Start a Career in Inside Sales

Start a Career in Inside SalesStart a Career in Inside SalesPeople choose a sales career for many reasons. From unlimited income to autonomy to generous flexibility, careers in sales have a lot to offer motivated workers. If you are interested in pursuing a sales career, weigh the pros and cons, including total compensation and benefits, of choosing a career in inside sales. Dynamic Environment Spending the majority of your workday on the phone can be draining. Employers know this and recognize that they need to provide a positive work atmosphere to keep the moral high of their inside sales force. Many inside sales reps work in environments with high-energy morning meetings, frequent work breaks, during which contests are announced, top performers are recognized, and quick tips and tricks are shared. Even inside reps who work from home or in a remote office can expect to experience a dynamic environment. While they may not get the full, positive effects that those who work in a c all center or office environment might, reps working remote often report that their work culture is positive and energetic. High Compensation Most sales positions offer an opportunity to earn a substantial income because your income largely depends on the number of products or services you sell. Other factors play a role also, like the market to which you sell, the company for which you work, and of course, your performance. Of ansicht factors, the only one that you have complete control over is how well you perform on a daily basis. Those who focus on excellence are often rewarded with bonuses, large commission checks, and opportunities to win prizes and awards. Contests that focus on specific results are common for inside sales jobs, with many companies holding weekly or even daily contests. While some job seekers believe that outside sales professionals earn more income than inside reps, the truth is that both positions pay roughly the same for top performers, though inside s ales reps make a larger percentage of their yearly income from bonus incentives like contests, trips, and other awards. True Flexibility Being able to work from anywhere in the world is not something that all in the inside sales industry can enjoy, but many reps can and count that as an appealing factor in their career choice. Imagine being able to work from home a few months a year, a cabin on the beach during the summer months, and even from a resort in Costa Rica a few weeks a year. So long as you have access to reliable phone and internet access and are authorized to work in the U.S., many employers dont care where their employees are based. In fact, employers understand that the higher the morale of their employees, the better and more consistent the results. It takes strong discipline and organizational skills to work remotely, but for those with the temperament, being able to work from wherever they want can be an enormous benefit. So long as your employer is more focused on results than on seeing your face every day, being able to work from anywhere can be a fantastic benefit of choosing an inside sales career.

The Perfect Intern

The Perfect InternThe Perfect InternEmployers typically seek candidates who possess previous experience in the field, but you dont need to wait until you are fully employed to gain valuable skills. With three summers and eight college semesters available during your college career, it is quite possible to complete two or three internships before graduating. For those who are set on a particular career, completing one or two internships with different companies or organizations can solidify a vocation. For those who have no idea in what direction they want to go, exposure to different industries might help the decision. Since one of the main goals of completing an internship is securing a job, its important to know how to shine in the workplace. First impressions are crucial, but so is maintaining high professional standards through consistent hard work, a strong commitment, and avoiding getting caught up in office gossip. Here are some tips for a successful internship. Consider Job Shadowing Job shadowing is an activity college students can engage in to find out more about specific careers. Job shadowing entails observing another professional on the job, and shadowing assignments usually lasts for one day to several weeks. Start Your Search Early Finding the perfect internship is not always easy. There is strong competition for summer internships. One of the best ways to make sure that you get a summer internship in your field is to begin looking early. Opportunities in finance, journalism, and government often have application deadlines as early as October. By preparing your resume and cover letter in advance, you will be ready to send your application as internships are posted. Research Your Industry and the Company Before you attend an interview, learn as much about the company as you can by visiting the companys website and its LinkedIn page. Also research the companys employees. By using the Advanced button on the top right of your LinkedIn page, you may even find alumni from your college that you can connect with before interviewing or starting your internship or job. Be Commited By showing up for work on-time and not bolting out the door at the end of the day, you are showing your commitment to doing a good job rather than just punching a time card. Enjoy your job, and find better ways to complete tasks. This will get you notice by supervisors. Since internships are an excellent way to train and evaluate potential future employees, its important that you ask for feedback to gauge your performance. The information garnered will help you to make improvements. As an intern, you are expected to ask questions. By doing so, you are showing your employer that you are motivated and ready to take initiative and apply that knowledge. Be a Team Player Although employers want to see hard work and a strong work ethic, they also require people who get along with their supervisors and coworkers. It is during lunch and other more social experiences where you can begin developing relationships that make for a happier and more enjoyable workplace. When hiring, managers look for individuals who they consider a good fit aswell as those who possess the knowledge and skills to do the job. Build Strong Professional Relationships and Find Yourself a Mentor Building a strong professional network is key to getting ahead in your career. Someone you previously worked may at some point provide sttze and information on your potential next job. Find yourself a mentor who can support you in moving ahead in your current or future job. Finding a good mentor can make your first years on the job less stressful and allows you to tap into the wisdom and experience of someone already successful in the field. Avoid Office Politics andGossip Avoid gossiping either in or outside of the office. Aligning yourself with a select group of co-workers sets you up for potential problems with other members of the group. As a mature e mployee who wants to get ahead, remain unbiased and out of the politics. Keep in Touch Once Your Internship Is Over The first thing an intern should do once their internship is over is to send a thank you note to their supervisor and anyone else who played a key role in making their internship a success. Keeping in touch with these contacts once you return to college is also a great idea to help maintain important contacts and to keep abreast of future openings. The Internship Success Guide provides additional information on things you can do to ensure that your internship is successful.

