Career Change - But How

LegacyUser

I am looking for some advice so I figure I will give you the hard facts rather then waffle on:

Vital Stats: Married (no kids) Male 28 years of age – Excellent Leaving Cert – 1 year at Uni (Business Mgt) (So no degree)

Career: 7 Years Experience in IT Sales - have won over €10 million worth of business for my two employers since I left University.

Average Yearly Income: 50-60K gross plus the car, expenses etc

Even as I type this in I am half thinking I have nothing to moan about, but bear with me.

Problem: I hate sales and have done for about 6 years now.
I stuck with sales because the cash was good and figured I would get around to going back to college at some stage and retraining

Current Situation:

1) No chance of career change in current position I have asked

2) I have no idea of what I want to do for a living, I went to a career guidance councillor and we did the whole strengths and weaknesses thing, filled in a couple of different skills/personality/aptitude tests and guess what: I am perfectly suited to Sales or Business Management.


3) I have done the math and could take a pay cut to about 35K per year once I clear a few outstanding bills (But if my partner lost her job we would be screwed)

4) I cannot afford to leave my job and do a full time coarse


5) If I look to start a career at apprenticeship/entry level job, I don’t believe I will start on 35K….

6) I am so sick of sales that a days work just drains me and so have concerns about my ability to stay in sales and give an evening coarse my full attention

Advice wanted:
I am the type of person that would respond to this request for advice with “come on mate it isn’t that bad suck it up” – believe me I have been sucking it up for 6 years and feel all sucked out.

So please if you have gone through something similar and have any practical advice please don’t me shy.

Beruthiel

Advice Please wrote:

“come on mate it isn’t that bad suck it up” – believe me I have been sucking it up for 6 years and feel all sucked out.

there is nothing worse then spending 40 odd hours of your week doing something you absolutely hate. Being happy on 30k is by no means difficult.
Why not just take an easy office job while you do a night course.
You will have to think long and hard on what you'd do the night course on, is there nothing that interests you at all?

BeardyGit

I.T. sales is an incredibly demanding career unless you've a tidy client portfolio with regular and loyal contacts who'll just keep passing you business. Burn out is very common and if you've only worked for 2 companies since beginning your career, it's quite likely you're just reaching the end of your tether with the pressures of the industry over the past 6 years. I can't blame you if you're truly sick of the work, the people you deal with and the daily tasks that comprise a career in sales, let alone I.T. sales. First things first, you need to spend a while planning your career change, don't just jump ship from the job you hate because you're possibly burnt out.

Deal with this in stages and you CAN pull it off and be happier at the end of the process. If you think you're burning out, take a week off to get your head sorted and recuperate after quarter end or whatever. If that's likely to elicit a negative response from your sales director tell them you're burning out and want to nip it in the bud with a weeks relaxation to get back in the game after the current 'push'. They may not like it but will accept if they think you're still going to come up with the goods. And let's face it, bills to pay mean you have to keep going. Just do what it takes to recover mentally so you can put your master plan into effect in an orderly manner.

Now comes the hard part. Deciding what you'd like to do! Try to think outside the box where possible as right now you're stuck in a particular mind-set - That of a salesman. You'll probably have pigeon-holed yourself, just as the career advisor did. Ignore the formulae for matching skills with careers until you've at least worked out what interests you. Speak with lots of people to find out what their work actually involves - Friends, family, casual aquaintances etc. Take some night classes just to suss out what's involved in different disciplines that interest you. Without really understanding what other careers involve, both highs and lows, you'll only ever have a misunderstanding of the pressures and rewards or worst case, a recipe for failure on your hands. Draw up a list, educate yourself about the roles/career options and then look into formal education for your chosen career-change.

Don't lose focus on your financial commitments as they stand and the responsibilities you will have in the future. Discuss EVERYTHING with your wife. You'll need the support and she'll need to be kept up to speed if she's to buy into your decision. It's a negotiation - Both of you need to agree on the terms going forward. Deal with whatever debts you have right now. Focus on clearing them. Then squirrel away whatever you can to buffer your reduced income when you start at the lower end of the salary scale in whatever your new career may be. Make sure both of you are reading from the same page here - No point in you saving while she spends! Make sure you do what you need to do to keep your job, maintain your income and most importantly limit your financial liabilities over the next couple of years so money becomes a controlled factor while you re-educate/re-skill.

If your work involves closing deals worth millions of euro, you're probably working for a reasonably large company. Don't rule out the possibility of a career change within the company that they would encourage and support. You've already put in time there, you've obviously performed, and you would likely be a favoured candidate for many 'similar' roles over an external applicant. If there are suitable opportunities that would allow you move away from a pure sales role, investigate them. Even if it just provides a temporary change of scenery, it could help as a short term fix while you set everything else up.

I really can't overstate the importance of making sure your wife knows how you feel about your work and your future. I've seen many friends fall foul of their partners by trying to get out of I.T. in a hurry. I've tried it myself and the personal fallout can be tremendous. I'm working on the technical side of the industry but have a lot of business exposure so I know the pressures you're likely under. Make sure you have some backup at home as there will be low points ahead - It's inevitable. Problems will arise if you're coming in stressed in the evenings, ratty and tired and can't communicate the reasons for your frustration. But if you make the moves for the right reasons and have the moral support at home, having agreed on what you're going to do, it'll be a lot easier for both of you in the long run.

