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A friend just recently decided they wanted to start a career in IT. He’s currently studying for the A+ and would like eventually to get an IT sales or recruiter position. Since I’ve never been interested in sales or recruitment I realize I don’t know what the shortest or best path for him might be.

Anyone have any insight what his next few steps should be?

I assume the A+ is fine to demonstrate some general knowledge. What would you guys recommend for a 2nd or 3rd cert? Should he grab a helpdesk job for awhile to get some technical experience?

Thanks for any advice.

12 Spice ups
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doesn’t Cisco have a sales person cert?

2 Spice ups
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If he wants to be a good IT Sales person then he needs to understand technology in general, i.e. networking, routing, servers, workstations, printers, etc. Then an understanding of business processes and how IT intersects is key. If he’s looking at going to college, get a degree in business. Knowing what IT does for business is paramount in sales and analyst positions. Realistically if he wants to be good then positioning himself as a systems analyst would be advisable.

1 Spice up
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A good general knowledge of IT is a good place to start; when the sales guy / recruiter actually knows what the client is talking about it makes things a LOT easier!!

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Tell him to run away screaming mommy before he ends up in a server corner whimpering “Why did I choose IT”

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I’d recommend to start working for a large IT retailer like CDW, or Tigerdirect, heck even PCMall needs sales people. Most large firms, like those listed above, are willing to hire if you have at least a little bit of IT knowledge, and an A+ cert def. helps.

I would say take a Network + or Server + cert as a 2nd or third. If your goal is IT sales, they’re looking for a variety of general IT knowledge (A+, NET+, and Server+), as well as business knowledge (ability to sell and understand margins, costs, and how a retailer operates).

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amenconi wrote:

A friend just recently decided they wanted to start a career in IT. He’s currently studying for the A+ and would like eventually to get an IT sales or recruiter position. Since I’ve never been interested in sales or recruitment I realize I don’t know what the shortest or best path for him might be.

Anyone have any insight what his next few steps should be?

I assume the A+ is fine to demonstrate some general knowledge. What would you guys recommend for a 2nd or 3rd cert? Should he grab a helpdesk job for awhile to get some technical experience?

Thanks for any advice.

IT Sales is right up there with Pharmaceutical Sales for income if I’m not mistaken, so if he’s chasing the paycheck, then he’s already on the right track.

Most of the IT salespeople that I’ve met have never had a full-blown IT position, so I’d recommend that he jump straight into sales if he can.

I think most IT professionals would prefer that he listen to their specific needs and requirements and have a general understanding of IT over a salesperson who talks their ear off and starts telling them what they need based on some entry level IT position he once held for 6 months to a year.

What Sosipater said is right on point. He needs a general understanding, but at the end of the day it’s more important that he understands how business and IT function together, rather than simply knowing a lot of technical jargon.

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he needs a course that would put him through some sort of IT related internship i would say, 6 months of doing IT would make him a great sales person.

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To me IT and sales are completely independant… I’ve known many people in “IT Sales” who had no idea about IT but were great salesmen… A good salesmen does not have to be a general “expert” in the chosen area… only learn the particulars of what they are selling…

If he wants to be a salesmen… he should get in to sales… you can teach IT, sales is more of a talent… something you are born with a nack for, or not. A good salesmen can sell cars one year, ice cubes the next and solar panels the next…

(just my 2 cents)

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Sales is a discipline just like IT and it needs to be perfected and practiced. A good salesperson knows how to listen to both the customer and the technical people on his side. A good saelsperson may not be a subject matter expert on all things IT, but they will know enough to connect the right expert with the customer after listening to their needs.

So for knowledge in a sales job you are going for breadth of skills, whereas in IT you are better off going for depth in a smaller number of areas.

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He should be a recuiter, you don’t need to know anything about IT to be one.

Sorry I am pissed because I wasted half a day because of a clueless one!

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I agree with Ziften & Justin; focus on sales skills first. The technology he’ll need to know will vary with his place of employment. Having a solid understanding of networking & how I.T. is used in a business environment (AD, I.T. security, backup, etc.) will be useful, but most employers will train their staff on how to pitch their product anyway. He’ll pick up most of what he needs to know in the first few weeks on the job & will have a technical/engineer contact for anything he doesn’t know.

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Like others have said, the technology training will be highly dependent on where you friend gets a job. Their employer may have their own proprietary software/hardware that they would need to learn.

Sales skills would be where I’d start.

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Awesome.

I think he is chasing the paycheck so good to know it pays well (I assumed it did considering what the sales guys get paid in my company).

While I am sure he wants to be an effective in IT sales I think he mainly wants the certs/experience to get his foot in the door to qualify for a decent paying position.

I’ve pointed him to this thread and encouraged him to sign up and poke around as the community here is a great resource.

Thanks for all the great advice, I’m sure he appreciates it too.