Career Development: Exploring Job Departments and Sectors of Interest

This document discusses different job departments and sectors of interest in the field of career development, including inside sales, sales operations, business development, and marketing. It explores the skills, ambitions, and interests required for each career path and how they align with the author's current skills and abilities.

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CAREER DEVELOPMENT
Name
Institution Affiliation
Date

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Career Development
Part A
Job Department, career pathways and sectors that Is Interesting to me
My former and present career path has largely leaned on working with and serving people.
Therefore, I am interested in working with the following departments of the sales field, career
pathways and sectors.
Inside Sales
Inside Sales career path refers to the path for representatives of business to business SaaS
companies. They mostly spend their time conducting business through the phones rather than
being out in the fields. Therefore, nothing much is involved in terms of travel logistics. It will,
however, require a lot of skills and ability in striking deals through the phone. This nature of the
job is good but it will not suit me. That is because I love interacting with people directly and not
through indirect ways. Ideally, I understand that direct interaction with people helps in creating a
good environment for the development of interpersonal skills. These skills will be necessary for
the development of confidence and social interaction ideas. Since the sales field of career needs
the development of social and interpersonal skills, majoring into inside sales entirely will not be
suitable for the development of my career path. This path of career is the modern preference for
the salespersons longing for the feeling of sealing great deals and making large commissions.
The role of the entry level for this career path is the Sales Development Representatives.
Sales Operations
I will also be interested in the career path of sales operations. The advent of CRM creates
a good chance for following up on the sales operations path of career. This field serves to be the
best for me given my strength in being analytical and having an interest for details. The

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analytical skills will be very useful for developing insight into the business. The sales sector
needs an eagle eye in its operation and the more effective my skills are in giving attention to
detail, the faster growth in sales career path. Career development in sales is married to keenness
and specificity. I will, therefore, use my analytical skills to investigate and dig into the details of
customer relationship management for purposes of revealing optimization opportunities. I have a
chance to move into the roles of sales operations given my experience in the sector of inside
sales. However, I will opt for the path of customer relationship management specialist. That is
because the management of customer relationship is close to my area of strength in the
development and nurturing of good relationships. I will want to be involved in the operations of
customer management because I already have adequate skills from my former career in the
docket of customer care. Still, on the sales operations career line, I will choose to aim for the
role of customer relationship management administration. As an administrator, I will get to know
the areas that need attention and those that do not. This position will be relevant in my career
path given the targets and roles of getting maximum results from Salesforce. Later, I would think
of becoming the manager of Sales Ops and later the Sales Enablement Director. I will strive to
work very hard in the position of Sales Enablement Director and later move into the executive
role of being the vice president of strategy. After having a good understanding of all the
operations that goes into sales, I will be able to handle the management department well. The
roles that go into oversight will not be enough for my entire career satisfaction. Therefore, I will
be thinking of venturing into the roles of business strategists. That will ensure the development
of skills in sales strategy.
Business Development

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Apart from the two career paths described above, the business development path of career
will also be my preference. This career path involves the need that I create long-term
organizational value from relationships, customers, and markets. The three are closely
intertwined and are greatly necessary for the development of an all-rounded organization. An
organization that treats customers properly builds long-lasting relationships. Therefore, I will be
keen on developing the necessary skills for building great relationships. On the other hand, I will
strive to understand different cultures and the best way to develop good relationships with
different cultures. Different cultural settings often lead to difficulties in communication and
interactions. Owing to that, it will be necessary to find the best techniques to quickly integrate
diversity and develop company brands to suit those unique cultures. After developing the skills
of relationships, I will try to understand different market tastes and the best ways of creating
personal relationships with company brands and customers. That is evaluating the best ways of
creating a culture in different company brands. People who are largely involved in the roles of
sales operations are normally different from those in business development. In that case, as a
business development career specialist in the sales department, I will be building real
relationships with potential influencers, customers and partners. My zeal for a good relationship
with customers and dealing with people will be of great use in this career path (Jacobs 2017).
Marketing
The sales department is different from the marketing department. I will be interested in
the executive marketing role, the vice president of marketing. This entails the scaling of the
reach of the company through the process of driving more traffic of the website and creating
more leads. Through the skills that I will be able to gather in this department, I will understand
critically the application of computer skills in marketing (Lee 2016). The digital age has a pool

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of consumers online. Therefore, marketing should target the online population of customers for
better realization of success. After going through the role of marketing VP, the next step I would
need to take is the Chief Marketing Officer’s C-suite.
The roles of marketing are closely related to marketing operations sales. I will then have
to hand off leads to the sales team and ensure proper optimization of communications and
workflows. Through these operations, I stand a great chance of moving into the roles of Sales
operations (Levin and Peterson 2016). I also have a high chance of the leadership roles of
marketing management, as a marketing manager and a marketing director. Channel manager
position also suits in this case.

