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Changing Professions

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forensicdeac

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It seems like we had a thread on this topic awhile back. I am interested to see how other people have made the transition.

I currently work in government as a chemist but I have been wanting to get into sales for some time. Over the past 12 years I have gained great experience in my field but I lack traditional sales experience. In a non-traditional sense, everyday I have to present my work product and more or less to sell it and myself to our customers (and court jurors).

In the meantime, I have taken a part time job at a major retailer to work on my people skills and get insight into the private sector. However, my role is limited as I can only commit 10-15 hours a week.

From the job postings I see it seems that companies are looking for people either fresh out of school that they can get cheap and mold or they want people with many years of sales experience. I think I offer a unique skill set and insight from my experiences.

How do I convey this to companies that I may be interested in working for? It doesn't seem as though my experiences will translate well into a sales resume. Do I need to rely solely on prior business connections?

Thanks in advance.
 
I wish I knew the answer. I have MS in Information System Management, and am still in IT. I wish there were a field where I could use that that isn't IT.
 
You're both probably going to be willing to take some kind of pay concession to move where you want to be unless the future employer deems things to be a great fit and can see your "potential".
 
DeacWatcher said:
You're both probably going to be willing to take some kind of pay concession to move where you want to be unless the future employer deems things to be a great fit and can see your "potential".
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I realize that this is a great possibility. Luckily I work in state government and haven't had a cost of living increase in many years. That makes finances less of an issue.
 
forensicdeac said:
I currently work in government as a chemist but I have been wanting to get into sales for some time.
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I'd recommend that you just stick to cooking. Let the lackies handle your sales.
 
New profession...

tumblr_mg6mrft7nI1qzpxx1o1_1280.jpg
 
This is pretty simple. If you're serious about this, and I would advise you to give it a good thinkaroo before you decide (the grass is always greener), but if you do truly want to go this route, there's only one way to prove you mean it: Change your name to salesguydeac. People don't want to hire a salesman named forensicdeac, that's the bottom line. It's like my grandma always told me: If you don't want your balls to be red, stop rubbing them in ketchup. Change your name, wait by the mailbox. Easy as pie. And let me be the first to welcome salesguydeac to our happy little family!
 
IMO, since it sounds as though you have a good income currently, I would connect with a Rep for a higher end “Head Hunter”. My wife use to do this and only dealt with higher positions $100k+ jobs. She would take resumes from people evaluate and then have some contact to get a feel in her mind where their best business fit was, and then she would go and find the company that was a good fit. My wife no longer does this as she went to work for one of the businesses she placed a lot of executives with, but she transferred her “book of business” to a friend and now she is doing extremely well in the position.

send me a PM if you want me to send you her contact info.
 
WakeandBake said:
Sales is where the money is.

"ask bzzz" got me
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Do not want. I have sales friends and I don't want that stress level. I'm fine making less money if I have a greater quality of life.
 
forensicdeac said:
It seems like we had a thread on this topic awhile back. I am interested to see how other people have made the transition.

I currently work in government as a chemist but I have been wanting to get into sales for some time. Over the past 12 years I have gained great experience in my field but I lack traditional sales experience. In a non-traditional sense, everyday I have to present my work product and more or less to sell it and myself to our customers (and court jurors).

In the meantime, I have taken a part time job at a major retailer to work on my people skills and get insight into the private sector. However, my role is limited as I can only commit 10-15 hours a week.

From the job postings I see it seems that companies are looking for people either fresh out of school that they can get cheap and mold or they want people with many years of sales experience. I think I offer a unique skill set and insight from my experiences.

How do I convey this to companies that I may be interested in working for? It doesn't seem as though my experiences will translate well into a sales resume. Do I need to rely solely on prior business connections?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

Check out medreps.com. I would think someone in big pharma would be interested in someone with a chem background.
 
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