Career change without starting at the bottom? (license, consulting, tips)
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I'm considering a career switch and I'm brain storming on ways to do this without starting at the very bottom. I heard somewhere that people change careers around 5 to 7 times in their lifetime. I doubt all these people start at the bottom in every new field they enter.
Has anyone here ever done a career change and how did you do it? What field did you make the switch from into?
Also, how did you get your very first living wage job out of college?
I currently work in the corporate communications department and I want to change industries and go into either sales, management or consulting. I want a job that lets me be on my feet more (rather than sitting in front of a computer all day) and gives me more dynamic schedule.
I personally doubt that number. People may change jobs but I do not think that automatically means they changed careers. I think people can have multiple entry level jobs while they are looking for a career but (to me) that does not mean they have had multiple careers--it simply means they had multiple jobs.
Some skills are transferable and some are not. I would expect you to be hired in to sales or management at entry level positions.
Moving into sales is a possibility - depending on your personality. You will likely have to adjust your thought process around compensation, as most true entry-level sales jobs will have very low base+commission structures. You can pull down the 40K you were looking for in your other thread, but it's going to be slow starting and volatile.
That said, you control your raises, often your hours, and it's definitely a different day every day. Additionally, success early on in sales can translate to a management role pretty quickly.
Moving into sales is a possibility - depending on your personality. You will likely have to adjust your thought process around compensation, as most true entry-level sales jobs will have very low base+commission structures. You can pull down the 40K you were looking for in your other thread, but it's going to be slow starting and volatile.
That said, you control your raises, often your hours, and it's definitely a different day every day. Additionally, success early on in sales can translate to a management role pretty quickly.
Moving into sales is a possibility - depending on your personality. You will likely have to adjust your thought process around compensation, as most true entry-level sales jobs will have very low base+commission structures. You can pull down the 40K you were looking for in your other thread, but it's going to be slow starting and volatile.
That said, you control your raises, often your hours, and it's definitely a different day every day. Additionally, success early on in sales can translate to a management role pretty quickly.
Any opinions on the best types of sales jobs? I'm more open to the type of sales where the costumer comes to you (like auto) rather than cold calling and having to run around like crazy looking for leads/customers.
I'm still trying to figure out if I'm better suited for management or sales. Management offers structure and a steady paycheck. But then the hours are often long (50-60 hour weeks) and you usually don't get a single penny more for the extra work. Sales offers a financial reward for working crazy hours.. but its not a guaranteed reward. You can work 60 hours and make no money at all.
Are you looking for supervisor/ management jobs in your current field?
No. I have no interest in my current field. I want to get out from behind the desk and move around more. This can men being on my feet a lot or it can be actual traveling. I just don't want to be behind a desk all day doing loads of paperwork and frying my eyeballs in front of a computer anymore.
I think the skills you gained from working in communication can be transferrable to Sales. At first you might not make a lot of money since most Sales jobs are commission based. You need to find a niche that you are interested in since Sales is huge, all sort of industries and products, so that would be my starting point. Find something that you are interested in and that you could get knowledge in because you have to be knowledgeable about what you are selling to be able to sell it properly. Do you like real estate? cars? Finance? insurance? technology? pharmacy? medical sales? There are lots of branches, just find what you are interested in and start networking. Use Linkedin and connect with the group you are interested in, join Sales groups, go to sales events, Sales is all about people and networking.
I think the skills you gained from working in communication can be transferrable to Sales. At first you might not make a lot of money since most Sales jobs are commission based. You need to find a niche that you are interested in since Sales is huge, all sort of industries and products, so that would be my starting point. Find something that you are interested in and that you could get knowledge in because you have to be knowledgeable about what you are selling to be able to sell it properly. Do you like real estate? cars? Finance? insurance? technology? pharmacy? medical sales? There are lots of branches, just find what you are interested in and start networking. Use Linkedin and connect with the group you are interested in, join Sales groups, go to sales events, Sales is all about people and networking.
I'm probably most interested and knowledgeable about cars and Real Estate. I'm especially knowledgeable about Real Estate because I took courses in it. I still have the books. I also took a course for becoming a loan officer. This was back in 2006-2007 before the financial meltdown. When everything collapsed I took a safe office job.
I'm still open to Real Estate but I'm not sure its the best route right now given the economy. This is why I want to read other people's experiences to help me brainstorm what direction I want to go in.
I'm still on the fence about sales vs. management.
I'm probably most interested and knowledgeable about cars and Real Estate. I'm especially knowledgeable about Real Estate because I took courses in it. I still have the books. I also took a course for becoming a loan officer. This was back in 2006-2007 before the financial meltdown. When everything collapsed I took a safe office job.
I'm still open to Real Estate but I'm not sure its the best route right now given the economy. This is why I want to read other people's experiences to help me brainstorm what direction I want to go in.
I'm still on the fence about sales vs. management.
Thanks for the tips.
The good thing about real estate is you don't have to do it full-time in the beginning. A lot of offices will sponsor you to get your license and you can do it on weekends as a start just to get an idea of what it would look like and maybe network. I know Real Estate is not hot right now with everything that is happening in the economy but it will eventually pick up, so that's something to consider for the long-term if you have any interest in it. The good thing is you can just do it on the side for now to get a feel of what it will belike. The other point I wanted to make is, it shouldn't be a Sales vs Management thing necessarily because you also have Salespeople who do become managers and manage other salespeople and a territory. A sales manager's tasks often include assigning sales territories, setting quotas, mentoring the members of the sales team, building a sales plan, and hiring and firing salespeople. Some sales managers were managers from other departments who transferred to sales, but the majority are top-tier salespeople who were promoted to a management position. Management requires Soft skills as well,you have to like responsibility. You have to enjoy working with people. You have to be able to deal with uncertainty and making decisions when you never seem to have all the facts in time. If you are managing people, you have to be aware that you are managing people, not projects or product development or customer service or any other departmental mission. People are complicated and messy. They aren't machines any more than you are, they won't be the same every day, no matter how much you'd like them to be. So you will have to stay alert to what's going on with them, be involved in a lot of personal drama. You are responsible for everything that happens in your scope of authority. Don't ever think that just because you may not be doing the actual work, you are not responsible, you are. Unless you are comfortable with this basic fact, management is not for you . You will have to make decisions that will benefit the company as well as your staff....and quite often they are in direct conflict with each other. So, in the end, Sales and Management are not mutually exclusive, you will have to figure out what you like best, managing people (general management) or managing products (sales)! Good luck
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