Trails of my successful change of career...
Discussion
Hi all, I would like to share my recent experience of managing to successfully completely change my career. In doing so I hope that this may encourage, inspire others, share my tips and how I felt along the way.
I’ll try to keep this fairly simple without rambling on too much.
I turned 28 last month and I was a farmer from the age of 20-27. I have no degree and average school GCSE’S and A-levels (no A grades)! I decided that I didn’t want to be a farmer for the rest of my life. I was living in a farmers work house as a perk of the job so leaving meant I needed to also find a house and a new job all at the same time.
I decided I wanted to get into sales as I thought I’d be good at it and after doing research, you can potentially earn a very good amount from sales. In August ‘17 I told my employer I wanted to leave and agreed 2-3 months notice to give me time to find a new job. I searched jobs online daily for any entry sales job I could find… estate agency, telephone sales, call centres, mobile phone stores etc.. I wanted anything that would put me on the sales ladder. Every job I applied for I would ring that particular recruitment agency who was advertising for the role to let them know that I’d applied and to also get myself registered with said agency.
After approximately 30 applications and 5 interviews, I managed to bag a very lucky entry level sales role; £34k on target earnings!! Being a farmer, my only transferable skills I could talk about was building rapport with business suppliers and the occasional customer to sell our products. In interview I talked a lot about customer service and also explained my motivation and work ethic of being a farmer. I started the new entry sales role in November ‘17
I’m still in this current sales role and I usually exceed all targets each month; this equals a great salary (£35k+) considering an entry job with a complete career change and no previous targeted sales experience! I felt like I was on a role so I started job hunting again for that next step.
3 months ago, so June ‘18, I started looking every day online for my next step up the sales ladder. I wanted “Account Manager” or “Business Development Manager” kinda role, i.e. dealing with existing clients and also creating new sales by selling into businesses- I wanted a more consultative and professional sales role. This time I probably applied to 60 suitable roles and had 6 interviews. The stumbling block I kept coming up against was lack of ‘business to business’ sales.
Finally I struck lucky and I’m happy to say that 2 weeks ago I got offered a new job- Business Development Manager for a very exciting software company! This time with a slighter higher basic and OTE of £37k in first year with OTE £50k in second year (proven with current BDM's). Monday-Friday too! After having a fair bit of practise with these interviews, I focused more on my determination to learn new skills, coupled with my now previous track record of exceeding targets and the willingness to take on whatever challenge comes to my, I believe this tactic helped me secure this role.
To recap, I effectively started my career from scratch 10 months ago, starting from November ‘17 to present and I am going to be starting my new BDM sales role at the end of October!
If I can start a new career from being a farmer(!), then I believe that anyone can swap careers into something new if you have the determination to put the effort in.
I’m happy to answer any questions as long as it’s not too personal!
I’ll try to keep this fairly simple without rambling on too much.
I turned 28 last month and I was a farmer from the age of 20-27. I have no degree and average school GCSE’S and A-levels (no A grades)! I decided that I didn’t want to be a farmer for the rest of my life. I was living in a farmers work house as a perk of the job so leaving meant I needed to also find a house and a new job all at the same time.
I decided I wanted to get into sales as I thought I’d be good at it and after doing research, you can potentially earn a very good amount from sales. In August ‘17 I told my employer I wanted to leave and agreed 2-3 months notice to give me time to find a new job. I searched jobs online daily for any entry sales job I could find… estate agency, telephone sales, call centres, mobile phone stores etc.. I wanted anything that would put me on the sales ladder. Every job I applied for I would ring that particular recruitment agency who was advertising for the role to let them know that I’d applied and to also get myself registered with said agency.
After approximately 30 applications and 5 interviews, I managed to bag a very lucky entry level sales role; £34k on target earnings!! Being a farmer, my only transferable skills I could talk about was building rapport with business suppliers and the occasional customer to sell our products. In interview I talked a lot about customer service and also explained my motivation and work ethic of being a farmer. I started the new entry sales role in November ‘17
I’m still in this current sales role and I usually exceed all targets each month; this equals a great salary (£35k+) considering an entry job with a complete career change and no previous targeted sales experience! I felt like I was on a role so I started job hunting again for that next step.
3 months ago, so June ‘18, I started looking every day online for my next step up the sales ladder. I wanted “Account Manager” or “Business Development Manager” kinda role, i.e. dealing with existing clients and also creating new sales by selling into businesses- I wanted a more consultative and professional sales role. This time I probably applied to 60 suitable roles and had 6 interviews. The stumbling block I kept coming up against was lack of ‘business to business’ sales.
