How Sonder scaled their junior sales function with Earlywork Academy

Our journey helping Sonder hire 3 junior sales reps who are over-performing and staying in their roles.

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Earlywork hires
3
Fellows interviewed per hire
6
Earlywork rep retention
100%
100% every box has been ticked by the Earlywork fellows in terms of what I was looking for, so I’m very happy to extend them offers
Kieran Theron APAC Sales Development Manager @ Sonder
Kieran Theron
APAC Sales Development Manager @ Sonder
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The Challenge

In May 2024, locally-founded employee care platform, Sonder, had a team of 4 junior sales reps and were looking to double headcount in the next 12 months.

Beyond hiring, internal resources were also stretched to provide the required support internally for junior sales reps to success post-hire.

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The Solution

After conversations with Earlywork in early 2024, the team were happy to go ahead with a partnership for the upcoming Earlywork Academy cohorts as an integrated employer.

Unlike other hiring solutions, Sonder received hiring support beyond a regular recruitment agency in three ways:

1) Early exposure to a graduating cohort

During an Earlywork Academy cohort, there are 3 guest presentations slots allocated to integrated employers to build their brand early.

Our cohorts run monthly with a pool of 25+ fellows to tap into with an educational experience.

Through Sonder's guest presentation, Conor was able to call out fellows who he was interested in interviewing based off their engagement and question quality.

Check out a clip from Conor Brockelsby’s guest presentation.

Conor BrockelsbyHead of Mid-Market &
Business Development @ Sonder

2) Seamless integration with the Sonder interview process

After a cohort of 25+ graduates, our Employer Success Manager worked collaboratively with Conor & Kieran to curate introductions 5+ high fit fellows.

The Sonder team were able to view detailed profiles on each fellow and schedule them into a group interview at their office.

Check out what Reyanna’s profile looked like:

3) 1:1 sales & career coaching for hired fellows

Sales managers in fast growing sales organisations are often stretched for time, making it hard to provide the amount of 1:1 time required to help junior sales reps ramp faster.

That’s why all Earlywork fellows are put through our 4-week in-house graduate program, Earlywork Accelerator, and receive regular 1:1 coaching from the team alongside their company onboarding program.

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