usernames

Senior Solar Advisor

Personal Narrative

Changing careers

Whatsup everyone. I've been in sales for the last 7 years. I'm 29 and started out as a realtor. Did well sold $40m in my career.

ended up starting a business with a buddy that went south and was forced to hop back in the sales force. Started up with a Solar sales opportunity that is not following through on my closings and put me in a dire financial spot.

I've had a track record of success in all of the positions I've held, but I'd imagine the change in industries may not be appealing to recruiters/hiring managers. Maybe I'm wrong.

I need some stability in my life with some sort of base salary + commish. Never had a salaried position. Looking at and applying to sdr positions. Will companies even view my experience as transferable? Should I be looking at other roles? Tech sales seems like it aligns with my goals and looks like it has a solid trajectory.

any advice is appreciated, thank you

✌️ Growing Pains

😋 Job Searching

13

23 comments

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CuriousFox

WR Officer

7

🦊

Why don't you want to be a realtor anymore?

usernames

Contributor

0

Senior Solar Advisor

Moving, 90 day lead time in a new market and I need a base to scrape out of the hole I’m in from the business I launched. Stability with growth opportunity based on performance is more in line with what I’m looking for

usernames

Contributor

0

Senior Solar Advisor

I'll always be in real estate though and have some ideas on the investment side that I can do on the side to generate income while holding a stable position elsewhere

braintank

Politicker

2

Enterprise Account Executive

How's your resume. Upload anon version for feedback.

usernames

Contributor

1

Senior Solar Advisor

Here's my anon resume, definitely open to any and all feedback

braintank

Politicker

4

Enterprise Account Executive

More stats, facts, and figures.
Less job description fluff (e.g. bullets 2-6 in your solar job)

coletrain

Politicker

3

Account Executive

With you here, ranks within teams, average number of sales made.
About the vodka company: clearly that's the business that went south. I get that, it happens. I wouldn't put "successful" on the resume as by your own admission it wasn't. You can absolutely use your experiences there to tell your story but keep it relatively honest.

usernames

Contributor

4

Senior Solar Advisor

Good advice I’ll update it 👍

usernames

Contributor

3

Senior Solar Advisor

Agreed, thank you

jefe

Arsonist

2

🍁

I agree with @braintank .
I'd also drop 'door knocking' if I were you

usernames

Contributor

0

Senior Solar Advisor

No doorknocking in tech sales?! 🤣

jefe

Arsonist

1

🍁

I mean some of the new vacuum cleaners are pretty high tech..

usernames

Contributor

0

Senior Solar Advisor

Dyson.ai

CuriousFox

WR Officer

1

🦊

I'll take a demo unit/sample please and thank you

Sunbunny31

Politicker

2

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

If you have current solar experience, is there a more stable company you can hop over to until you get your feet under you?

usernames

Contributor

0

Senior Solar Advisor

Anything I close will take a 3 month minimum for payment on installation if the project ends but being approved for installation (50% of my projects did not move to permitting stage for various reasons). Thought process is put that time into a new career, with goal of getting hired before then. It's not out of the question, but I'd do real estate again before solar. Solar companies don't often generate leads for you so that means going out door knocking or buying a cold call list with a new company if I went that route and still no payment on closes for 3 months. It's lucrative if you stick with it and start to generate referral business, but I'd rather just start an SDR role with consistent income and focus on being the best at that role.

oldcloser

Arsonist

1

💀

Do you use iphone or android?

usernames

Contributor

1

Senior Solar Advisor

iphone

Pachacuti

Politicker

1

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

Companies will either think you’re too experienced OR you’re a great bargain.

But most companies want SDRs with much less experience. They will know you aren’t long for that job so may not want to invest in you.

usernames

Contributor

0

Senior Solar Advisor

Seems like SDR is a stepping stone for everyone though? What would be a good story to mitigate that concern, something along the lines of asking about what the growth opportunities are like within the company maybe?

GDO

Politicker

1

BDM

I think they will appreciate that experience for sure!

1

I think they will definitely enjoy this experience!.

JDialz

Politicker

0

Chief Operating Officer

Definitely do not get into finance. I’d go the SaaS route, it seems much more stable and less competitive.

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