SV Academy
SV Academy Overview and Guide
Software developers usually get the most attention when people talk about job growth in the tech industry. But there’s another overlooked field that needs just as many new workers, and this SV Academy review will explain how you can get involved.
SV Academy prepares people to work as Sales Development Representatives (SDRs) in tech. Unlike many other bootcamps, you won’t be required to learn how to write a single line of code during the program. But you will learn how to excel in tech sales by presenting software to potential clients.
What You Need to Know About SV Academy
During an SV Academy fellowship, students learn everything they need for a new career in tech sales. The academy has a tuition-free option where companies pay SV Academy for the privilege of hiring its graduates. These hiring partners pay the academy between $12,000 and $15,000 for every hire, a price that shows that the training is worthwhile.
- Cost: $10,000
- Schedules: Full-Time, Part-Time
- Courses Offered: SV Academy Fellowship
- Upcoming Start Dates: April 5
SV Academy Curricula: What Can You Study?
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SV Academy only focuses on a single course, its unique fellowship. Throughout this course, students build lifelong skills that will help them succeed in their new careers.
SV Academy Fellowship
The SV Academy Fellowship teaches students through a combination of live-online courses, self-paced work, and virtual employer projects. Students can choose to take a four-week full-time program or a 12-week part-time version of the course.
Students start their journey by learning about the daily SDR experience. They’ll learn about the tools SDRs use, along with the challenges they face and some of the common strategies they use to navigate those challenges.
After this early lesson, students dive into the curriculum. Over the next two weeks in the full-time program, students study the skills and ideas they learned about in that first lesson. They also learn about strategies to generate new leads and close sales, along with the tools they’ll use to get the job done.
These tools include software like LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Salesforce, SalesLoft, and more. The lessons in this stage focus more on grasping the concepts behind the tools and their place in a salesperson’s toolkit as opposed to complete mastery. So don’t be intimidated by the long list of tools for business analysis and other functions you’ll be covering. During their course, students also get an internship at a high-growth tech company for workplace experience.
In the last week of the program, a career placement coach works with students to map out their job search and future career. These coaches help students build their brand, interviewing skills, and ability to tell a story.
As the program concludes, students advance to interviews with SV Academy’s pre-screened hiring partners. From there, SV Academy graduates continue to work with a career success coach for the first year after graduation to ensure their new career starts swimmingly.
SV Academy Campuses: Where Can You Study?
SV Academy only offers courses in a live online format, so students can take advantage of them anywhere. However, there are a few cities where SV Academy has the best connections with hiring partners, so living in one of these cities can mean finding a job faster after graduation.
- Atlanta
- Austin
- Boston
- Chicago
- Dallas
- Denver
- Los Angeles
- New York City
- Phoenix
- San Francisco Bay Area
- Washington, D.C.
SV Academy Schedules: When Can You Study?
Full-Time
The Full-Time program is a four-week sprint to the finish, which we covered in the curricula section above. Students start by learning what SDRs do daily, before learning how to perform those tasks themselves and preparing for their job hunt. This is the fastest way to make a career change the SV Academy way.
Part-Time
The 12-week part-time option gives students the full SV Academy program at a slower pace. This course is designed for people who are still working while they attend the SV Academy bootcamp.
Flex
Flex models generally refer to self-paced programs where students get to plan their own schedules. SV Academy, however, does not offer a Flex program at the moment.
SV Academy Tuition
SV Academy costs $10,000 to attend. The school lets students pay upfront, but it also has a limited amount of deferred tuition slots available. The deferred tuition option is different than others you may have already seen.
SV Academy Financing and Payment Options
- Interest-Free Deferred Tuition. Students pay a $100 commitment fee to participate in the program, which SV Academy refunds when they complete the program. Students then don’t pay anything until 30 days after they land their first job.
After graduates get a qualifying job, they pay 18 monthly installments of $555. Payments pause if graduates lose their jobs or their income dips below $45,000. If students don’t land a job in the first six months after graduation, they pay nothing. - Scholarships. Many SV Academy hiring partners offer scholarships as part of their hiring packages. This means that if you’re hired by one of these companies, they’ll pay your tuition outright to SV Academy.
