New Job?

[Penobscot]

I have a job, I'm in sales. I've done it for 2+ years. I've been successful, I have a degree, the money is decent. The problem is I hate it. I can't imagine myself still there in 2 years.I feel like I owe it to myself to do more. Any advice?

[Stz ll]

Win the lottery and retire!!

[FISH__RONG]

what kind of sales?

[Troutinator]

figure out what you want to do, get training/education/experience, move on.

the key is to have a plan..

[Penobscot]

I'm an Account Manager for a security firm, Business to Business, self-generated leads etc. The customer service portion of the work I enjoy. The cold calls I guess I'm becoming less fond of.

[EasternWAalumni]

I've never heard a fishing guide say "I don't like my job anymore". Just an idea.

[foxer]

Did this kind of thing for 5 yrs (different field). Cold calling isn't the most enjoyable thing, but after a while you get used to it. Nice to look at other options while you have a decent job. It can give you a new perspective on things.

[slowbuilder2005]

I've never heard a fishing guide say "I don't like my job anymore". Just an idea.

...Except when you do a fun thing as a job, then you don't do it for fun anymore. I'd rather let someone else do the guiding so I can go fishing for fun!

Brian

[slowbuilder2005]

The key thing to do is to discover what you like, as a person, and what all your transferable skill sets are. I haven't read it, but I've heard that the book "What color is your parachute" is a good one for self analysis. I'm also in the job hunt game right now (engineer, project management, software development, firmware, etc). Here are the steps that I'm taking:

- For each position held, even within a company, list all tangible (hard) and intangible (soft) skill sets that were used or developed in that position
- Do a keyword analysis of your results, hopefully discovering key areas that are easiest to sell
- Do an online survey of salaries v. those key skill areas, then rank them accordingly
- Do online keyword job searches (monster.com, careerbuilder.com etc) to see what jobs come up
- Produce a set of resumes, one resume for each job type, punctuating the transferrable skills from your past that apply directly to that job.
- For each job you want to apply to, slightly modify the appropriate resume from your set so that it uses the same keywords and phrases to describe your skills that the hiring manager used in the job description. This is because the hiring manager (or HR) will be receive a LOT of resumes ...your goal is similar to what web sites try to do with Google, come out in the top 10 in the electronic searches, hence the keyword optimization for each listed position that you apply to.

The reason that I'm doing this is because I found out the hard way that electronic searches are almost always used. I have been receiving phone calls (phone interviews) for jobs that don't match well with me, and no calls from those that matched very well. My resume lacks appropriate focus and didn't bubble up high enough in the electronic search results. Live and learn. I'm taking a week or week and a half to execute the list above, then I'm back at it.

If anybody in the Portland/Vancouver area knows of a job for an experienced electrical and computer engineer with a history of proven success, please write me a line or two so I can look into it. Key skill areas: project management, software development (Windows etc etc), machine vision / image processing / color science, electrical design.

Good luck,
Brian

PS: I'm going to register with a couple of Tier-1 recruiters soon too. If any of you techies are looking for a couple of good recruiters, let me know...I'll send you the info.

[Herring Problem]

YOU could try being one of them thar vacum salesmen. Selling to old ladies and walking away with $2900.00 for a plastic vacum.

But then again, them cold selling tactics may get you hurt.

I would check into going back to college and getting a degree in a field you would like to work in.I did at age 49 graduated in 1999 two years later. Working now at a job, I can have fun at and still get paid. Hope you find what you want to do in life.

[slowbuilder2005]

What are you doing for a living now?

[Queeg]

I would just stick it out for another 13 years or so. Then you will be numb and will not have such wild notions.

[Swamp Puppy]

what is your degree in? I too got tired of the sales grind and walked away from a very good paying career after 8 years of very hard work. i make a lot less than i used to, but i've never been happier.

[Penobscot]

Things are better for now. I talked to my wife about it and she was very supportive. It seems just talking about made it seem better.
I have my degrees in History and Business Administration.