Hope this helps in some small way and best of luck!

Gil

the_syco

Suck it up? Hell with that.

If I spent 6 years cleaning a fish tank, my strenghts would involve cleaning a fish tank. Which means diddle, tbh.

Minus the IT part, and you get 6 years in sales. Any other enterprise you'd want to look into? I don't like sales, and try to stay away from that end of things, but if you make a list of things that you hate about the job, and its the IT part you hate, think about selling another product.

If its selling you hate, look at your hobbies. One of my hobbies was fixing computers, thus I'm trying to get into tech support. If one of your hobbies can be used as a foundation for a career, try it out.

Now, think back. Think to the time when you were a child, and you always wanted to be X. Sure, if X was a salesman, this line of thoughts sucks, but if X was something other than a salesman, you may be able to get into that line of work.

You said you went to a career guidance councillor. Was this an independent one, or part of a recruiting company?

Finally, pop into your local FAS, or Obair location. Both have days taht trained officers call in, and you should try to book some time with them. Tell them that your in sales, you want out, and what other sections would your skills be valuable in? They may point you in the direction of a job that you may not have considered, or heard of, before.

Good luck, and happy job hunting.

justsomebloke

start looking in the paper for jobs and on the net, just to see what types of jobs there are, from reading the description of different types of jobs. Something might catch your eye that actually interests you and from there you could start to get a vague idea of a career that interests you.

Also there is no current promotions aspects in your current job, what about changing your job, you would have to saty in sales for a while but you could probably move to another company that would be willing to give you advancements outside of the sales arena.

Also if you have a mortgage, check with your bank to see if you can take a few months off from this or you could see about switching your mortgage to another bank that would give you a few months off (don't tell them your thinking of packing in your well paid job though), this may help with giving you time to start something new.

Also you may have to decide if it's worth while starting to cut back aspects of your lifestyle to help accomadate the decrease in money coming in, as you are probably goign to have to decide between your general happiness or materials rewards which you are used to i.e. think about down sizeing your home.

If your realtionship is a good one you're partner will support you through this and will be willing to make some sacrifies to

Gordon

I had a similar thing but with a less well payed job, however I had enough money to enjoy my life. My work life was really sucking the life out of me though so in full I wasn't happy.

I don't really have any advice to be honest but what I always wanted to do was to move to Greece. I had no idea what I would do and no real goals of dream jobs. I've been in Greece for a couple of years and definitely feel better for doing so. I feel spiritually happier. Although I am quite poor now, I am creatively more open and exploring avenues that I hadn't thought of exploring. With luck and a bit of tenacity I hope to make money from these pursuits.

But the thing I am happiest over is the fact that I broke the cycle and trusted in myself to get out of my headf*ck job. I'm not saying you should do that but maybe at least you could take some time out of your job and just travel for a while?

AngryBadger

There's a lot of ways you may be able to exploit your current skillset that don't involve actual selling.

Have you thought about some kind of consultation work or anything like that? Or even getting a job training other people in sales? Or even starting your own business in these areas, or something else?

If you took the skills you have from sales over the last few years, (sounds like you're dam good at it), you can think of other ways to apply that knowledge. Essentially your skills are in communication, and whe you think of it like that, you have ten times the options you're considering at the moment.

Moreover, any other job aong these lines would probably give you more flexibility to do a college course, (if that's what you want), and if you decided to do something on the consltation lines under conditions of self-employment, you'd have the power to dictate your own hours, and earn exactly as much, or as little as you want, while still having enough time to pursue college, (if you want to).

Plus with these kind of business propositions the start-up costs are often totally negligible, ad initially you could maintain your current position full-time while builkding up a solid foundation for this project.

Just a few more thoughts for you consideration, definitely you should tink about your skills as being more in communication than in sales, sales is just part of a subset of jobs that involve excellent communication skills. Also politicking there's another skill you have

Miss Fluff

AngryBadger wrote:

There's a lot of ways you may be able to exploit your current skillset that don't involve actual selling.

Have you thought about some kind of consultation work or anything like that? Or even getting a job training other people in sales? Or even starting your own business in these areas, or something else?

You're obviously good at what you're doing now and surely there is room for career progression where you are currently. If you have reached your expiry date on the sales side of things, would you not explore moving into a pure account management or client relationship management role where actual selling is not required? Or how about a team leader/sales management role?

ionapaul

Please come back whatever you decide and let us know how it goes. I am in a somewhat similar situation to you (late 20s, don't enjoy my job at all, no idea what I want to do, though luckily I don't have any financial commitments or are married) and need to figure out what to do. My problem is that, while being good at most things I turn my hand to, I resent obligations and so end up hating the fact that I *have* to be in at X time X days a week. I actually have a fairly cushy number at present, but am going to chuck it in because of these feelings!

onemanband

What type of IT sales are you in?? Projects, system integration, software or hardware or mix of all??

delly

Sorry that i can't offer you much help, but i'm in nearly the same situation as yourself, except i work in IT support.

