How a College Door Dasher Broke Into Tech Sales (At Oracle)

Introduction I was originally focused on real estate I I'd even looked at graduate school focused around real estate wanted to get into brokerage I I really kind of ran across this industry you know I would say about two to three months ago you know being able to interview is a skill of itself I think for me that's what sealed the deal I mean he he's like we're done you know you did we don't we don't even have to go any further I'm really excited this week to share my conversation with Caleb who just broke into Oracle a market leading database company coming out of college he had actually considered a real estate career but had no internship experience whatsoever and had actually door dashed his entire time in college to support himself this is a great example and we dive really deep today as to how Caleb uncovered the career why it was a fit for him and how he was ultimately able to stand out with no past Tech no past sales experience Caleb we're really excited for you Oracle is a great company and I know everyone watching is going to get a ton out of this conversation hey everybody really excited to speak this week with Caleb who just broke into Oracle really excited for you obviously a lot of great things ahead but maybe as a starting point for everyone's reference share a little bit about your background and Caleb's Background what got you interested in Tech sales absolutely so uh you know I I really kind of ran across this industry you know I would say about two to three months ago and it was kind of a just a a random happen stance that I was introduced to it and I was originally Focus focused on real estate I I'd even looked at graduate school focused around real estate wanted to get into brokerage and uh just always been entrepreneurial and so I I took some time I talked to some mentors and right you know hey you know real estate's great but it's just it's not what it used to be and so I would look around and so I took some time I actually came across y'all's podcast listened to all of the success stories um you know it sound like a excellent way to not only just get into sales but it seems that you know I've seen Mark Cuban's story and uh just so many other people they get into sales within Tech and then they can go any other direction within the industry and I was like man you know I think I think I'm going to put some time and effort and use y'all's program and see what I can do so yeah that's awesome man I I'd love to hear it and yeah I think that's why you know aside from the earning potential itself I think that's why Chris and I have loved a career in Tech sales so much because I think really you know even having been a former engineer myself there's no way I could have quit engineering cold turkey and just like started a company so I I think having that skill set pays not only in the short term but also gives you the the biggest hedge on your career in the long Why Higher Levels? term and and maybe you know for everyone on the outside looking in right like you graduated from a great School Texas A&M I'm sure you had access to Career Fairs and things of that nature what ultimately went into the decision of still investing in training with higher levels versus maybe trying to go about it yourself so you know I even looked at a uh interview coach he was more of a generalist and you know I started to go through these recruiter screening calls and I admittedly got rejected probably at about 75% of them and uh I talked to some sdrs at different companies and they they're hey you know this this whole process is pretty unique you know being able to interview is a skill of itself and so uh you know I looked at y'all's program and it's it's tailored for what you need and I could tell after I started to use y'all's blueprint I was talking to these recruiters and I'm like okay they're staying more engaged you know I'm starting to actually get through even to my first interview and you know y'all y'all have been there y'all done it y'allselves and y'all also coached people and you know it's like this is this is absolutely worth the investment to you know end up getting to that payday so nice man I guess like what was it about you know higher levels when you were looking at training obviously like you found us you looked at some of the success stories like what was it apart from that maybe that made you say hey this feels like something that is worth it to me or like this makes sense or was there a specific El that maybe made you pull the trigger more than anything else just curious I think a lot of it was y'all's background I mean I I had heard y'all's podcast y'all y'all Killers you know y'all y'all made president's Club I think five six seven times and you know uh just hearing about y'all's journey I was like these these guys are the real deal you know I I would I would prefer to work with somebody that knows what they're doing and even if it's a little bit extra I mean it's it's worth it all day every day and uh so just lots of credibility between you two Connor I know y'all brought some other guys on Ian I mean just the whole team is you know I would say to me Elite so nice well I mean dude you you uh you actually impressed me a lot too so like we had a and just for everybody else out there we had a coaching session I think it was last week or the week before that and uh I was so surprised at like how many top companies that you were interviewing with and you just like kind of went out there you using all these creative methods like you were you know going in person try to get your resume across like I love that I thought that was so cool so so a lot of Kudos goes to you as well obviously like we can give you the program the instructions but you even thought outside the box and went a step further so a lot of respect to you on that front um I guess now that you've been through the course you've taken it you've kind of like had a chance to absorb everything was there a specific How Caleb Crushed Interviews part of the program that you felt like was more valuable than maybe other parts obviously everybody is different some people need help with interviewing some people need help with resume um was there a specific element that was more helpful to you than others maybe so you know kind of going back on how I I use some non-traditional methods to land these interviews I did notice that my resume was getting Auto rejected pretty much right around 80% of the time and uh I had already had my Oracle first round interview not the recruiter uh screening call and so I ended up not