How to switch careers from Recruiter to Sales Executive | HireAE

Lately, there’s been a lot of talk about making a career switch from recruiting to sales. And it’s no wonder why. The two fields have a lot in common. Both require excellent people skills, the ability to build relationships, and the drive to succeed.

I love being both a recruiter and a saas sales professional. My journey began in customer service and then elevated into human resources by form of recruiting and job interviewing at a staffing agency. Learning some skills and then taking those same skills over to software sales made me look at things differently and make a lot of money. It’s a high. The money is exciting, but the high comes in meeting so many different people and realizing your why for what you do. Calling 100’s of people can either burn you out or make you burn harder for your sales/recruiting career. I understood in one of my sales jobs that every business that I called was 1000’s of people getting a chance to change their life because of find employment. Each business, I made things easy on their customers no, matter if they were internal or external. I was known for this. I’ve closed some of the biggest accounts in my career thus far and it’s all been because of making things easy for my customers on the phone or in person.

If you’re considering making the switch from recruiting to sales, here are a few things to keep in mind:

1. The skills you’ve developed as a recruiter will serve you well in sales. As a recruiter, you’re used to working with people, building relationships, and understanding what motivates them. These are all important skills in sales.
2. The hours can be long, but the rewards can be great. In sales, you’ll often have to put in long hours to make your quota. But the financial rewards can be significant.
3. You need to be comfortable with rejection. In sales, you’ll face a lot of rejection. You need to be able to handle it and keep moving forward.
4. You need to be a self-starter. In sales, you’ll need to be able to motivate yourself to keep going, even when things get tough.
5. You need to be coachable. In order to be successful in sales, you need to be willing to listen to feedback and take direction from your managers.

If you’re thinking about making the switch from recruiting to sales, I say go for it! It’s a great way to use the skills you’ve developed as a recruiter to make a lot of money. Just be prepared for the long hours and the rejection. And always remember to stay coachable.

If you’re thinking about making the switch, here are a few more things to keep in mind.

First, remember that sales is all about results. You’ll need to be able to show potential employers that you can close deals and meet quotas. Recruiting may involve some salesmanship, but at the end of the day, it’s more about finding the right fit for a company, not necessarily bringing in new business.

Second, think about your personal strengths and weaknesses. Do you thrive in fast-paced environments? Are you a natural negotiator? Do you have a deep understanding of the products or services you’ll be selling? Consider how your skills will transfer to a sales role.

Third, research the company or companies you’re interested in working for. What’s their sales process like? What kind of training do they offer? What are their expectations for new hires? The more you know about a company, the better equipped you’ll be to make a successful transition.

Skills that you need to be in sales that you already have from recruiting are :

1. The ability to work with people
2. The ability to build relationships
3. The ability to understand what motivates people
4. The ability to handle rejection
5. The ability to be a self-starter
6. The ability to be coachable

If you have these skills, then making the switch from recruiting to sales should be a relatively easy transition. Just remember that sales is all about results, so you’ll need to be able to show potential employers that you can close deals and meet quotas.

Making the switch from recruiting to sales can be a great career move. Just be sure to do your homework and go into it with your eyes wide open. You’ve got this!

Travis C. Patterson, Founder of HireAE