Making the Jump to B2B Tech Sales (Part 1)

Imagine someone who is 32 years old. They’re college-educated and almost ten years into their career. They’re making about $55k CAD a year. And they’re doing a pretty decent job in their current role.

Only problem is, there’s no real room for growth. The opportunities for either a promotion or a major raise are basically zero.

Yep, this was me in 2021.

My boss, her boss (our president), and I had just come off a Teams call where they were singing my praises.

They mentioned I was doing exceptional work and wanted to reward me for being among the strongest contributors to our overall team. There were big smiles on their faces. The energy had been great.

Right until our president announced my raise for the upcoming year:

2.7%

2.73%, to be more precise.

A $1500 increase over 24 pay periods. That comes out to $62.50 every 15 days before taxes and deductions.

That raise – a reward for my great work – wasn’t going to materially impact my life in the slightest.

And it was in that moment I realised: it’s time to make a career change.

Here’s the thing, there are a lot of underpaid people in this world who do incredible work.

Teachers, nurses, cooks, servers, retail employees, customer support personnel…the list could get long in a hurry.

Not every job in this world is compensated based on the value it creates. And that’s a shame.

A career doesn’t have to be all about money, but it should feel dignified and have the ability to create a lifestyle worth living.

People shouldn’t be suffering or struggling financially outside of work, only to then get to work and have to pretend that everything is OK while they diligently help a customer of some kind.

As much as possible, I believe people should do work that’s meaningful to them. But more importantly, people should do work that enables a meaningful life.

While a meaningful life looks different for everyone, I’m going to unpack the career change that’s granted me a more meaningful life.

One that’s been more fun. More connected. One that opens up important life avenues I couldn’t have seriously considered before.

In a couple weeks I’ll talk about how I left education to go into B2B tech sales. I’ll share how just about anyone can make this kind of career pivot.

A couple of weeks after that, I’ll dish on the early lessons I’ve learned from being in sales. Most people who have never worked in sales don’t really understand what a sales life is like. (I know I didn’t!)

Folks should have a heads-up about what they’re getting into before they make this kind of jump. But for many, it’s certainly a jump worth making!