Any tips on job hunting these days (IT sales)?
Discussion
Afternoon all,
It looks like I'm likely to be in need of a new job soon, with a massive round of redundancies looming where I am now. After over 10 years at the same large organisation, this is something of a daunting prospect!
I've just been tidying up my LinkedIn profile and CV, and noticed LinkedIn itself looks like it's doing a pretty decent job of suggesting interesting roles, which certainly wasn't the case last time I went looking, but was just wondering how much else is out there?
Are recruitment consultants still somewhere to focus time? Are there other sites than LinkedIn worth looking at? Obviously I've got my own network to chase up with, but most of them are also in large corporates, and I rather fancy moving back to something smaller if the risk does become a reality...
It looks like I'm likely to be in need of a new job soon, with a massive round of redundancies looming where I am now. After over 10 years at the same large organisation, this is something of a daunting prospect!
I've just been tidying up my LinkedIn profile and CV, and noticed LinkedIn itself looks like it's doing a pretty decent job of suggesting interesting roles, which certainly wasn't the case last time I went looking, but was just wondering how much else is out there?
Are recruitment consultants still somewhere to focus time? Are there other sites than LinkedIn worth looking at? Obviously I've got my own network to chase up with, but most of them are also in large corporates, and I rather fancy moving back to something smaller if the risk does become a reality...
As a fellow IT-ist, I find the best way to get attention with minimal effort (don't bother calling recruiters, you'll just get put in the pile and forgotten) is to get them to call you.
Get your CV well polished, fill it with appropriate key-words, and upload it to Reed, CWjobs, CV Library.
I have often had a call withing minutes of up-loading, and have on occasion had 10+ calls about the same position from different agencies.
Good luck!
Get your CV well polished, fill it with appropriate key-words, and upload it to Reed, CWjobs, CV Library.
I have often had a call withing minutes of up-loading, and have on occasion had 10+ calls about the same position from different agencies.
Good luck!
Not sure what area IT Sales you are In, but for FinTech it's a major ballache and competitive environment. A lot of guys I know 're working commission only given the proliferation of systems recently. There are a lot of ex bankers with decent redundancy payouts doing IT Sales leveraging their contact books. Critical your CV and LinkedIn are up to date. These bankers etc may not actually be great sales people but they have contacts. Many couldn't close a deal for toffee but it's a free option for cash strapped IT firms in a competitive mkt - made worse as many firms they sell to can't see the wood for trees given regulatory change and BRRXIT.
History of sales and appreciation of Client issues are key. I employed a guy whom I knew from the industry with a CV of JPM, Black rock etc as a sales / RM; but he can't close for toffee. Still thinks he works for a major bank or asset manager.
If however you can prove you're a closer; you should do well armed with a decent CV and profile. If you are a SME maybe worth blogging some stuff on your area of expertise particularly if a demand area and getting it into LinkedIn and liked.
Broking firms such as NEX maybe worth looking at, closing deals is paramount you can earn decent comms as high as 35% of revenue - this is not without risk of lemon clauses. Some of the best brokers are financially and written illiterate but they can close.
English salespeople travel well too, so maybe consider options away from London (if you can), BREXIT is a major ? Mark affecting big spend AND an easy excuse to hide behind.
Hope it goes well!
History of sales and appreciation of Client issues are key. I employed a guy whom I knew from the industry with a CV of JPM, Black rock etc as a sales / RM; but he can't close for toffee. Still thinks he works for a major bank or asset manager.
If however you can prove you're a closer; you should do well armed with a decent CV and profile. If you are a SME maybe worth blogging some stuff on your area of expertise particularly if a demand area and getting it into LinkedIn and liked.
Broking firms such as NEX maybe worth looking at, closing deals is paramount you can earn decent comms as high as 35% of revenue - this is not without risk of lemon clauses. Some of the best brokers are financially and written illiterate but they can close.
English salespeople travel well too, so maybe consider options away from London (if you can), BREXIT is a major ? Mark affecting big spend AND an easy excuse to hide behind.
Hope it goes well!
swerni said:
Your LinkedIn profile doesn’t really scream sales, at least not for the last 9 years.
You're right, and it's quite a challenge figuring out how best to portray that period.For much of it, I've been in a sort of hybrid seller/product specialist role that doesn't immediately map on to a typical role in a smaller business, which is something of a challenge. More a case of helping generalist customer relationship managers to recognise opportunities when they see them, then progressing those opportunities through to a close, so it doesn't really match with either traditional hunter or farmer sales roles.
Having said that, I used to really enjoy the channel stuff and using my languages on a daily basis, and only ended up where I am now through an accident of corporate acquisition, so I might well put a focus on getting back into that sort of role, which then gives me a whole different challenge of how I highlight everything I was doing up until a decade ago!!!
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