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Hiring From A Boot Camp? 5 Questions You Need To Ask First

When hiring from a boot camp, there are a number of things to watch out for. From costs, to potential damage, it’s important to know the risks and best practices to follow in order to mitigate them.

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Uvaro

Aug 23, 2022

At Uvaro, we’re proud to provide top-tier tech sales training to aspiring and passionate tech sales representatives in a good ole fashioned boot camp format. Not only can boot camps serve as an excellent way to train a new generation of tech sales professionals, but as a two-sided marketplace, they are also a great place to hire from the perspective of a startup or tech enterprise.

But when hiring from a boot camp, there are a number of things to watch out for. From costs to potential damage, it’s important to know the risks and best practices to follow in order to mitigate them.

In this brief guide, we’ll break down what companies should take note of when hiring from a boot camp. If you want to be in a position to succeed, here are five questions to ask to put you in the drivers seat.

*Caveat* It’s important to note that a boot camp is not a fallback for not providing initial and continuous training. If you don't teach people about your product, your company, and your brand, your workforce will struggle to align their techniques with your unique practices. Hiring from a boot camp isn't a silver bullet. You need to be in a position to help them succeed, just like any other employee.


1 - What is the overall quality?

There are two aspects to consider when answering this question:

  • The quality of the information being taught and;
  • The ability to retain that information.

When it comes to hiring sales reps from a boot camp, we recommend considering the quality of the candidates from a tactical perspective:

  • What methodologies are they being taught?
  • Can they actually execute on what they say they can do?
  • Do they have the soft skills and technical training to excel in the role?

An important consideration when evaluating those three questions is that there is a distinction between what information is being taught versus how it is being taught.

The best way to get a decent understanding of the value you will receive when hiring from a boot camp is to get in touch with the team and leaders behind the boot camp itself.

At Uvaro, we have an in-depth syllabus available to any curious potential employers. This syllabus details everything that we teach our sales reps for the duration of the course. Sign up to receive this syllabus today for more information on how our team trains the highest quality graduates.

2 - Is there visibility and transparency before hiring?

As a leader at a tech company, it’s vital to know what kind of candidate pool potential is being offered to help you balance your pipeline. Some boot camps will match you with a graduate and simply expect you to accept the match. This isn’t a very transparent practice. In fact, it’s important to note what type of access you get with a boot camp’s candidates before they graduate from the program to understand them a bit better.

Visibility and transparency breeds confidence in your decision. If it is a development boot camp then some of the questions that would surface this visibility could be "Is there a project or example of their work to share?", "Are there examples of the quality of demos that will be delivered?" Public open events like our Demo Day allow employers to answer some of those questions with confidence. It allows you to preview the candidate pool quality first before making a firm commitment.

A good example of this kind of transparency is being able to see all of the graduates on a monthly basis via a monthly Hotsheet. We send these emails out for free to all potentially interested employers, with complete access to all of our graduates.

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3 - What is the price? And the true cost?

Costs associated with hiring from a boot camp are also important to consider. Look into what exactly you are paying for and how much you are expected to pay for access to new graduates and potential candidates for employment. Is the company upfront about how much they take from you, and the graduates as well?

A good boot camp will provide a clear income share agreement, so you’ll know exactly where your money is going and how much you are expected to pay. Uvaro has clear recruit pricing options available as well as business services to view, so you can make a more informed choice.

4 - Is their systems, tools, and process proficiency?

There is nothing wrong with needing training on certain elements of ones job, but if you come in with no knowledge of the tools or systems being used, it will be a rocky onboarding. That's where prior proficiency or exposure helps.

In sales, we call these tools our "sales stack" and our "sales process" and they are at the heart of what we teach, and any sales representative worth their salt will have a clear understanding of multiple tech stacks. Your job as an employer is to determine if your candidate understands the tech stack that you are using, whether it be CRM, sales engagement, research, and everything in between. If this were a dev bootcamp, that would be the coding languages and programs used.

You’ll always have to spend some time training new recruits on the tools you use, but an ideal candidate will have basic knowledge of most popular tech applications and tools. At Uvaro, we ensure that our recruits come out of boot camp trained on all of the most commonly used technologies.

5 - Do they have a history of successful placements?

The history of a boot camp’s success rate is another very important thing to consider. Discover if the boot camp places graduates immediately, or if they actually prepare their recruits to excel in reaching their quotas. Don’t just take a company’s word for it, either. Look into the actual proof they have to back up their claims, such as reviews, testimonials, quotes, etc.

We understand how important showcasing our talent honestly is, and that’s why Uvaro is killing it with online review sites! We have excellent proven reviews via Course Report and Switch Up, and we also have a wide range of video testimonials as well.


Uvaro is the answer

If you ask these questions and get the answer you are looking for; there is a good chance you'll be happy with the individual you hire! Boot camps are an amazing alternative to the traditional methods of education and career advancement. They offer access to a pool of untapped and diverse talent before they hit the open job market. Check out our available courses to see what our graduates gain with us.

If you're looking to hire sales reps, don’t forget to get in touch with Uvaro today to learn more about how we can pair your startup or business with the best of the best in tech sales!

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Tech Sales
Sales Interviews

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