MongoDB’s Sales Development Career Day: Hiring at Scale Around the World

Jess Katz
October 1, 2019 | Updated: October 5, 2019

Earlier this year, our Sales Development teams in Austin and Dublin transformed the way they hire at scale and source high-quality talent. These teams are growing quickly due to overall company growth and early promotions, and Clay Coyle, Director of EMEA Sales Development, and Gigi Neuenfeldt, Director of NA Sales Development, knew that they needed to find a new solution to hire quickly in an innovative way.

They organized an invite-only, “Sales Development Career Day” in each office, where candidates had a full day of learning, role-playing, interviewing, and hearing from our leaders. 15 hires in total were made the very next day. The event was so successful that they are doing it again in Austin!

I sat down with Clay and Gigi to learn about why and how they organized the Career Days, and then I spoke with 4 candidates whom we hired the day after each event.

Conversations with Gigi and Clay: The ins and outs of MongoDB’s Sales Development Career Day

Gigi and Clay

Jess Katz: Why did you decide to organize this recruiting event?

Clay Coyle: On average, it takes us around 60 days to make a hire. In 2019, we knew we needed to grow our team at a more rapid rate, so we needed to find another solution to hiring top talent. At MongoDB, we are empowered to try new things - whether you’re an SDR, an SDR manager or an SDR director. I sat down with our global head of sales dev, Ozge Tuncel, and she challenged me to solve this problem, helped me map out the solution and empowered me to take a risk and host the event, which ended up being very successful!

Gigi Neuenfeldt: Similar to the team in Dublin, our team is experiencing rapid growth. Hiring one at a time simply takes too long and wouldn’t allow us to keep up with the expected growth for the teams we support.

JK: What were some challenges you faced when organizing the event?

CC: We’re not the only team growing in our Dublin office. In fact, our entire office is going through a major growth. For our Career Day, we needed to commandeer 70% of our meeting rooms for the day. One of the biggest challenges we faced running our Career Day was how much of an impact we would have on our colleagues throughout the office. Beyond that, it takes us about 30 employees to make the day a success, although many of these people are behind the scenes, those are a lot of agendas to try to align.

GN: We faced similar challenges to what Clay saw in EMEA around meeting room space, and it took the generosity of a number of teams across the Austin office who either rescheduled meetings or took them from elsewhere. Additionally, every sales leader in the Austin office helped us with presentations, 1:1 interviews and a group presentation. This wasn’t necessarily a challenge, because everyone was happy to help, but it would have been a huge challenge had we not had so many willing volunteers. I feel incredibly lucky to work in an environment that truly embodies MongoDB's value of “Build Together.”

JK: What were some of your favorite highlights of the event?

GN: I’ve never participated in or run a group hiring event, and a huge highlight for me was the energy and passion that filled the day. The Career Day, truly helped us get a feel for how someone would contribute to the team’s culture.

Additionally, the day after the event, we debriefed on all candidates to make a final decision and I then had the opportunity to personally call, extend offers to, and review feedback with each individual we moved forward with. It was incredible to hear their responses and how excited they were to join the team.

Finally, the seven individuals who we extended offers to started all around the same time and it’s been really interesting to watch the camaraderie that they built from going through Career Day together. The immediate team bonding that came from the event, as well as the fact that most current SDRs met the new team members before they officially joined, was irreplaceable. It made for a much stronger on-boarding and ramp-up period.

CC: After the day was finished, three things happened that stood out for me. First, as I mentioned, we were a major disruption in the normal atmosphere of the Dublin office. I wondered how many favors I owed? How many bridges I had burned? In the days following, I lost count of the number of people from other teams who came to me excited about the energy we had brought to the office and wanted to learn how we had organized the day. It is so fulfilling to work with people who share your appetite for growth.

Second, I got to sit in on some of the candidate offers we made. I’ve made many hiring offers over the years but these calls felt different. It was incredible to hear from those we were inviting to join us, how much the day had impacted them and how excited they were to be joining us. We wanted our candidates to understand the opportunity that was in front of them and during the offer calls, it was clear this goal had been accomplished.

Third, for those who we would not be moving forward with, I asked each of them to take a call with me and run through feedback. Hearing you haven’t been successful is not an easy thing to deal with. We have all gone through moments in our lives where we are not a good fit or where we were a good fit but were beaten by others. I am a firm believer that any experience that betters you is a valuable experience and although the primary goal of the day was to add to our sales development team, I was determined that we would be adding value to every candidate who spent the day with us. Those calls were tough. Our interviewers were detailed in their feedback, and highlighted areas the candidates had done well in, gaps they felt still had to be filled in, and thoughts on how they could improve. Although the experience of calling those people was one of the toughest things I’ve had to do this year, being able to share that feedback with people who worked so hard was definitely a highlight.

