SV Academy

Applying to SV Academy was one of the best decisions I've ever made. Their curriculum familiarizes you with the SDR role while challenging you to develop a professional growth mindset, and I was highly impressed by the caliber of the fellows in my cohort as well as the staff and instructors. SVA connects you to a network of people who genuinely care about your professional development and they will get you a foot in the door at exciting tech startups! Beyond that, they are simply a great team of people who really do care about helping you become your best!       

Finding and being accepted into the SV Academy Fellowship has been life-altering in the best possible way. I was stuck in a comfort zone (aka - a rut) for some years with the jobs that I was used to doing. I have lived in Silicon Valley for over a decade now and had never felt like I could actually be part of it career-wise. Breaking into the tech sector, even as an entry-level SDR, is NOT easy. I'm so thankful that a couple of great minds came together and saw the opportunity to help open that door for people like me.

The program is very intelligently designed with very practical assignments and educational material. They have coaching for every arena pertinent to the endeavor. And, they follow-through and deliver on their promise all the way. That being said, it is up to YOU to put in the work. They won't hold your hand or check on you about late assignments. The threshold for lack of effort is low, but their employer network is counting on them to deliver the best, ready-to-go SDR's around. 

Having recently graduated, I've already received two job offers and have officially accepted. I'm very excited about the future and the continued support through the SV Academy Community over the next 12 months!

I had a great experience with SV Academy. I thought it was too good to be true: a free bootcamp with guaranteed placement at a top startup in NYC. After asking around my personal network I decided to take a shot and it was the best decision that I've ever made. Within two months I was placed at a startup and tripled my salary overnight. Two things especially contributed to this: they had great interview prep with one on one coaching and they were able to leverage their network to get me in front of two companies a week until I was placed. The interview process was hands down the toughest I have ever been through and I thought very highly of my interview skills going into the program. You will be expected to demonstrate you can perform the duties of an SDR: creative prospecting, conduct a discovery call, explain how you work with a sales stack etc. You will have the experience of the training to draw from.

There are a few things to keep in mind: one is that while the program is remote there are some parts of the program that are not asynchronous. If you live on the East Coast, expect to make some adjustments as the times are usually based on PST. The staff was great about working with me on that. Another thing is the time committment- if you work full time any "free time" you have will be occupied by this program. Be sure to submit your assignments on time. If you keep up with your end of the bargain they will set you up nicely.

SVA has helped me to break into tech and position myself in a closing role for a SaaS company in SF!

I was accepted to be part of the SVA fellowship in December 2018 while being based in Peru. During the training phase (first three months of the program) I learned everything that I needed to be successful as an SDR:  using empathy and active listening to engage in meaningful conversations with prospects, how to approach a cold call, write creative emails, how to take rejection on the head, develop my own workflow, and understand deeply the SDR role, among others.

Once the initial training and internship were over I moved to SF to start the interviewing process. During my first week in the Bay Area, I interviewed with 5 high potential start-ups that offered technology solutions aligned with my experience (business and data analysis). After two weeks of phone calls and on-site interviews, I was extended an offer by Alation (creators and leaders in the enterprise data catalog market), a top tier fast-growth start-up. All of the anxious feelings that I had (moving to a new country without a job) were replaced by reassurance, knowing I had a great organization that cared about my professional growth and were true to their promise.

After several months of hard work at Alation as an SDR, with more than a couple of thousand cold calls and more than many successfully qualified prospects under my belt, the second milestone in my career materialized. I transitioned to a closing role as an account executive for another enterprise SaaS start-up in the Bay Area. All of these events unfolded in a quasi-celestial manner all thanks to the support from SVA coaches, mentors, the network of partners, fellows and founders Rahim and Joel. Without them, this would not have happened.

In summary, it has been a crazy ride… moving from Peru to San Francisco, getting my first job offer within two weeks of relocating to the US, and signing for an AE role within a year.

100% Honest Review of SVA. Joining was one of the biggest mistakes of my life, the most unethical organization with predatory loan practices. They try to make you feel special by claiming they only accept 2% of candidates when the truth is they will take anyone with a heartbeat and can read basic English. They prey on people's desperation for a new job and sales pitch of making big bucks in the tech industry, then leave you with 10k in debt, and in the worst situation then you start, they say culty things like just trust the process. The reality is that 1% of graduates might get a job in the tech industry while the rest end up getting jobs in their old careers and are left with 10k in debt. People stay in hopes of getting jobs with their partners but it’s all the biggest scam. They only market success stories and are professional digital marketers running the biggest MLM scam. Once you're done with the course they force you to leave a good review, ( All positive reviews are fake ) they then offer you a $750.00 affiliate program for every new recruit to get you to pay down your 10k debt that you will be paying off for the next two years, Rahim and his wife could care less for helping underserved communities and only care about their bottom line and please their investors. The course is the biggest joke and all of the information can be found online for free, they lack follow through on their word and leave you in worse financial ruins than you started. Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions. If I can save anyone the heartache of joining this corrupt unethical bootcamp, I've done good. 

I think this program is amazing. It helps walk you through the entire tech stack and all the tech tools you could think of for a beginner or entry-level position breaking into the tech industry (Salesforce, Salesloft, Gainsight, Slack, etc). There is a lot of handholding in the beginning of the program and once you're ready to start your internship, you feel comfortable enough to be left off on your own to navigate the internship and succeed! Also, I love how there is an Employer's network that you are placed into once you graduate to help guarantee that you will get a job following graduation. This program increased my confidence for interviews and presentations because of our two main courses: Interviewing with Confidence and Emotional Intelligence. Can't thank SV academy enough!