How do you get into Sales? In this interview, we talk to Corinne and Raul — our Sales experts at Project A. Find out more about our new Sales Development Traineeship.
What is your role at Project A?
Corinne: We are part of the Sales and Customer Success team at Project A. Our roles combine conceptual as well as operative hands-on support for our portfolio companies in the areas of sales and customer support.
Why did you set up this Sales Development Traineeship?
Corinne: We set up the traineeship to cater to a gap we occasionally see in our ventures — the development of great products, but rather uninspired, standardized approaches to sell them to the market.
Raul: That’s why, we are looking for trainees who will be able to close this gap through a holistic view combining all channels that are used to sell the products, challenging the defined target groups and reach out processes by testing new approaches and iterate them until you come up with the optimal strategy tailoring to the specific customer needs.
How is the traineeship structured?
Raul: After an extensive in-house training preparing you for your upcoming projects, you will be rotating through various portfolio companies throughout an 18 months traineeship. You will spend 3–6 months at each station, predominantly supporting the sales departments.
Corinne: And there will also be one marketing project, in order to fully understand all aspects of demand generation and how both departments are intertwined. Meanwhile, there will be continuous training sessions held by members of Project A team as well as regular exchanges with your fellow trainees.
What is unique about the traineeship?
Corinne: Sales is the key department that decides about survival or death of any company. You will learn the relevant skill set on what it takes to detect the right target group for the ventures’ products, learn different selling approaches and apply them, conceptually support companies with an analytical angle and take a view from a marketing perspective.
Raul: Exactly, plus in contrast to a classic traineeship at a corporate, you will have the unique opportunity to work with 3 to 6 different companies within 1,5 years, as well as being supported and trained by us, the Sales and Customer Success Team at Project A.
After successful completion of the 18 months traineeship, you will have the option to either join our team at Project A or work for one of our ventures that you supported during the time.
How many trainees are you looking for and what do they have to bring to the table?
Raul: We are looking for 2 to 4 members to join our team. Ideally, you recently finished business school and looking for a great learning opportunity in the area of sales. There is no previous sales experience necessary, however, an interest for customer contact and an outgoing personality are a prerequisite.
Corinne: Strong analytical ability is also preferred. Furthermore, we also require very good German since many of our investments operate predominantly in the DACH region.
How is the recruiting process and how to apply?
Corinne: You can apply via our career page on our website by submitting your CV and any other document you would like us to see.
Raul: Firstly, a member of our Talent Acquisition team will get in touch with you. Following that, you will be interviewed by members of our Sales & Customer Success team for our case-based interview sessions. That’s it — very lean & efficient.