JK: How many people did you hire the next day?

CC: In Dublin, we hired eight people 24 hours after the day ended. Excitedly, all accepted that day!

GN: In Austin we ended up extending offers to nine candidates, seven of them accepted!

JK: What do you look for in a candidate?

GN: Great salespeople come in many different forms, but there are a few traits that tend to be consistent. Drive is number one — a drive to succeed, to be the best and to learn. It doesn’t matter so much what you are driving towards, just so long as you are unwavering in the pursuit to do and be more. Number two is curiosity. In my experience, the best salespeople are those who have an insatiable desire to learn, they constantly question the status quo, and always want to know more. If you have those two traits, I feel confident we have the training programs needed to help with the rest!

CC: First and foremost, we are passionate people. Passionate about sales and passionate about technology. We always want to work with people who share those passions. Can you prove you have those passions? What have you improved on in your career so far? What knowledge have you acquired along the way?

Let’s hear from some of our new SDRs from around the world!

Jennifer Carroll, Account Development Representative, Dublin, IE

Jennifer Carroll

I wasn’t actively looking for another role, but when I looked into MongoDB and their achievements so far as a company, as well as the power of the product, I knew it was something worth pursuing. The Career Day was a chance to be immersed in MongoDB’s culture, and it was then that I realized how much I wanted to be a part of the company. I accepted the job offer because during the event, I was challenged in ways I hadn’t been before. I met incredibly smart and talented people and was inspired by how much they loved their roles at MongoDB, their strong belief in the product, and their aspirations for future growth.

Nabeel Jawad, Account Development Representative, Austin, TX, USA

Nabeel Jawad

I attended the MongoDB Career Day because of how great their culture seemed based on the reviews I found on Glassdoor. The event was incredibly impactful. I learned more about MongoDB and their commitment to their product, growth, and the personal development of each employee. As I learned more and more about MongoDB, I became fascinated by the technology and how they provide support to all of their teams, as well as to their customers. When I got the offer, I was ecstatic! Today, I couldn’t be happier to contribute to this amazing working environment that encourages learning and growth!

Ralitsa Arsova, Account Development Representative, Dublin, IE

Ralitsa Arsova

Right after the Career Day, we were told that we could expect an answer the following week. I was prepared for a week full of overthinking and waiting for the final decision, but the very next day, I received a phone call with the exciting news that I got the job offer! I accepted the offer because I was looking for an opportunity to develop myself and grow while learning how to go outside of my comfort zone so that I could achieve great things. I can say that every day at MongoDB is a new learning experience for me. Joining MongoDB was one of the smartest decisions I have ever made in my career.

Antonio Tombari, Account Development Representative, Austin, TX, USA

Antonio Tombari

I was very hesitant to make another move in my career, since I had just relocated 6 months prior. However, everyone I spoke to inside and outside of MongoDB gave shining reviews, so I decided to attend the Career Day. I am so glad I did! The event was not only informative about the position, but also highlighted the incredible culture and work ethic that the Austin team has created. The experience of joining the team has been beyond what I imagined. The training the team provides is abundant, and MongoDB truly wants you to succeed. I am proud to be a part of the team!

If you would like to attend our Sales Development Career Day in Austin on October 9th, email our recruiters at salesdevelopmentdayNA@mongodb.com.

If you are interested in joining the Dublin SDR team, check out our open roles or reach out to Clay directly on LinkedIn.

We would love to have you join our growing team!

← Previous

MongoDB Atlas Compute Autoscaling Now In Public Preview

Compute auto-scaling is now available in open beta on MongoDB Atlas. When enabled, Atlas will track key metrics in real-time and scale cluster sizes as needed.

October 1, 2019
Next →

Building a Culture of Growth: SVP Simon Eid on MongoDB's Massive Opportunity in APAC

