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No more sales
Hi, I am 22 years old and a IT Sales Exec. I have just quit my most recent job which I went to under the impression of long term oppertunities of promotion , training and ability to move into a pre-sales technical role after 1 year. After joining the company my role was changed, the pre sales department scrapped and these oppertunities would have never materialised. As such I chose to leave rather than stay with no prospect of advancement . I have spent the last 18 months in sales having completed a HND in computer science / software programming as I found upon leaving the course I could not get into a developer role straight away due to the experiece / degree level requirements of prespective employers.I am now again trying to move into development as I have found that I do not have an aptitude / hunger required for sales and feel I may have made a big mistake by taking available sales sales roles to get on the job ladder and pay off my debts.
I am worried that because I have wasted almost 2 years in a sector of the industry which I dislike I wont be able to get into development. I am finding it very difficult to be taken seriously when looking at junior dev roles as recruitment agents seem to see this move as a backwards step due to the drop in salary and as yet I havent found any companies that will employ people with a view to train them. Everything I find that looks like the right soft of role requires a degree, or 3 - 5 years experience of which i have neither.
I am trying to train myself by refreshing on my c++, VB, SQL and VB.net skills while I am out of work in the hope that i will be taken seriously.
Can anyone suggest to me what would be the right way to get into development? as im only getting offered sales roles which i dont want.
Ryan
Comments
Though I am not a developer, I have worked with them before in a software development business. I noticed that most of the employees came through by work of mouth recommendations.
The other source of new developers was from involvement with local interest groups, such as those dealing with Open Source, Linux, or PERL. If you start attending such groups which interest you, you can learn more about the skills required, learn what opportunities might be coming up, and if people there feel you have potential, you'll probably be encouraged to either apply for jobs, or to do some short term contracting whilst they evaluate your suitability!
Don't give up yet! Best of luck! :)
chris - May 23, 2007 9:08 AM