Finally I struck lucky and I’m happy to say that 2 weeks ago I got offered a new job- Business Development Manager for a very exciting software company! This time with a slighter higher basic and OTE of £37k in first year with OTE £50k in second year (proven with current BDM's). Monday-Friday too! After having a fair bit of practise with these interviews, I focused more on my determination to learn new skills, coupled with my now previous track record of exceeding targets and the willingness to take on whatever challenge comes to my, I believe this tactic helped me secure this role.
To recap, I effectively started my career from scratch 10 months ago, starting from November ‘17 to present and I am going to be starting my new BDM sales role at the end of October!
If I can start a new career from being a farmer(!), then I believe that anyone can swap careers into something new if you have the determination to put the effort in.
I’m happy to answer any questions as long as it’s not too personal!
Edited by Prohibiting on Monday 17th September 21:13
you say farmer. did you run the farm or was you say in a farm hand type role?
if you ran the farm I can see how any interviewer might be impressed with you running a business as there are lots of transferable skills. if you wasnt running the farm I have to pat you on the back in getting the first entry job because that would take some convincing of the interviewer to bring you in with no previous dealings with prospects or customers/suppliers.
what sort of questions was you asked at the interview for the entry level job and was it just one interview or several?
glad it worked out for you.
if you ran the farm I can see how any interviewer might be impressed with you running a business as there are lots of transferable skills. if you wasnt running the farm I have to pat you on the back in getting the first entry job because that would take some convincing of the interviewer to bring you in with no previous dealings with prospects or customers/suppliers.
what sort of questions was you asked at the interview for the entry level job and was it just one interview or several?
glad it worked out for you.
I wasn't running the farming business as such. I had no control of financial decisions etc but I was responsible for audit paper work keeping, land management, welfare of the livestock, dealing with suppliers and general daily tasks on the farm.
For the entry sales role I secured, there was a quick online assessment, telephone interview and finally a group interview of 4 candidates including me. There was meant to be 6 but 2 didn't turn up (thank goodness).
In regards to looking for my second role that I've just secured, all the interviews had 1st interview and a 2nd interview stages. Half of them also had a role play element- selling of some description/how to handle a situation.
The main questions asked were why do you want to join. My top tip is to do as much research as you can on the company you are applying for and this is what helped me get offered BDM as they were impressed with how much I knew about the company and software tools that they provide. I also explained that I believed the company would offer me a fantastic platform to grow and develop myself further with great career progression. I also explained how I was money motivated and competitive- that I would try to bring as much business to the company if they employed me and that my track record with my entry sales role proves this.
For the entry sales role I secured, there was a quick online assessment, telephone interview and finally a group interview of 4 candidates including me. There was meant to be 6 but 2 didn't turn up (thank goodness).
In regards to looking for my second role that I've just secured, all the interviews had 1st interview and a 2nd interview stages. Half of them also had a role play element- selling of some description/how to handle a situation.
The main questions asked were why do you want to join. My top tip is to do as much research as you can on the company you are applying for and this is what helped me get offered BDM as they were impressed with how much I knew about the company and software tools that they provide. I also explained that I believed the company would offer me a fantastic platform to grow and develop myself further with great career progression. I also explained how I was money motivated and competitive- that I would try to bring as much business to the company if they employed me and that my track record with my entry sales role proves this.
Edited by Prohibiting on Tuesday 18th September 08:21
Hmm, I’ve always fancied going for one of these sales jobs and seeing how it goes. I don’t want my earnings to drop below 35k though and whilst I’m confident I would do well, it does worry me that the basic salary of these jobs local to me are very low.
The flip side is I could earn much more than I ever thought possible if I go for it and it goes well!
Some of the adverts seem a bit Mickey Mouse mind, and seem to be glorified call centre workers, It’s hard to know which ones seem like a good and legit career move and which are a bit dodgey!
The flip side is I could earn much more than I ever thought possible if I go for it and it goes well!
Some of the adverts seem a bit Mickey Mouse mind, and seem to be glorified call centre workers, It’s hard to know which ones seem like a good and legit career move and which are a bit dodgey!
CX53 said:
Hmm, I’ve always fancied going for one of these sales jobs and seeing how it goes. I don’t want my earnings to drop below 35k though and whilst I’m confident I would do well, it does worry me that the basic salary of these jobs local to me are very low.
The flip side is I could earn much more than I ever thought possible if I go for it and it goes well!
Some of the adverts seem a bit Mickey Mouse mind, and seem to be glorified call centre workers, It’s hard to know which ones seem like a good and legit career move and which are a bit dodgey!
I used to think that too, OTE which was optimistic at best and at worst the expectation for 70hr weeks to achieve it. The flip side is I could earn much more than I ever thought possible if I go for it and it goes well!
Some of the adverts seem a bit Mickey Mouse mind, and seem to be glorified call centre workers, It’s hard to know which ones seem like a good and legit career move and which are a bit dodgey!
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