Why BizOps Is the Perfect Accelerator for Your Career

Why BizOps Is the Perfect Accelerator for Your CareerWhy BizOps Is the Perfect Accelerator for Your Career Its hard to think of a geschftliches miteinander function that has had a mora meteoric rise in the past couple of decades than business operations, or BizOps. While the idea of using data to make better decisions and drive business impact is far from new, having dedicated BizOps roles and teams is. Just 15 years ago, BizOps roles were only beginning to appear at leading tech companies - now, they can be found everywhere from 10-person startups to Fortune 500 organizations. And for good reason tasked with cutting across traditional cross functional boundaries to help companies set strategy, improve performance and drive results, BizOps teams are able to have an outsized impact on the success of their organizations.But BizOps doesnt just present a tremendous opportunity for companies - it presents a tremendous opportunity for your career as well. Offering you the ability to shape company direction, collaborate with a wide variety of cross-functional stakeholders and gain a unique understanding into the drivers of business performance, BizOps can help prepare you for just about any role you might be interested in.I recently chatted with a couple of my colleagues at Glassdoor to explore how working in BizOps had impacted their careers - read on below to hear about their journeys. (And if you like what they have to say, consider joining us the Glassdoor BizOps team is hiring )One of the things that makes BizOps so unique is that you dont need one particular background to succeed in it - in fact, having a team with diverse backgrounds will only help you come up with more innovative business solutions. Those who do thrive in BizOps tend to be people with strong analytical curiosity and strategic thinking, said Andr Keiser, a Manager of geschftlicher umgang Operations here at Glassdoor. Its also important to collaborate and develop strong cro ss-functional relationships in order to help drive initiatives forward and execute.Andr came to us with a degree in Physics & Economics and prior work experience at a management consulting firm and a small Enterprise SaaS startup, where he worked on projects from customer success to data science, marketing, product management and more.Ultimately, I realized I love the combination of business strategy (my consulting days), analytics (my Physics background) and operational work (my many startup hats), creating a recipe for business operations, Andr said. I welches especially drawn to Glassdoors Business Operations team, which maintains a strong functional alignment within the organization, deeply embedded in the teams they support.Today, Andr specializes in supporting our Self-Service business division.Our Self-Service business is fast-paced and quickly changing as we continue to improve the product, so we get immediate feedback in our metrics and directly from customers when we mak e any changes. I love coming in each day, diving into recent trends and partnering with cross-functional teams to drive incremental improvements which we can then monitor on a regular basis, Andr said. At the end of each month and quarter, its been remarkable to look back at our growth and determine what our next priorities should be. I also always continue to be impressed by my colleagues both within BizOps and across the company, from which Im sure to learn something new each day.In the two years that Andr has been with us, BizOps has allowed him to work with executives, develop and present key business strategies and have a hands-on role in a number of different projects.Ive had the opportunity to take on many growth opportunities ranging from developing our Growth Sales plan, working on our annual strategy review through our five-year strategy and now function as the Business Operations lead for our Self-Service Business unit, Andr said. Through these projects, hes had regular exposure to our executive team and even the opportunity to present to our Board of Directors.While Andrs tackled a number of different projects, the consistent theme throughout his tenure at Glassdoor has been growth.Glassdoor has provided me with exposure to a variety of company functions and challenges that a scaling business needs to solve. Ive worked through new product updates, partnered with marketing to ramp digital and offline advertising, implemented pricing strategies, monitored key pilot projects and rethought our go-to-market strategy. These experiences have pushed me to further develop my analytical skills, strategic thinking and operational