Your career path is your own journey. As a Revenue Operations professional, it's important to think about where you are in your Revenue Operations journey and what that means for the types of companies you could be targeting as an employee for your next role.
As you’re thinking about your next step in your career, you may find yourself becoming frustrated with the process. It can be overwhelming to think about all of the options available and even more difficult to figure out which company is right for you.
For many of us, when thinking about the next step in our career, we tend to look for brands that we know or names that we aspire to see on our LinkedIn profile. But if our goal is truly success within the field, then we need instead examine what stage our chosen brand is currently in—and how that stage aligns with ours as well as where we want ourselves headed next.
part of career development is about having clear personal goals and ensuring that you are investing in yourself by bringing your skills up to date, acquiring new ones and also exploring how you can improve beyond your comfort zone.
If you are looking to grow your career and develop as an individual in Revenue Operations, then the type of company that you want to target may change.
If you are looking at leaving the same industry, but moving up the ladder, then it’s important to understand what type of company could be a good fit for your current skill set.
For instance, if you are a growth-stage company that needs someone who has been a part of an early stage startup to help them scale their business and drive revenue growth, then the next step is going to be hiring someone who has worked at least 3-5 years in Revenue Operations. And on the job seeker side, you will want to align your level of experience with the right growth stage company you may be interested to join.
If we were back in my earlier career stages and I was still working building out operations teams) I would look for companies that were growing rapidly and needed my expertise in infrastructure and process development.
These types of opportunities would allow me to continue down my then desired path with new challenges related more to people management than technology implementation.
Or are you comfortable with the fast-paced environment of high-growth and now looking to work with a team that is ready to build out a more structured approach?
Or are you just starting out in Revenue Operations and want to explore options beyond your current job?
Depending on your level of experience, the right stage for you will vary. If you are an experienced Revenue Operations professional, then you may want to explore opportunities at a high-growth early stage startup.
These companies typically have no established approach or structure and need someone with your skillset to help build out their team and processes.
On the other hand, if you are not yet experienced in building out a mature Revenue Operations function from scratch but want to work with such a group, there are many companies more mature in their operations that offer this type of opportunity.
You can learn a lot at early stage startups. This is where I started my career and it was the best decision ever! You get to work with passionate and driven people on an exciting product that has the chance to change the world.
Early stage startups are great for learning how to do Revenue Operations because they have fewer customers, which means you will have time to figure out how your organization operates, establish processes and procedures around revenue operations, build relationships with key stakeholders across various departments etc.
That said, depending on your natural tendencies, preferences, and level of experience, there can be major downsides to working at early stage startups.
When you think about what stage startup is right for you and your specific needs, there are some important things to consider in order to decide which role is right for you.
There are a few key things to keep in mind when considering early stage startups:
What are your goals and natural tendencies? Do you have an entrepreneurial spirit that can’t be matched? Are you looking for a small, tight-knit team where everyone knows each other by name? Early stage startups offer new experiences and opportunities without the bureaucracy of larger organizations. Your goal should always be aligned with the company values and mission statement; if it isn’t, then finding another role might be best for both parties involved.
What is your experience level? Is this going to be your first job out of college? Or do you have several years under your belt from working at Fortune 500 companies like Google or Microsoft? While junior roles tend to offer more growth opportunities than senior roles due to less experience needed on both sides (junior hires are willing try new things while teams need someone willing show initiative), they also come with higher risk because they haven't proven themselves yet – so only apply if it aligns perfectly with what matters most!
The right stage startup is going to be different for everyone, but it’s important that you are able to find the right one for your needs.
Consider what stage company would best suit your experience level and career goals, as well as what type of environment is going to support this journey. Once you have identified the perfect company with whom you want to work—and they are interested in hiring a person like yourself—it’s time to start preparing for an interview!
In order to help you identify what growth stage may be the right place for your RevOps career to thrive, we created a free evaluation. Take the 15 question quiz to find out where you fit.