I've been at my current company for almost 2 years.

Anonymous

January 6,2023 at 2:20PM UTC

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I've been at my current company for almost 2 years. I have a heavy sales background and I never intended to get into sales but I sorta fell into it after getting my first degree, now 3 degrees later and I started my own business on the side and it was a hit during the pandemic but it's still not bringing in the money I need to save to leave my corporate job. So my plan is to stay with my current company (the benefits are good, I love my coworkers and I have a nice managers) but I'm realizing how much of an emotional rollercoaster it will be to stay in my hard-sales role with this company, if I intend to stay another 2-3 years while I wait for my business to take off. So I started looking into more creative marketing roles (my bachelor's is in marketing), and applying within the company until I was told my "reputation would be diluted if I kept applying for jobs I was overqualified for or apply to too many jobs within the company". I was livid. I'd love to work on fun stuff like our ads, social media marketing, event marketing etc. Plus, the sales role I am in, I've seen a lot of good people get fired because they couldn't meet quotas, or got too many write ups for frivolous stuff like not being on the phone enough during the day (we call 150-250 people a day). It is wearing me down and in my mid-30s, I don't think I have the patience to keep rubbing elbows with the right people in hopes I get a good role in another department. I've scheduled to start seeing a career coach, and my mentor within the company says I need to start figuring out what tangible/transferable skills I have from owning my own business and the past 15 years of doing sales that I can transfer to another role I like within the company, but don't settle for less money. Any suggestions?

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AnonymousJanuary 6,2023 at 2:53PM UTC
Maybe look at joining another company or finding a mentor in marketing at your current company that could help you get a marketing role. It took me 4 yrs to get out of customer service. I got the right manager to help me and the right job opened up.
Take some classes on Coursera and LinkedIn learning. Build a marketing portfolio and add the link to your resume.
im not good at networking or I’d recommend that. I heard it works for others.
Look at the marketing job descriptions for various companies, make a list of what skills you have based on that description and what you need to have.
AnonymousJanuary 8,2023 at 4:02PM UTC
I'm not sure I understand what "diluting your reputation" even means. I've been involved with companies that have high-pressure sales roles with aggressive quotas and absolutely no mercy for missed quotas. Transfers out of those roles are generally very few, and when they happen, the person seldom performs well there. Regardless of your credentials and even if you're not in the "dream" job you want, precedent and history are working against you.
Have you considered seeking assistance for your start-up to help get it off the ground? Do you have a solid business plan for the company? You can seek grant money and loans from the Small Business Administration. Check them out. There still may be some CARES Act money around for struggling start-ups hit by the pandemic.
Maggie StoneJanuary 30,2023 at 2:28PM UTC
I would do some long and hard thinking about what it would take to make your side business your sole focus. Life is too short to spend it doing things you aren’t excited about.