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Career Development Flow Chart
Inside Sales
-Sales Development
Representative
Sales Operations
-Sales Ops -Vice president of strategy
-Sales Enablement Director-business strategist
Business Development
- Business development career
specialist
Marketing
-Marketing Vice President
- Chief Marketing Officer’s C-
suite
-Channel Manager

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Trends shaping sales in the UK and beyond
Social media audience
Social media has the largest reservoir of customers with a highly cosmopolitan nature.
Some of the social media tools that are used by consumers include Facebook, Whatsapp, and
Twitter. Facebook is the most popular social media platform for consumers in different
countries. Therefore, the direction of marketing should follow suit. Traditionally, before the
invention of the internet, social media platforms were nonexistence and televisions, newspapers,
magazines and radios were some of the most common media channels used by consumers in
different countries. In fact, some countries never had the media platforms above as their primary
media outlets.
Globalization
With globalization, businesses have been able to transcend different cultures and
countries. Globalization has made it possible for companies and organizations to open branches
in different countries, transport their goods to far countries through the fastest transportation
means and selling services over the internet. Therefore, globalization has really changed the way
business is conducted. The sales department has also had to adjust itself to conform to the
changes brought about by globalization. Unlike the traditional scope of markets where the
markets were narrow and small, globalization has greatly transformed the scope of business and
sales. For instance, companies now have to worry about how to transport goods across
boundaries to different nationalities and countries. These nationalities have different ways of
operating, with different nature and application of rules and regulations.
Digital Shopping

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The internet has led to the development of creative ways of undertaking business
transactions. Online shopping is a platform that has gained a considerable amount of popularity.
Instead of planting physical shops in different continents, countries, and regions, many
companies have opted to develop websites where goods are displayed and sold to different
consumers. Some of the most popular online shops include; Alibaba, Jumia, and Shopify. The
shops are open and available everywhere given there is good accessibility to the internet and the
websites. Therefore, digital shopping has changed the way companies operate or conduct
business. That has also led to the transformation of the ways of conducting sales. As opposed to
the traditional ways of conducting sales, the digital shopping platform has completely changed
the techniques of carrying out sales and marketing (Morosanu, King and Lulle 2017). Online
shopping provides a different landscape and approach to conducting sales and marketing.
How the Career Path is connected to my Skills, Ambitions, and interests
Inside Sales
Working as an associate, I learned the skills of speaking with customers, checking for
supplies, working on updates and addressing and working on queries. Through that, I picked up
on the most essential skills of handling different customer needs. At the moment, I understand
the psychology of interacting with customers and wooing them into a lucrative deal. Therefore,
when I will work in the field of inside sales, it will be easier to navigate through the most
stubborn and undecided customers (Parikh and Desai 2018). I will be at the comfort of my office
and that means that I will have ample time to do other things. However, that will not really go
well with my current skills of interacting with customers face to face.
Sales Operations

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In the sector of sales operations, I am well suited because of my skills in the junior role of
customer service; I have spent most of my career life working in junior customer service
positions. Therefore, I have the basic and hands-on knowledge and skills of customer service. I
know how to enquire customers about a need in the process of product delivery and how to
clearly understand the issues that trouble customers. The sales operations department will need a
person with a good understanding of customer relationship and who is keen on their needs. The
position needs great analytical skills and interest in details. Therefore, I have a lot of strength in
this docket since I understand the issues that normally arise, and know to go about them. In many
cases, it is difficult to undertake the managerial roles merely on the basis of theory. Many
managers have knowledge in theory form and lack the practical application of skills in running
the business operations and customer needs (Roberts-Phelps 2017). Thus, more often than not,
they fail to handle and address the issues in a more successful way. Having understood the need
for analytical skills and the importance of details, I look at the sales operations docket as best
fitting for me.
Business Development
The docket of business development requires developing long term organizational values
in terms of customers, markets and relationships. That is, being able to balance the three to
develop a clear path for organizational growth. In that case, I will need to have a wider
understanding of the managerial decision-making process other than just the junior skills that I
possess. Therefore, I will take my time to have a better understanding of the managerial roles so
that I employ decisions and efforts that are in sync with organizational success.
Meaning for my Career Growth

