The question that eats me up is this..
How could Donald Trump at 70 years old, campaign relentlessly across multiple states, travel extensively (his campaign covered over 200,000 miles – the distance to the moon) and then be given the most senior job in the US and possibly the World, but many Hiring Managers believe individuals in their 50’s and 60’s are too old & do not possess the energy to simply sell Software Solutions to big corporations?
Many of the Senior Sales roles we know of are home-based, involve talking / selling by phone and meeting prospects and clients – they do not require individuals to run a marathon each and every day and surely require less energy than Trump’s recent post?
Are Enterprise Sales Executives really past it post-50 years old? We often hear of ageism when it comes to hiring of Sales reps that once you are past 50, you have much less gas in your tank, hunger or energy. “Find me someone in their 30’s who is on the way up and hungry” is often the request we hear (but ignore). Why do some believe that someone in their 30’s has more chance of success than someone in their 50’s or 60’s when it comes to selling software?
Our recent European Survey of over 300 Software Sales Execs showed that 34% believe ageism is a big factor in sales hiring. Clearly many Employers do not really believe in the equal opportunity claim they promote.
Here at Intrinsic Executive Search we put ageism into the same category as sexism. There are lazy and bad sales reps at any age, 20, 30, 40 or even 50 years old. Every applicant should be judged on an individual basis. There are many over 50 year old’s out there extremely hungry to make as much money as possible and possess much drive and a wonderful attitude to smash their sales targets.
As Donald Trump is finding his feet in one of the biggest and stressful jobs in the World at 70, he will join ranks with Merkel (62) and May (60).
>> Surely it goes to show that with the right attitude, experience, drive and passion, it does not matter what age one is when it comes down to selling Software.
About Intrinsic Executive Search
Intrinsic Executive Search Ltd is a leading European Pan-European Headhunting firm helping high growth software & eCommerce firms with their key senior European hiring strategy. Our Executive Search focus covers the identification, attraction and recruitment of VP, Director, Senior Sales, Pre-sales, Channel, Marketing and Board Level personnel for enterprise software and e-commerce related companies.