Cosmic Partners’ Post

Every week I speak to hundreds of candidates. All looking for new roles. The biggest reason they are in the market is due to a lack of progression. And most of these people are working at early stage tech companies. They were sold the dream during the interview process. The thing is the moment you put a timeframe on something that is what people expect: The SDRs are told they could be an AE in 6 months. The AEs are told they could be a HoS in 6 months. The HoS are told they will be a CRO in 6 months. The reality is it's impossible to timestamp progression at an early stage company. The moment these expectations are lowered, people start to look around. And churn is very expensive! I think it's important to really set clear expectations around what growth looks like at the hiring stage. I always use my domain experience to set candidates expectations to mitigate the misalignment. So... My advice: Hiring managers - give a longer timeframe to buy you more time! Candidates - probe hard around the data to back up the timings!