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?

FWIW I wouldn't mind a job that entails a lot of travel. I don't know if that makes me more marketable or not.

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?

First, if i wanted ro make money, I'd never work at a university in the first place.

Im in sales. I network the hell out of myself. Social skills are the most important skill to have.

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.

You need to go into sales. Your base with be $120k plus bonuses will bring you to $200k

Anonymous wrote:I feel like you either have to have a really really specialized skill set, or you have to be willing to do some kind of sales...e.g. a principal at a consulting firm is only as valuable as the work they bring in.

I think this is mostly right. But, finance is also a way to make a lot of money without a highly specialized skill set.

I have a STEM PhD, and I'm a super under-utilized data scientist making $240K without a lot of stress. DH earns twice my salary as senior manager in an engineering company (also PhD).

The people I know with non-PhD technical degrees who make our kind of salaries or higher are either in finance or got very lucky with the right start up. Without a PhD, it's a little more difficult to mid-six figure, non-executive engineering jobs.

Spouse is CFO with a CPA and makes in the 220s. He could make more at bigger orgs but that would mean more travel and more time out of the house.

You need to become a contractor or go to a private company.. Better if you have a clearance.

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?

I would imagine that the pay for a similar position would be higher if you went to a consulting firm or other private ocmpany, as compared to a university , but I could be wrong

OP here. To the previous poster making 350K -- what kind of consulting do you do? I was an IT consultant for myself before getting a job at the university and made even less than I do now! I don't know what I'm doing wrong :-/

I am an IT consultant, work for myself, make 350k.

I'm in tech.

I'm in IT for one of the big consulting companies. I was client facing but after kids I became internal.

I feel like you either have to have a really really specialized skill set, or you have to be willing to do some kind of sales...e.g. a principal at a consulting firm is only as valuable as the work they bring in.

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?