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Hello seekers! I'm hoping for advice on how to break into the tech industry....

I'm a sales professional with about 17 years in the publishing industry (some digital marketing and web design in those earlier years of my experience).

Currently, I'm an account manager handling both new AND renewal sales for big, high-profile accounts. I sell digital content (mainly subscriptions and multi-year purchase contracts). I've been given accolades by my department as a successful salesperson, as someone good as retaining longstanding deals/customers, and as a peer mentor. My biggest client sings my praises to my boss all the time, and I know I'm good at what I do.

I've been wanting to transition into tech for a while. Part of the reason is financial, part is wanting to learn and engage my mind in new ways. I just need a change, as I've been in the same role now for 11 years! I've been successful, but it's time to move on. I'm in my 40s and looking at the next chapter.

I've had a few interviews with tech companies, and I can do an OK job of translating my experience into software subscription sales OR into customer success (since my job has elements of both). But I'm not getting as much traction in my search as I would like. I'd love to work for Cisco, SalesForce or LinkedIn, but I'm also talking to smaller tech companies (start-up nature).

I would be grateful if anyone had any advice for breaking into this industry, having come from a different one. Thanks in advance! (And please let me know if this post would be better shared elsewhere)

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  1. Anonymous

    Is there any career path via 'IT sales?' I just saw a post from Cheryl, below, about that field. Would you be able to do that, and parlay it into IT? I honestly don't know, so my comment may not help. Best of luck. I'm also hoping to move into something new so, fingers crossed.

  2. Anonymous

    Thanks for this reply! I didn't see the post from Cheryl, so I will look for it now!

  3. Barb Hansen

    I would say keep applying. Sounds like you're good at sales (which is the most important thing in Sales - being able to sell)

    If you are not doing this already, before you interview, watch that companies product videos on YouTube to find the keywords that the company uses to describe it's product. Then sprinkle those keywords into our responses to their questions. People like to hear words that they are familiar with :)

    FYI - I switched from a highly-specialized healthcare job (laboratory scientist) to a Product job in the startup space (with absolutely no business background). How I made the leap, is that I leapt into a healthcare Product job which allowed me to learn Product while leaning on my medical background, since then I've worked in many different industries.

  4. Anonymous

    Thank you - this is really helpful!

  5. Anonymous

    I am on a similar path. What I am doing are a few online courses that match what tech companies are looking for. This is a great way to pick up on the goals and lingo in this new role. If you're confident enough, change your introductory title to the one you would match in a tech company. For example, I've always called myself a graphic designer but in the tech world, I would either be a brand designer, visual designer, or UX/UI designer. I know I have the skills. I just need to fill in some gaps. Check out Coursera or edX for classes.

  6. Anonymous

    Thank you, good advice!
    If you have any particular course recommendations, would love to know what you're finding useful so far. Great ideas, thank you.

  7. Anonymous

    This class is a good overview of how startups begin and the world of product design: https://designerup.co/

    There are so many courses in Coursera you should be able to narrow down to fit your experience. Look at the job listings for these companies your interested in. I'm thinking you could start as a customer success manager or product manager which are in high demand but do some research on your part. Then there are almost guaranteed to be classes for that specific job. I'm doing the Google UX design course. Very helpful if you plan to work for a big, established company.

    Good luck!

  8. Anonymous

    Thank you so much for taking the time and energy to share this with me. I really appreciate it. I'll check out that course you mentioned here!

  9. LaNee B

    I agree with the comments. Start taking courses and network in those arenas.

  10. Nancy Montalvo

    all I know is that this bootcamp was going to help me to get into that industry and I only have a mac so it was not able for me to learn anything without have an old fashioned pc , so most like most people have had a pc from many moons ago, so they understand how to use it since this was the only problem I had so I wasn't able to complete their program. If you are comfortable with pc's then. everything is pretty fun and easy. I was learning all these. things but because I. had no. idea how to use my bootcamp on my mac and. it. was just. to lame and slow and just so boring to learn that way so I couldn't do any of the assignments that had to be in the pc and they weren't very helpful. Thankfully I got my money back for the deposit. they made people put down, but if they would have really taught us how to use the pc side on my mac I would have totally enjoyed it. Sabio Boot camp in Los Angeles was the group. They just put too much junk on my 2012 macintosh, So glad that I have a new computer now, since that computer was really old and uncomfortable. If you know PC's I imagine you would have a fun time. I enjoyed the things I learned but I never got to use it. I sold one of those old tech books and I realized that who ever wrote that one they recommeded had like worst incorrect statements in them. Which I was so happy to sell to some guy and he still paid me like $10.99 but that version they chose was wrong the text some how when I was reading the text and I thought this doesn't make sense part of the book. so glad I sold it to some guy who is going to use it I guess because it is recommended for some reason for this kind of computer class. FYI

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