ‘hot’ – these could represent viable options for you.

To finish…

I hope that you found something in this article useful. This is our take on what is happening right now as companies look to the future and attempt to increase sales. For sure, we expect the so called ‘war for talent’ to increase in the coming months. In my opinion, the companies who win the war for talent which is being fought right now, are the companies who will take the spoils when the economy really starts heating up…

Good luck & Best regards

Mark Neilan
Founding Director
Finlay James Associates Limited