- Upfront. Students who aren’t able to claim a deferred tuition slot have to cover the $10,000 tuition upfront. However, SV Academy maintains that most graduates end up making around $79,000 upon graduation, so the investment could be worth your while.
- GI Bill. SV Academy does not currently accept GI Bill benefits as a method of financing.
SV Academy Admissions: How to Get In
SV Academy has a highly-selective admissions process. The program draws a huge amount of applicants because it’s a unique entry-point into the growing tech industry with numerous firm connections in the industry. But what maybe makes this program most appealing is its application process.
SV Academy Application
SV Academy’s online application looks for the basic requirements to join the fellowship program. Students aren’t required to have any experience in the field, but SV Academy does recommend they at least have a bachelor’s degree.
There are a few qualities that can boost someone’s SV Academy application. The school gives strong weight to applications from first-gen college graduates. Also, to ensure a diverse range of thought and opportunities, SV Academy’s enrollment hovers around 60 percent female and 50 percent BIPOC. Lastly, the application looks for people that have served as community leaders. They want people with passion to join the program.
SV Academy Interview
If SV Academy likes your application, you’ll be invited to a phone interview within one week of applying.
During this interview, SV Academy looks to see if you’re a good fit for the program. The school gets paid on the strength of the candidates it produces, so it has to be sure that incoming students are serious about committing to the program. After the interview, students also complete a written assessment. If all goes well, students join the fellowship.
SV Academy Admission Rate: What Are My Chances of Getting In?
Because SV Academy has so much success with its program, and because it has so many hiring partners already lined up, the competition is fierce. As recently as 2019, SV Academy was getting around 4,000 applicants for its 100 open monthly bootcamp positions. So only 2.5 percent of applicants made it into the program, according to the most recent data.
SV Academy Outcomes: Will I Find a Job?
SV Academy will likely help you land a job after graduation. Not only do a majority of SV Academy students find jobs, but 70 percent of graduates are promoted within one year of getting hired. SV Academy doesn’t make a job guarantee, but with over 500 hiring partners around the country and a six-month time limit on finding a job for deferred-tuition students, you have a strong safety net.
Job Placement Services at SV Academy
The final week of SV Academy’s program prepares students to transition into a new career. The aforementioned career success coach works with students for 12 months after graduation, whether they land a job or not. These coaches do more than try to find students a job. They also get to know them on a personal level and stay in contact to make sure they’re meeting your goals and feeling good about the job search.
As you’ve read, SV Academy also has over 500 hiring partners that can help you make the switch to a new career. These companies are spaced around the nation, so you can take advantage of SV Academy’s network and reputation to land a job in plenty of places.
Should You Apply to SV Academy?
If you’re interested in joining the world of tech without learning to code, then you should apply to SV Academy. Here are a few things to consider when deciding for yourself.
- Charisma and Communication. This program deals specifically with sales, so it’s important to know you can handle that world. If you enjoy communicating with others and convincing them of your position, then you may love SV Academy.
- Deferred Tuition. You likely won’t have to pay for SV Academy. With so many hiring partners offering full scholarships, it’s worth trying to land a deferred tuition slot. Even if you don’t get a scholarship with your hiring package, the affordable payments are set before you even apply.
- Competitive Environment. The competitive application process may be a turnoff to many, but if you enjoy a challenge then you’ve got nothing to lose. It’s free to apply, and you’ve got a 2.5 percent chance of making a positive change.
- Partner Programs. Recent graduates from Arizona State University or Florida International University can get post-graduate certificates from the program thanks to a recent partnership. So if you’ve already earned a degree from these schools, your application may have a better chance of acceptance.
If you find any of this appealing, give SV Academy a shot. The bootcamp is producing unique graduates that are well-suited to the changing landscape of sales. You can get your piece of the tech boom without spending months learning to code—that’s almost priceless.
