Ashamed to admit that i'm stuck and in need of help

[technodup]

phoenixz said:

As i said, I excel at administration, but am simply not cut out for the "hard sell".

What i am looking for is advice on how to get into a company where these improvements are taken into account and valued in terms of advancement. That is clearly not the banks.

If you can't/won't sell then advancement is going to be limited no matter where you go.

People are paid according to their value, and pushing paper around and making efficiency improvements aren't valued in the same way as a good salesperson. I worked in one of the big banks and know that a decent sales guy can easily make more than someone who on paper is several rungs above him on the ladder.

All businesses are sales focused. If you are only interested in admin them maybe local government might be the answer? No commercial pressures and no end of bureaucratic nonsense which needs managed.

[slipstream 1985]

you want a backroom admin position where you dont deal with the public

[foliedouce]

Have you tried the local authority? They seem to employee armies of pen pushers and may appreciate your 'commercial' experience.

[craigjm]

Pheonixz you need to focus yourself on the skills, competencies and experience needed to get the job you want. Re-write your CV so that it emphasises those rather than your position in the bank. Sit down with a blank sheet of A4 lined paper and put a bullet point at the start of each line. Set a stop watch for 5 minutes count down and when you start the clock write a skill you have against each of the bullet points going down the page. If you don't complete it in 5 minutes walk away for half an hour go back and repeat for another 5 minutes until you have all 30 or so bullet points with something beside them. Once you have done this rank them in order of the ones you think you have more experience / are better at. Now transfer this in say 3 columns towards the top of your CV before you mention where you have worked.

When you apply for a job think about the skills needed and reorder your bullet points to put the most relevant ones at the top. If you are filling in application forms emphasise the skills you are using as you are writing your competency examples.

There are plenty of transferable skills from what you are doing into where you want to be. Sounds to me though that you are falling down at the interview stage. If thats the case think about what they will ask you before you go in and think of examples. If you feel things are lacking a bit think about what you can do outside of work that would help you. Could you do some admin volunteering for a charity for a while for instance?

[phoenixz]

Thank you very much craigjm.

That was extremely useful and exactly the kind of help i was after.


P.S. i have indeed tried council positions, but with no success

[craigjm]

Phoenix Z I have a really good template for a CV which will show you what I mean and it has gone to lots of PH'ers. Drop me a mail and ill send it across

[Helicopter123]

Easy to feel stuck but try not to get down about it. You have built up a range of transferable skills that you can market to future employers, it's just a question of how you position these.

Take a step back and decide where you want to be. There is a vibrant financial services industry in Aberdeen with personal, business, corporate, private and investment banking jobs within the City. Wealth Management and IFA community also doing well. Plenty of opportunities.

Your skill set will also transfer well into Retail and if you really want to get into Oil and Gas then you will achieve this. Might be worthwhile speaking with a specialist recruiter to help you make the transition.