The Kas Group

How Long Does It Take to Hire an Account Executive in 2026?

Chris Stinson, Managing Partner, The Kas Group

Short answer: SHRM's State of Recruiting 2025 puts median time to fill at roughly a month and a half, from job requisition to offer acceptance, across all roles. There is no verified public figure for account executives or enterprise AEs on their own, and real searches vary a lot.

All figures on this page come from named public sources, linked in the text. None of it is placement data from The Kas Group.

How Long It Takes to Hire an Account Executive

SHRM measures time to fill from job requisition to offer acceptance. In its State of Recruiting 2025, the median is roughly a month and a half for both executive and nonexecutive roles. That is an all roles figure, not a sales figure, and it stops at the accepted offer, before the new AE starts or ramps.

"A lot of it depends. There are a lot of variables that go into that, and they could either make it quicker or longer." Chris Stinson, Managing Partner, The Kas Group, 12 years recruiting. This is his recruiting view, not data.

Many factors beyond company urgency and how fast the interview process runs can shorten or lengthen time to fill.

How Long It Takes to Hire an Enterprise AE

No public source we could verify gives a time to fill for enterprise AEs on their own. The SHRM median above is the closest verified reference point. For the enterprise hiring process itself, read how to hire an enterprise account executive, and for senior seats, how to hire a senior account executive.

Things That Help a Search Move

  • Agree on the scorecard and the interview panel before the first candidate call.
  • Set the OTE band and the base to variable split up front.
  • Hold interview slots on the calendar each week so strong candidates are not kept waiting.

AE OTE in 2026: Short Summary

RepVue's 2026 sales salary guide puts the median across all AEs at $200K OTE on a $100K base, and enterprise AEs at $275K OTE on a $140K base. The Bridge Group's 2026 AE survey of 158 B2B companies also found a median AE OTE of $200K, with a median quota of $960K. For pay by level, from SDR to strategic AE, see AE OTE by level.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to hire an account executive?

SHRM's State of Recruiting 2025 puts median time to fill at roughly a month and a half, from job requisition to offer acceptance. That covers all roles, not sales specifically. In Chris Stinson's recruiting view, a lot of it depends, and many variables can make an AE search quicker or longer.

How long does it take to hire an enterprise AE?

There is no verified public figure for enterprise AE time to fill on its own. SHRM's median across all roles is roughly a month and a half. In Chris Stinson's recruiting view, a lot of it depends, and many variables can make an enterprise search quicker or longer.

What can make hiring an AE take longer or shorter?

Many factors beyond company urgency and how fast the interview process runs can shorten or lengthen time to fill. In Chris Stinson's words, a lot of it depends, and there are a lot of variables that could make it quicker or longer.

What is the median OTE for an account executive in 2026?

RepVue's 2026 self-reported data puts the median at $200K OTE on a $100K base across all AE segments. The Bridge Group's 2026 survey of 158 B2B companies also found a median AE OTE of $200K.

What is a typical enterprise AE OTE?

RepVue's 2026 self-reported median for an enterprise AE is $275K OTE on a $140K base, across all company sizes. Strategic AEs sit at $300K on a $150K base.

How does AE OTE differ for SMB, mid-market and enterprise roles?

RepVue's 2026 medians put SMB AEs at $135K OTE on a $70K base, mid-market AEs at $180K on a $95K base and enterprise AEs at $275K on a $140K base. The AE OTE by level guide has the full table.

What is the median quota for an account executive?

The Bridge Group's 2026 AE survey of 158 B2B companies found a median AE quota of $960K across all AEs.

Where do the figures on this page come from?

Every figure comes from a public source: RepVue's 2026 sales salary guide, The Bridge Group's 2026 AE survey and SHRM's State of Recruiting 2025. None of it is placement data from The Kas Group.

Sources

Hiring Account Executives?

See AE OTE by level, then how The Kas Group works on the programs page. Searches above Sales Manager, such as VP of Sales, are quoted on request. Questions? Email [email protected].