This week, we recognize Kevin Gong at Bridge US as Vendition’s Apprentice of the Week! Since we first met Kevin in May, he’s found an incredibly supportive environment with Bridge US and is loving it.
Kevin graduated from Cal Poly with a degree in Group Dynamics (psychology) and System Design/Industrial Engineering. An organization he was involved with in college introduced him to his first job post-grad with his national fraternity as a senior consultant. He figured out that while this role gave him great opportunities in consulting, he didn’t view it as a long term fit. Once he came to this realization, he decided sales would be an interesting opportunity to learn about the sales/marketing pipeline.
A Vendition team member reached out to him on LinkedIn to see if he was looking for sales opportunities, so he decided to take the call and is really grateful he did.
Read more to learn Kevin’s Vendition story:
“Working with Vendition gave me a lot of options, big or small, with different types of products and services. My Relationship Manager really broke down all the different opportunities that would be available to me. I wanted something that was very mission-driven and personal and professional growth for me. It took me one or two tries but I couldn’t have asked for a better fit.
“I did everything virtually – Vendition helped me with not only finding a job but also finding a house (thanks, Michelle!). I knew going into any role that I wanted to start with a positive mindset. Bridge US recognized that they needed to meet me where I was at, and they were able to ramp me up pretty quickly. I can work independently and ask for help. My weekly coaching calls with Ashleigh helped me work through things so I didn’t have just one SDR data point, but multiple resources.
“The transition [from apprentice to full hire] felt relatively seamless – it wasn’t just a three month scam to just get some cheap work, but a really supportive program to support my long term career growth. [Our CEO] went out of his way to make sure the transition went through as smoothly as possible.”
In the time Kevin’s moved into his full hire with Bridge US, he has worked on data clean up and has helped build out campaigns already, which have led to some major improvements for the outbound side of the business.
Kevin’s top tips for other SDRs:
“Fail hard and fail often—sales is one of those things that you have to throw yourself at. So consistently try to move forward, you’ll have to pick yourself up and keep going”
“I like trying a lot of different approaches. In trying different methods, just make sure that you’re learning from each attempt.
“Apply sales to a scientific method – if i have a hypothesis of something that might work, I build a structure and measure it, and see if it works. If it does or doesn’t work, make sure you log it so you can move forward and succeed.”
Closing thoughts:
“Overall, [Vendition’s Apprenticeship] is a wonderful program–you guys were there for me when trying to transition out of my past role. It’s awesome what James and the team have been able to build, to give opportunities for people like me to shift careers.
“Vendition made me more hirable and easier to ramp up—I just really appreciate the program for getting me here.”