Am I dumb? tech sales -> IB
I have seen on several posts here people talking about tech-sales as a great alternative to banking. I am at an entry-level sales position at an F500 making roughly 80k/yr, working 35-40hrs a week (I know, it's a dream for some of you), and my job is just to call people all day and sell. Nothing more, nothing less.
It is a great position if you enjoy the freedom and want to love free time but I would rather work hard on important deals than sell the same set of solutions all day. Don't get me wrong, I am grateful for my job but I just want to be able to work on building the skills that would be worth it for me later in life than having 10million hours for FIFA (although I am studying for my GMAT + running a non-profit).
TL;DR I don't like tech sales and I wonder if I am dumb to want to give up a cushy lifestyle to get into banking (post-MBA)?
I wouldn't do it if I were you. You have ability to scale up to 250+ in tech sales while working 40 hours a week is my understanding. Plus tech is a far more vibrant industry.
If you’re good at tech sales, don’t leave.
FYI, banking is also “selling the same set of solutions,” haha. Just worse hours.
In IB, selling happens way later when you are knowledgeable and experienced and have the credentials to do it. I am doing it at a point where my credibility is close to 0. I cannot be/attempt to be a “trusted advisor” to a client because all I need to do is just call for appointments and pass it on. It’s really not the same.
Most senior bankers have no fucking clue what they’re talking about either
I'm sure you know tech sales gets extremely strategic (and lucrative) as you progress. There are guys on my team that have pulled $10MM multi-year software deals with some of the top banks in the industry. We've done massive deals with Paypal, the DoD, Rolls-Royce. It's extremely interesting from a business efficiency standpoint. Outside of going into banking/top MBA program there are not many career paths where this is accessible to a person with an average academic background (like mine). It does really suck at times and those guys are pulling tough hours and are under an extreme amount of stress as well. I do know where you're coming from though, I work maybe 5 hours a day and feel like a POS more often than not. Not a bad way to make a living though.
Not a bad way to make a living indeed. I think it is the perspective of making money vs doing “important work”. I don’t feel like my work is important/matters, the learning curve is flat and you are not expected to do much else, train or learn other than different ways to sway customers into taking meetings. I do not know man, I just want to build life-long skills whilst working on important deals.
IB ain´t it if you´re looking for important work.
it’s all subjective. go where you’re passion lies and don’t worry about the opinions telling you what to do or what not to do
I’ve been with a start up in Toronto for the past two years where the pay has been great, six figures, and i’ll be leaving this summer.
I stopped learning the day i started there. i can smile and dial all day long but i don’t enjoy it.
With all the downtime in covid I wrote CFA level 1, I’m writing level 2 in August, and i’m applying at the Analyst level worldwide in the off-cycle period August to January.
In the meantime i just practise models through BIWS and network.
Knock on a thousand doors, one will answer
How much cold calling is there once you’re an AE? Don’t BDRs do the majority of that?
Depends, an AE’s role could be on the spectrum of cold-calling to holding meetings and closing. It depends on the size of your company and performance of BDRs but you always need to have a solid pipeline and do whatever it takes to have that. If that means you cold call, you do that, if it means to run sales/marketing campaigns, you do that. The cold-calling process never really ends, though it is not your main role as an AE.
You’re a legend. Completely feel you. My learning has stalled as well even though I am in a training/rotational program. You’re doing good man, that’s amazing. So you want to go buy-side?
I would go to a startup. Tech sales at a legacy enterprise co i.e. Oracle, Salesforce will be much more process-driven / hierarchical, but if you go to a post-Series A/B company where (1) they are still building the sales playbook (2) you are selling a product that you're actually passionate about, you can keep the sanity of working in tech while owning more responsibility and having a greater personal stake
Tech BDR here! Top level AEs, don’t lift a finger and make (250k-375k TC) after about 10 years, and get a company car.
Hi, I know this thread is from three years ago but I find myself in pretty much the same exact position as you were now. Currently working in tech sales while I finish my bachelors in Business Admin. & Management (I graduate this Jan. 25'). Tech sales is a cushy job for the most part like you mentioned, however I have been through three layoffs within three years. I am a bit sick and tired of the instability within the sector and I am heavily considering going for an MBA (in another 1 or 2 years) and switching to a career in high finance - or even switching before so I can get some experience as an analyst somewhere. Out of curiosity, did you actually end up going into IB? If so, would you still do it looking back upon it now? Any other insights you can share would also be greatly appreciated.
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