Cybersecurity Sales Professional’s Compensation Jan 2023-Sept 2023

The factors that drive a sales candidate’s decision to accept an offer today, are quite different than they were just 1-2 years ago. Compensation is a key driver… but less these days than we’ve seen in decades.

We hire in the Security space almost exclusively. And we do a lot of it. To place a single candidate, we typically interview over 50 candidates. Over the past 18 months, we’ve talked to thousands of sales professionals in cybersecurity from VP level to individual contributors. So we’re as close the coal face as you can get. Here are some of the trends we’ve observed:

On Target Earnings

OTEs exploded in 2021. As companies scrambled to hire, the supply/demand dynamic was very candidate-heavy. We saw it all. For instance, AEs making 400k OTE on a 50/50 split… or 300k base salaries with no commission – and these were straight-up AEs… individual contributors.

Those same individuals don’t command those numbers today. But the rain makers still need courting and there are many attractive aspects on why a candidate would jump companies besides base salary and commission. Too often, clients lose out on great candidates because the conversation focuses mainly on OTE… but OTE is actually not the main driver in today’s candidate negotiations.

Equity

Equity is becoming less of a factor for folks deciding whether to accept a particular job. This applies more so to startups… but even in public companies, candidates seem to have less faith in the long-term gains of stock in today’s market, than they did just a couple of years ago. Much of this attitude comes from slow-down in IPOs, numerous PE acquisitions, and general concerns around the future of the market.

This sentiment is common among most professionals in the cybersecurity field, but is magnified in the eyes of sales folks who are used to taking control of their own income potential by exceeding their numbers. The mentality of betting on future company success (and therefore a big equity payout) has shifted.

In today’s market, the focus for most candidates is more on near-term success, than the long-term potential gains from equity.

Overall message from candidates

The overwhelming consensus is stability. Candidates are looking for stability. They want to be as certain as possible that a) the technology is solid; b) the market fit is clear; c) the technology they’ll be selling is not a “nice to have” but a necessity for their customers; and d) that management is firm on their direction and won’t shift gears resulting in a different role than they signed up for… or worse, their position being eliminated.

So now what?

For Clients, these shifts in market mentality mean the “sell” for the role must be different.

Throwing more money at candidates is an old habit.

Yes, the base salary, commission, equity, accelerators, KPIs etc. have their place… but the balances are very different and there are different levers these days.

Most often the 2 main problems we see today are:

a. not bringing the right candidate to the table in the first place and/or…

b. not applying today’s levers in negotiating to ensure both Client and candidate are pleased with the offer and with each other

When these 2 points are done right, solid and productive sales orgs get built without breaking the bank.

Today’s numbers are downtrending from 2021

There are exceptions to any of these numbers, but this will give a solid idea of what most candidates are commanding these days…