Those of you with 200K+ jobs & are NOT doctors/lawyers: what do you do & how did you find your jobs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How does one break into sales? I'm a lawyer 3 years out of law school and hate the 'head down' booksmart nature of the work. I previously worked in marketing but the pay was abysmal. How do I make myself a good candidate for a VP-type sales position, what experience do I need?

Do you have any sales experience? You're not going to get that kind of job unless you already have solid knowledge of the industry in which you'd be selling and can demonstrate a strong performance history.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How does one break into sales? I'm a lawyer 3 years out of law school and hate the 'head down' booksmart nature of the work. I previously worked in marketing but the pay was abysmal. How do I make myself a good candidate for a VP-type sales position, what experience do I need?

You get this job by selling successfully as an individual contributor. No one will hire a sales leader who hasn't first successfully sold.

--earning this amount in Tech Sales as a technical expert

[Anonymous]

I make nearly 200K as a research scientist/Computational physicist. PhD + 25 years experience. I also market.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How does one break into sales? I'm a lawyer 3 years out of law school and hate the 'head down' booksmart nature of the work. I previously worked in marketing but the pay was abysmal. How do I make myself a good candidate for a VP-type sales position, what experience do I need?

Do you have any sales experience? You're not going to get that kind of job unless you already have solid knowledge of the industry in which you'd be selling and can demonstrate a strong performance history.

Pp, I understand that. I'm asking what kind of experience one needs to lay the foundation.

[Anonymous]

DH hit 205K with just a bachelor's last year. He's a VP with a large ad company doing digital account services. I don't think he has a specialized skill set, just good at client facing and upselling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How does one break into sales? I'm a lawyer 3 years out of law school and hate the 'head down' booksmart nature of the work. I previously worked in marketing but the pay was abysmal. How do I make myself a good candidate for a VP-type sales position, what experience do I need?

Do you have any sales experience? You're not going to get that kind of job unless you already have solid knowledge of the industry in which you'd be selling and can demonstrate a strong performance history.

Pp, I understand that. I'm asking what kind of experience one needs to lay the foundation.

Use your skills to learn new technologies, like AWS, then get a job. Willingness to learn and keep learning is important. You can earn that amount as PP said as a technical expert to the sales staff and then eventually move into sales.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How does one break into sales? I'm a lawyer 3 years out of law school and hate the 'head down' booksmart nature of the work. I previously worked in marketing but the pay was abysmal. How do I make myself a good candidate for a VP-type sales position, what experience do I need?

Do you have any sales experience? You're not going to get that kind of job unless you already have solid knowledge of the industry in which you'd be selling and can demonstrate a strong performance history.

Pp, I understand that. I'm asking what kind of experience one needs to lay the foundation.

Use your skills to learn new technologies, like AWS, then get a job. Willingness to learn and keep learning is important. You can earn that amount as PP said as a technical expert to the sales staff and then eventually move into sales.

Or not. The technical expert gig is way better than the sales gig in my opinion. Yes I probably work just as hard as the sales folks I support and when that big deal closes they get paid way more. But I'll take my safe $200k and never worry about getting fired for not making my number thanks very much!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How does one break into sales? I'm a lawyer 3 years out of law school and hate the 'head down' booksmart nature of the work. I previously worked in marketing but the pay was abysmal. How do I make myself a good candidate for a VP-type sales position, what experience do I need?

Do you have any sales experience? You're not going to get that kind of job unless you already have solid knowledge of the industry in which you'd be selling and can demonstrate a strong performance history.

Pp, I understand that. I'm asking what kind of experience one needs to lay the foundation.

Use your skills to learn new technologies, like AWS, then get a job. Willingness to learn and keep learning is important. You can earn that amount as PP said as a technical expert to the sales staff and then eventually move into sales.

Or not. The technical expert gig is way better than the sales gig in my opinion. Yes I probably work just as hard as the sales folks I support and when that big deal closes they get paid way more. But I'll take my safe $200k and never worry about getting fired for not making my number thanks very much!!

That is where my husband is at, but he's interested in sales too. I'd rather have the money for a few years as he can always go back to what he was doing before for less money. If you work just as hard, take the money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How does one break into sales? I'm a lawyer 3 years out of law school and hate the 'head down' booksmart nature of the work. I previously worked in marketing but the pay was abysmal. How do I make myself a good candidate for a VP-type sales position, what experience do I need?

You get this job by selling successfully as an individual contributor. No one will hire a sales leader who hasn't first successfully sold.

--earning this amount in Tech Sales as a technical expert

+1

There was a time that ediscovery vendors and legal recruiting companies would hand out the VP title just for a JD, but that's over since the market is over-saturated with JDs. You need to get in and show you can sell before you're going to advance now. Lobby to sit on panels at professional conferences and webinars for more visibility.

[Anonymous]

DOD sales. 350-400 on average, 500k this year and probably next.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DOD sales. 350-400 on average, 500k this year and probably next.

How do you get into this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a search recruiter and corporate recruiter (now). Here's how you find the jobs that pay:

Sales. Regional Vice President and above.

Unless you are in C executive suite (ie CIO, SVP, EVP, CFO, etc), if you work in a consulting company and not a sales person, the money is in business development. You have to be able to bring in clients whether you work in law (Partner track), consulting (Managing Director) or corporate (consulting VP and above).