know-how, as I look to take on strategic leadership positions further in my career, Andr shared.And hes certainly bedrngnis alone in this regard - my teammates have not only progressed upwards within BizOps as our team continues to grow, but many have made lateral career moves into leadership positions at the company in B2B Prod uct and Marketing, Andr added.Take, for example, Leah Karlins - a Product Manager at Glassdoor who started out on the BizOps team. Although she had a strong background in strategy and analysis coming out of her MBA program, working on Glassdoors BizOps team allowed her to apply that prior knowledge on a day-to-day basis.I literally learned nonstop during my first year on the team. I was initially given the challenge to turn around the financial performance of one of our products whose abverkauf were slipping. This involved close partnership with stakeholders across Sales, Marketing, Product, Operations and many other teams to figure out what wasnt working, and then identify and implement solutions. I made a ton of mistakes along the way, but really appreciated the crash course in how to grow a business line, Leah said. Midway through my first year, I was asked to take over our pricing function, which required building a new set of analytical skills and a deeper partnership with our sales leadership. And then several months later, I had the chance to help launch a new sales neuheit initiative, which gave me the chance to practice longer-term strategic thinking and project management . Every time I began to feel like I had mastered something, I had a new opportunity to continue growing.After a while, however, Leah began to carve out her niche in product.Product was definitely an area that I was interested in, but frankly I didnt have enough exposure to it prior to joining Glassdoor to know whether it would be a good fit for me. However, as I began partnering with our product team to explore growth opportunities for some of our employer products, I got really excited about the potential to innovate and improve our product suite in ways that would create unique value for both employers and job seekers, Leah said. So, after years of being an advisor and business partner, I decided I was ready to take a more active role in driving product decisions and working wit h engineering and design to build new products and features.After Glassdoors acquisition by Recruit last year, the company made an increased investment in product - so when leaders began to discuss building a dedicated team for the product Leah had long been focusing on, she saw an opportunity to transition into a more product-centric role.I started having conversations with mentors about what my long-term career path at Glassdoor might look like, and whether product management might be a future option for me. I ended up having a series of brainstorms with a couple of our product leaders about our product strategy and the vision for this new team, and those turned into an offer for me to join the team as PM, Leah shared.Although Leah has been thriving in her new role as a product manager, she still cites her background in BizOps as invaluable to her career.My time in BizOps gave me exceptional visibility into our overall company strategy and priorities, so I feel like I have a gr eat sense of where we are headed as a business and how my particular product fits into that. I also had the opportunity to work closely with many of our go-to-market teams and get a ton of valuable feedback on our customer needs, sales positioning and areas for improvement, which directly informs my product roadmap, Leah said. And finally, I developed strong relationships with many incredibly talented folks on the BizOps team and beyond who I still rely on for both formal and informal advice and collaboration.Whether youre hoping to climb up the company ladder or explore new fields altogether, the fundamentals that you learn to master through BizOps - data analysis, strategy development, cross-collaboration - will serve you in nearly any role. Add to that the exposure you get by working with both higher-ups and the soft skills you hone through project management and presenting, and youre well-positioned to move into whatever job title or field that youre interested in.If youre an intellectually curious, data-driven person with a knack for critical thinking, consider looking into BizOps - it might just be the perfect next step for your career.Want to learn more about joining the BizOps team at Glassdoor? Learn more about the team and find our open job listings here This article was originally published on LinkedIn . It is reprinted with permission.