Tell us a bit about yourself and what you're up to now
Coming from a background in agency recruitment, I moved into an SDR role at inploi just under a year ago. Moving from recruitment into selling recruitment tech made sense to me, and though at times it's been a steep learning curve, it's also been a very rewarding career move. inploi as a company has been the best training ground, giving me space to make mistakes, learn and adapt.
Outside of sales I'm a very keen rock climber, so if I'm not on the phone making cold calls, I'm almost certainly hanging off a rock somewhere!
What was your journey into a career in Tech Sales
I worked for 3 years in agency recruitment, where especially the last year of that was heavily focussed on business development, principally through cold calling. That experience was indispensable when it came to moving into a full-time business development role. Though I had no official experience as an SDR, if you put the role and responsibilities of my job as a recruiter and the job of an SDR there were a huge amount of similarities. So when it came time to interview and compete against people who did have experience as an SDR, it was all about showing and demonstrating those similarities.
What would you say are the best things about working in Tech Sales
The best thing about working in tech sales for me working at such a small and agile company is definitely the potential for career development. You come in and work hard and you can progress into positions must faster than in many other industries.
What advice would you give to someone who is just about to start their career in sales
Be humble and ask lots of questions. Sales is tough game and it's got no place for ego or people who think they know it all. A strong work ethic helps too. I think anyone can be excellent in tech sales if they work hard and are willing to invest time into learning and constantly improving themselves.
Why did you decide to join Tangent as a Mentor and why should others join as Mentors too
I joined Tangent as a mentor because I've always been passionate about coaching and mentoring. I have ambitions of becoming an SDR Manager in the next few years and having an opportunity to develop those skills professionally is great. I'm also really grateful that I moved into tech sales and I love being able to help others make the same move as I did.
I think anyone who's even curious about getting into tech sales would benefit from joining Tangent. You can pick the brains of so many talented sales professionals (many of whom have a lot more experience than me!) and make sure you're in the best position going into a job search or new role.
Ready to make a difference?
A few hours a month, a lifetime of impact. Tangent connects you with aspiring Business Development Reps from socially diverse backgrounds for short-term mentoring and an employee referral.
Sign up to be a Tangent Mentor today 👇