Tech - either go 1099 and specialize in a technology ie LINUX sys admin, AWS Cloud, JAVA coder, etc. Unless you are a LINUX sys admin or have deep network security ability, your average Ops network admin is not where the money is. Working for University also isn't going to help $$ - go start up or contract for commercial sector.

Marketing - social media gurus, people who have a direct marketing background who also know how to leverage social media via analytics can do really well. Again, 1099 contract is a good vehicle for marketeers.

Finance - Tax makes a lot. Corporate Finance or CPA good. All around Finance/Accounting is great. Always has been always will.

I don't do healthcare/pharma industries but as a generalist recruiter, having worked in fed, non profit and commercial sectors, the money is definitely in commercial. Consulting is always good and I don't just mean Accenture or Big 4. Industry is very important in determining how much an offer you will get. If you work for a company that isn't going to go big budget, you can't expect $$$ offer.

This is pretty spot on IME. DH is in finance, but on the sales side, income is variable but generally between $300-$600k with a 2-4x bonus. BUT he travels a fair amount, has lots of evening events, constantly entertaining clients, and generally can't commit to a set schedule more than a week in advance. He got into the business by starting at a commercial bank, working up through the inward-facing side, and every so often they pluck people to be outward facing. About half survive and thrive, the other half go back into back-office roles usually within a year.

It funds a lifestyle. Many of our circle have similar stories in other industries, whether it be consulting, health care, legislative relations, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I make 120K and seem to be "topped out." I work in IT management at a university and I am drowning in debt. I'm 33, divorced, 1 kid, and don't even own a house yet. Most of my friends make less than me. I have a master's degree from a top school (one of the reasons I am drowning in debt).

I go on Indeed.com, Idealist, etc. all the time and I don't really see jobs posted that pay more than mine. How do you get these super-high paying jobs? Are they unlisted?

I found out recently that even my BOSS only makes 10K more than me. Where are you guys finding the "big" jobs? What did you do to get there?

Op, I'm guessing you are like us grew up lower middle class so have very few connections to the monied class. You were attracted to a university job because it was stable, and now as a single parent that kind of stable job with health insurance is all that stands between your kids and section 8 housing and SNAP.


That's how it is for us, were can't take but risk with our career because if we slip up they it's no family money, no old friend from a W school who will hook use up with a job lead. Its us against the wolves.

There jobs you want aren't posted, recruiters still our candidates or they are internal hires, maybe a lateral from a sales relationship.

But a 1099 position? Do you have potential clients? Do you know the contract terms you would specify? And out of pocket expense for health insurance is huge

Sales? Make your numbers or your address GONE -- No room for a sick kid day.

Startup? Enough said.

You have a ton of debt and dependents, sadly there time to take this gamble was in your 20s, but like us you didn't even know there was a game let alone how to play it. You thought you worked hard and were smart you would get ahead; not how it works. It helps but you need the connections and the business focus and you need it fast.

I would accept that you won't get change to boost income until kid is off to college (with funding secured). For now look at finance,i think you could roll into a safe job at capital one with a boost to say $150k? I don't think you could go much higher without much more risk but it's something

[Anonymous]

250k + stock. Software engineer in the Bay Area. It would be really hard for me to make that in D.C.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I make 120K and seem to be "topped out." I work in IT management at a university and I am drowning in debt. I'm 33, divorced, 1 kid, and don't even own a house yet. Most of my friends make less than me. I have a master's degree from a top school (one of the reasons I am drowning in debt).

I go on Indeed.com, Idealist, etc. all the time and I don't really see jobs posted that pay more than mine. How do you get these super-high paying jobs? Are they unlisted?

I found out recently that even my BOSS only makes 10K more than me. Where are you guys finding the "big" jobs? What did you do to get there?

Op, I'm guessing you are like us grew up lower middle class so have very few connections to the monied class. You were attracted to a university job because it was stable, and now as a single parent that kind of stable job with health insurance is all that stands between your kids and section 8 housing and SNAP.


That's how it is for us, were can't take but risk with our career because if we slip up they it's no family money, no old friend from a W school who will hook use up with a job lead. Its us against the wolves.

There jobs you want aren't posted, recruiters still our candidates or they are internal hires, maybe a lateral from a sales relationship.

But a 1099 position? Do you have potential clients? Do you know the contract terms you would specify? And out of pocket expense for health insurance is huge

Sales? Make your numbers or your address GONE -- No room for a sick kid day.

Startup? Enough said.

You have a ton of debt and dependents, sadly there time to take this gamble was in your 20s, but like us you didn't even know there was a game let alone how to play it. You thought you worked hard and were smart you would get ahead; not how it works. It helps but you need the connections and the business focus and you need it fast.

I would accept that you won't get change to boost income until kid is off to college (with funding secured). For now look at finance,i think you could roll into a safe job at capital one with a boost to say $150k? I don't think you could go much higher without much more risk but it's something

If he is divorced, he's probably paying a good chunk to child support. If he is an active dad, he has to have a room for his kid, and expenses in his home as well as if Mom demands extra that should be covered in child support but are not. He probably had attorney fees as well. It is very costly.

He can make a lot more in IT.