Simon Eid is Senior Vice President Asia-Pacific (APAC) at MongoDB and leads the sales teams across Australia and New Zealand, India, ASEAN, and Japan. Simon's go-to-market organisation in APAC is growing rapidly and has nearly tripled in size in the past three years. They are hiring in all regions . In this article, Simon discusses MongoDB’s opportunity in APAC and how he builds a culture of growth and accountability. Simon Eid, SVP APAC, MongoDB (left) and Anoop Dhankar, RVP ANZ, MongoDB (right) MongoDB's opportunity in Asia-Pacific Out of the top 13 economies by GDP in the world , five of them are located in APAC: China, Japan, Australia, India, and South Korea. And that's to say nothing of the ASEAN countries which alone have more than 650 million inhabitants. Combine this with the worldwide database market, one of the largest markets in the software industry. IDC estimates that it will grow to $137B in 2027, and MongoDB has just reached $1B in ARR. This gives you a sense of the massive market opportunity we have globally. Regardless of industry, product, or service, almost every company is becoming a technology company, which means that every company is becoming a data company. We believe MongoDB is the Developer Data Platform that is best placed to support and accelerate that trend. We’ve already captured thousands of customers around the globe, but it’s important to keep in mind that our world is still in the early stages of shifting to the cloud and changing how applications are built and run. Compared to other software, what's special about the market we play in is that the database is not a “nice-to-have”; it’s mission-critical for organisations. As our world continues to undergo this digital transformation, we have the opportunity to transform how our customers use software and data to innovate, create, and disrupt industries. For example, look at Cathay Pacific , Hong Kong's home airline carrier operating in more than 60 destinations worldwide. The company's digital team turned to MongoDB on their journey to become one of the first airlines to create a truly paperless flight deck. Flight Folder, their application built on MongoDB, consolidates dozens of different information sources into one place. Since the Flight Folder launch, Cathay Pacific has completed more than 340,000 flights with full digital integration in the flight deck. Their innovation is enabled by MongoDB. Building a team across regions and cultures Our team in APAC is unique because of the different markets and cultures within the region. What this means is that we go to market differently in India than we do in Australia, in Singapore than we do in South Korea, and so on. Each market is completely different, but within all of them, there is a huge opportunity. Different from many of our peers, in APAC we've established business leaders who run regionalized teams in India, ASEAN, and ANZ with all functions reporting to them. These teams essentially operate as their own business and implement local best practices into their strategy. But, it doesn’t mean they’re operating in a silo. At the leadership level, there is an immense amount of collaboration and sharing of experiences to identify what’s working and what isn’t within each region. We also have a fantastic global sales organisation that rolls out extensive training and best practices to help enable our local teams to best help our customers and grow the business. Members of our APAC team at a recent offsite in Phuket Culture The most important thing is culture. We have a very high standard around everything we do and how we interact with each other. We don’t entertain politics. You can teach someone new skills and coach them on how to be successful in a new role, but if they’re not aligned with the culture, they will not be a fit. It’s a non-negotiable for me and why the most important aspect of the hiring process is the cultural aspect. If you get the culture right, everything else starts to fall into place. What I hear at MongoDB and from the teams I've built at other companies is that this is the kind of culture they can really thrive and grow. At MongoDB, our culture is defined and shaped by six core values . One of the values that’s most important to my team is “Embrace the Power of Differences”. Within APAC, there are a variety of cultural identities and nuances that can often be difficult to navigate, whether it is cultural values, beliefs, or go-to-market strategy. It’s important that everyone who joins my team is respectful of each other’s regional culture. What we’ve done within the APAC region, and with teams across the globe, is take everyone on a journey to understand and embrace these cultural differences. Our role as leaders is to develop our teams, from the bottom all the way up, which is part of MongoDB’s BDR to CRO career development initiative. We need to develop the next wave of leaders so that they’re prepared to step up when the time comes. For APAC, this means that regardless of where someone is from, each team member has been coached and developed on the cultural nuances so that they can lead people and go to market in each of the different regions. It’s also important that each team member contributes to a culture of psychological safety. Being part of a high-growth tech company requires taking risks and making mistakes. We have a high standard and we hold each other accountable, but it never comes at the cost of creating an environment where people are afraid to fail. When someone faces setbacks, I encourage them to share those experiences so that we can collectively learn. Through mutual support, we foster a stronger team capable of delivering exceptional results. The future of MongoDB in Asia-Pacific For any organisation to be successful, I believe it’s critically important for the entire ecosystem to act as one. As I mentioned earlier, at MongoDB the whole country ecosystem is aligned around one set of goals, so it's not a case of different teams running off in different directions. The teams are willing to lean in and do what's required to help each other build a great business. I can confidently say that in APAC, we are one team. This means sales, marketing, customer success, solutions consulting, and professional services all working together to focus on three things: making customers successful, building technical champions, and driving new workloads. As we continue to grow our team and MongoDB’s footprint in the region, these are the three things that will drive our success. As I mentioned earlier, there's a huge opportunity for MongoDB in APAC. Despite hiring slowing down or stopping completely at many other organisations, we're continuing to invest heavily in the region. To give you a sense of that - we've nearly tripled the size of our APAC go-to-market team in the past three years, and we've got more open roles across the different functions and regions. If you want to be part of this journey, there are three things I want to reiterate: First, we are extremely passionate about our culture, from the field level up to the leadership level. As a team, this is the brand we bring to the market. Second, the opportunity here is massive based on the total addressable market and our current share. And third, we place critical importance on development. By joining this team, I can promise that you’ll be provided with countless opportunities to develop your career and make an impact. I’m confident in my team and the leadership we have in place who are ready to take MongoDB APAC to the next level. Join us !

September 28, 2023