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Walking through the career paths and sectors will be of great value to me. For one, I will
be able to understand what goes into the managerial positions of sales and marketing.
Understanding the roles of managers in a practical way will be useful in my career path. I will
also understand the process of decision making in the context of the future. In my former career
path working in the customer service department, I was used to making decisions that serve the
customer needs in an instant (Rodriguez, Honeycutt and Ragland 2015). However, with the
managerial positions, I will be able to understand the decision-making process that entails a
wider scope.
Section B
Current Skills and Abilities
Working in different companies, I have learned to an ability to learn about new products
in a faster way. I have the understanding that sales representatives must have the ability to have
a full understanding of the products they are dealing with. Therefore, I have been keen on the
observation and analysis of the products that I am selling. I have also developed strategic
perspective skills. I understand how to manage customers and employees. Through my
perspective skills, I have learned how to get the sales development representatives to handle the
hard calls while others doing a more sophisticated prospecting (Rothman and Sisman 2016). I
also have the art to satisfy the existing customers to the point of giving out referrals to other
friends or relatives. I know how to ask for referrals from employees and identify the
opportunities that had been lost before and making decisions to go back to the customers to and
get them to come back. I have gained more experience in dealing with high-level managers who
have a sophisticated manner of operating. Therefore, I have the prospecting skills of navigating

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through the potential investors on how to get them to be involved in the business of moving the
company.
How they match with my profession
The prospecting skills are so resourceful in the managerial career in the sales department.
That is because I understand how to delegate tasks to employees who fit in those roles well. I
also have the chance to undertake different challenges without panicking. Having been in the
positions of carrying out customer service operations, I have come to understand the need to
develop analytical skills. The analytical skills suit my managerial skills in the career sectors that
I am interested in. Bearing the skills of customer relationship has been of great essence and is
useful in a managerial position of sales that I am interested in.
Values I have developed
Having worked in customer service docket for a long time, I have developed strong
personal and moral values. For example, having empathy is one of my moral value that stands
out. I have learned how to stand in the shoe of customers to identify not only their physical needs
but also their emotional needs. The emotional needs of consumers play a bigger role than the
physical needs in the process of decision making in purchasing (Schrock et al. 2018). Therefore,
I am normally very empathetic and quick to understand the needs of consumers. Honesty is also
another value that I have developed. For example, when I know that I have delayed supplying
some products to consumers, I would rather talk directly to them in the most honest way. Instead
of telling them that I am sending in an hour or thirty minutes later, I admit that I am late and that
I am working on the delivery. Therefore, I have understood that honesty is the best virtue and
will build trust between customers and the company. Another value that I have is patience.
Patience is inevitable in the department of sales and marketing.

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My areas of Development
My main areas of development include digital marketing and sales management. Having
an understanding that the trend of trade and business is online, I will try to develop the online
marketing skills. The online marketing version changes the ballgame of undertaking sales
operations (Watson 2016). After having an understanding of the digital marketing department, I
will strive to venture into managerial roles. It is quite dangerous to only have an understanding
of traditional marketing ways with zero knowledge of digital sales management. Therefore,
before concentrating on sales management, I will strive to have the digital knowledge of sales
and marketing.
Gaps between Skills and Abilities
My areas of strength are mainly concentrated in the day to day customer relationship
activities. I, therefore, have a slight weakness in the position of management. Throughout my
career life, I have been dealing with customers directly as opposed to employees. My aspirations
and inspirations are also relating to and interacting with customers directly. Being able to hear
them out and serve their needs in the most effective ways. The managerial positions of sales and
marketing do not provide such an opportunity. Instead, there is minimum contact with
consumers. Basically, I have strength in an environment of low power distance and weakness in
an environment of low power distance. Therefore the managerial positions offer a lot of
opportunities for my career development.

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