changing my resume but it's funny enough I got some more rejections after I got uh offered but um you know I think if I were to still be looking I would have utilized that a little bit more um but you know for me I've seen where these interviews there a lot of them are assignment based you know you got your mock cold calls cold emails you know for me that mock cold call script man I I think for me that's what sealed the deal I mean he he's like we're done you know you did we don't we don't even have to go any further you know I'm putting in my notes right now you're hired and I was like oh my gosh and and he's like it's because you killed the mock cold call and so you know I think that right there is unique to everyone but man that was that was the nail in the coffin in a good way for me yeah that's awesome man I love to hear that that was actually going to be part of my next question as well right you find out about this industry and within a couple months like you're already interviewing getting offers is Break in Without Experience there any advice to someone on the outside looking in that's maybe in a similar situation where they found out about this industry they don't have that direct Tech experience or maybe sales experience or both how did you really compose yourself in those final stages and just more broadly anything you learned or advice you would give to others you know it I was able to go through three different uh companies in their uh first round interviews and uh each one of them was just a little bit different but you know I think the main thing for me was if you if you're prepared I mean you're still going to be nervous you might even be more nervous just cuz it's you know uh you've kind of put everything on a pedestal which that is what it is if you got a good company that you really want it it's just how it's going to be but I think that preparation um being able to speak with you with Chris I mean that was that was as much of a a therapy as it was a coaching s uh session and I was like man you know I gotta I gotta get my nerves you know zoned in and get comfortable and once you can do that then the preparation it takes over so yeah that's awesome man and and just for our reference too from when you joined higher levels to when you ultimately got the offer at Oracle what was that overall time frame so um you know I found out about Oracle it was kind of a that was a quick process um kind of came out of nowhere and so I think I joined about a week and a half two weeks before and uh I just went through y'all's program like every single day just combing through it and so uh yeah it's week and a half two weeks I would say yeah nice nice yeah I'm curious too I Hardest Thing Caleb Overcame know uh I know you kind of went through an interesting process here with different companies um I guess in your perspective what do you feel like was the maybe like the hardest thing that you had to overcome or maybe practice or you know to S to some way shape or form kind of like Master a little bit more than before you started the process this is also very very subjective so I'm curious in your sense given that you've gone through so many different companies such a short period of time what was that experience like you know I uh I think I think the initial hurdle for me was probably getting through the recruiter screening call I mean the resume and getting Auto rejected I mean that's a if you have the right keywords in there and it's you know put together well that can be you can prepare for that but the screening calls I had some pretty Savvy recruiters they were you know able to tell by how you presented yourself how how well spoken you were I mean what you said um those were those were pretty tough and so um you know I think a lot of that was getting comfortable to that with that uh over the phone over the computer style of interviewing screening it was just a it's a weird different environment at first gotcha no that makes sense makes sense well cool Caleb first of all dude I appreciate the time here um you absolutely crushed it you really impressed me just how quickly you did this how quickly you kind of like iterated and just how yeah well you went through this process a lot of folks they take a little while to see that traction but you did it really really quick so I Advice to Others Breaking In guess maybe as closing here like you know maybe maybe for other folks out there you know who are considering making a simil changes what you did I'm transitioning into Tech sales considering Tech sales Ascension um anything you want to kind of leave them with or that you would you know maybe like recommend that they uh they take to heart you know I uh I I'm not gonna I'm not a finance expert but you know I believe in Investments if if something's going to cost you 500 a th000 $2,000 but it's going to make you you know hundred to $300,000 down the road that that's a no-brainer you know if you can speed up the process and you know get to that end goal quicker why would you not you know I've heard of people they it took them seven months to break in you know awesome colleges and um you know great companies they wanted in but it just it never happened I mean it did eventually but seven months later and it's like man I'm all about speed I'm all about efficiency and so if that's something that you really want you want to break into Tech sales put everything into it up front and then I'm not saying it's going to be easier but you'll at least be much more prepared and you'll probably have a better outcome if you know you make that happen nice I love it man well we appreciate the uh the kind words and Caleb again huge congrats on Oracle man that that's a major accomplishment especially how quickly you did it how well you just kind of keep saying it over and over but I was impressed so um huge congrats if you're not too busy with uh with onboarding by the time this video goes live we're going to drop Caleb's Linked In underneath and uh yeah definitely hit him up to get some tips and tricks um but Caleb thank you so much this was uh this was solid Eric I don't know if you have any uh famous last words but this was a a killer one so yeah this was great I'm really excited to see where Oracle takes you and uh congrats again really appreciate all the Insight absolutely yeah and again thank y'all both y'all been super awesome this whole process uh for anybody that's watching Eric Chris Connor they are they're the guys y'all if y'all need some help y'all need to y'all need to make it happen yeah that's that's a great team right there so we appreciate man [Music]