Posted on August 4, 2021 in Career, SalesOps/RevOps

RevOps Career Paths – Play Your Way to the Top

RevOps is on the rise, expanding so fast that Gartner predicts 75% of high-growth companies will deploy it by 2025. As it continues to grow, the job market is flooding with opportunities, opening up new pathways to success for ops professionals.

If you’re unfamiliar with RevOps, it’s an organizational approach that aligns sales, marketing, and customer experience ops teams. Even though it’s relatively new, there’s already a clear trend emerging: your RevOps career path can go in any direction you want.

Instead of feeling trapped by the traditional career trajectory focused solely on climbing the ladder, you can define what success looks like to you and align your path with that vision.

A successful career in RevOps doesn’t have to follow a straight, upward direction. It can move laterally, up and down, or zig-zag all over the place. It allows you to concentrate on your interests, learning opportunities, and personal fulfillment rather than being fully absorbed with gaining seniority or managing more people.

In many ways, the twists and turns that your career path can take in RevOps is similar to one of your favorite board games:

Monopoly

You are motivated by your thirst for knowledge. To you, success lies in learning more each day and obtaining certifications along the way.

Your career path is a slow, steady climb. For example:

• You may begin as an SDR and quickly get promoted to a Business Development Manager.
• Over time, you want to work more in Salesforce, so you pursue Trailhead training and find an Admin job.
• You thrive in that role and work hard to become Salesforce Admin certified.
• Upon achieving that certification, new opportunities lead you to your ultimate goal: RevOps Lead.

If you want to pursue this direction, start by determining what certifications can benefit you the most, when you want to get them, and how you will leverage them throughout your career.

Chutes and Ladders

Curiosity is your driver, and your interests lead you in unpredictable directions. There’s no limit to success because you are constantly pushing the boundaries of your knowledge and skills.

Instead of following a straight trajectory, your path zig-zags to pursue new opportunities and return to previous roles you still enjoy. For example:

• You start as a Business Analyst and move up the ladder to Sales Operations Manager.
• From there, you progress until you decide it’s time for a change. So, you take the next slide down to Marketing Automation Coordinator.
• You love that role, but you love Salesforce even more, so you make a lateral move to become an Admin.
• From there, you continue advancing until you find your sweet spot: Director of Sales & RevOps.

The key to pursuing this path is diving deep into the intricacies and best practices across go-to-market functions, so you can help solve problems and challenges outside of your primary expertise.

Battleship

You’re a strategic thinker, and you make calculated, careful moves to progress your career. You navigate toward success by using problem-solving to overcome any hurdles or obstacles in your way.

Your path is deliberate, and you tend to stay in roles longer than the average ops professional. You change jobs only when it’s the most strategic opportunity for your career growth. For example:

• You start as a Senior Associate, but you keep your sights on a Sales Operations Manager role.
• Once you achieve that, you begin targeting your next goal, Strategy Lead.
• From there, you plot how to keep growing in your career so you can work your way up to CEO.

To follow this path, invest the time early on in your career to set clear goals and define your strengths, so you can leverage them every step of the way.

Yahtzee

You welcome change and are open to a number of career possibilities. You’re a jack of all trades, finding fulfilment by going after new roles every time you make a move.

Your path changes and morphs, taking on a new shape at every turn. For example:

• You begin your career as a Business Analyst but develop an interest in Salesforce and move to a Consultant role.
• You continue diversifying your experience and skill set along the way until you achieve your ultimate role: Head of Product Research.

To pursue a diverse career path, focus on becoming well versed in the tech and best practices across all aspects of ops and stay open to the opportunities that come your way.

Apples to Apples

You live in the moment, leveraging your charisma and understanding your audience to navigate your career. Success comes naturally because you are intentional about reading the room and understanding others’ personalities.

By taking a people-centric approach and building connections along the way, your career is full of surprises and outstanding accomplishments. For example:

• You start off as a Math Teacher.
• After a few years, you want to try another role that still works closely with people, so you become a Business Development Representative.
• You begin building your network, which leads you to an Inside Sales role.
• As you continue developing strong relationships with your network and advancing in your career, you land a Senior RevOps Manager job.

This career path flourishes by investing your time in developing genuine, long-lasting relationships with your colleagues, friends, and community.

Summary

Success looks different in RevOps than it does in other industries. This means you can define what direction you want your path to take and build a career that best suits your skills, interests, and strengths.

To define the right path for you, set a strategy while staying open to the twists and turns along the way. Whenever you need help navigating your career decisions, turn to a community like Wizards of Ops, where you can connect with other ops professionals to learn from their experiences.

Is your career path similar to a board game? Let us know by commenting below.