I'm 27, married without kids, and have a nice house with the corresponding mortgage. I would love to break free from my current role, but like yourself the money is good and without any qualifications, finding an equivalent payscale in a different area would be hard. Couple that with the fact that my office moved recently and i now have to transverse the M50 every day, and you have a headwrecking situation.

Good luck to you though in what ever you decide to do.

LegacyUser

Thanks to all for the feed back and please keep it coming its stimulating the mind

Beruthiel wrote:

is there nothing that interests you at all?

I have loads of interests socially it’s mainly the usual sports, travel etc.

I once coached Kids soccer & basketball which was great but can’t see myself making a career out of it.

I have considered Teaching as a career choice - it’s on the list I am currently building...

Gil_Dub wrote:

I really can't overstate the importance of making sure your wife knows how you feel about your work and your future. I've seen many friends fall foul of their partners by trying to get out of I.T. in a hurry. I've tried it myself and the personal fallout can be tremendous. I'm working on the technical side of the industry but have a lot of business exposure so I know the pressures you're likely under. Make sure you have some backup at home as there will be low points ahead - It's inevitable.

Really appreciate the effort you put in to your response, once I get over this hump I will be PMing you for a pint. – One thing I am blessed with is a fantastic Lady she knows the situation in full and will support me in anyway possible and in fairness has been at me for a while to sort something out or try a night coarse – I guess t took me a while to find the motivation to try something new and feel I am ready to try something – but what? That’s the hardest question.

the_syco wrote:

You said you went to a career guidance councillor. Was this an independent one, or part of a recruiting company?

-

It was an Independent one, just didn’t help really

AngryBadger wrote:

Have you thought about some kind of consultation work or anything like that? Or even getting a job training other people in sales? Or even starting your own business in these areas, or something else?

The problem with the consultation work is my lack of a degree – even though at this stage I have real life experience of how to launch new products, run targeted marketing campaigns, demand generation campaigns, sell solutions at Director Level, key account & partner management, etc. etc. etc. No Degree / Master makes the consultant thing difficult if anyone can tell me different let me know.

The thing is - I am sick of the suit and tie, sick of the “going forward”, sick of the 50 phone calls before one is returned, sick of the lies/crap “Irish Business People” come out with. (Quick example/rant only in Ireland will someone avoid your call because they are afraid to say “sorry no thank you” they would rather ignore you until you go away rather then say no)

onemanband wrote:

What type of IT sales are you in?? Projects, system integration, software or hardware or mix of all??

A mix of all really – primarily Software but the company will supply hardware to get the business. In some cases, I have worked on the project team to manage the role out of the product. In a previous career I flogged hardware only.

Victor

Ideally you want something you like, you are good at and will pay your way.

Finding that is your problem.

One thing I would suggest is that you get some qualifications, even if its just the basic Microsoft exams. It will give you a feel for study again and it show that you are willing to improve yourself.

AngryBadger

Advice Please wrote:

The problem with the consultation work is my lack of a degree – even though at this stage I have real life experience of how to launch new products, run targeted marketing campaigns, demand generation campaigns, sell solutions at Director Level, key account & partner management, etc. etc. etc. No Degree / Master makes the consultant thing difficult if anyone can tell me different let me know.

I could understand how not having a degree might look awkward on paper, but think about it for a second, if you're going to poach customers you're not going to be crippled by the lack of a degree. Whether or not academic qualifications even come up is entirely down to how you present yourself to perspective clients, also would you have any contacts from your time in sales that you might use as a springboard to other clients, or getting started?

Don't just write off something because you don't already have a degree.

the_syco

Advice Please wrote:

I have loads of interests socially it’s mainly the usual sports, travel etc.

I once coached Kids soccer & basketball which was great but can’t see myself making a career out of it.

I have considered Teaching as a career choice - it’s on the list I am currently building...

Well, seeing as you have experience coaching kids, have considered teaching, ever think of teaching PE, or maybe a PE type of thing in a college?

annR

I must say I've never been in that position. But I did change careers. This is what helped me

- Make a list of the things you've liked about any jobs you did
- Make a list of the things you've not liked about any jobs you did

That should give you a basic picture. You've probably already done this with the career guidance person though . . . .how did you come out with the result that you are suited to sales but you hate sales? If you're suited to sales - surely there must be *something* about sales you like doing? Is it sales or your current job you hate?

Looks like you're burnt out, sick of the job and with no prospects in current job.

- Job burn out - do as previous person suggested - take a break from work
- Sales burn out - try different things and ways of thinking to give your brain a break - try doing something you never did before - a language? poker? travel somewhere?
- Ask yourself again is it sales or your current job you hate?
- No prospects - If there were prospects in your current job, would you be happy to stay and aim at them? If yes why not just apply for that job/prospect of getting that job somewhere else?
- If you don't want that - consider sales jobs with a different angle to them - you can use your skills but your focus is different - jobs which involve talking to people, negotiation, getting results etc. I know - buying!