Name: Ena Zijadic
Role: Inside Sales Associate
VMware Office Location: Cork, Ireland
Journey to a Career in Sales
As cliché as it may sound, I have always loved jobs that allow me to interact with people. While there are a lot of jobs that require constant interaction with others, the one thing that I like about working in Sales is that it challenges me to find creative solutions for each of my tasks. I’m also kind of the CEO of my own job. I design my day-to-day tasks and the effort that I put in will for the most part determine how successful that I am in my role.
An Inside Look at the VMware Sales Academy in Europe
The VMware Sales Academy is a five to six-month training program hosted at VMware’s office in Cork, Ireland. At the beginning of the program, you will participate in trainings and receive an introduction to life at VMware. The training portion consists of sessions on VMware products and solutions, increasing your IT knowledge and learning Sales best practices. Each day is different, which is helpful as it is a great way to get settled into working in a corporate environment and living in a new city.
After the first month or two you will begin to move into an Inside Sales Associate (ISA) role. In this role, you will focus on contacting (potential) customers and qualifying whether or not they would be interested in an Inside Territory Executive following up with them. You will have to get into fairly in-depth conversations with customers to see if there are certain business issues that VMware’s solutions could solve. Once the training program is complete, you should plan to stay in the Inside Sales Associate role until you get assigned a territory and become an Inside Territory Executive. From there, the idea is to work towards a Field role in the country that you are assigned to represent. This traditionally occurs after about two years, but it depends on when there is an open role and you are ready for it.
Everything that I’m learning right now in Cork will be beneficial for my role once I get back to the Netherlands. My technical and IT know-how has expanded and I’ve strengthened how I conduct business conversations with customers. I’m finding out what my strengths and weaknesses are in a corporate environment, which allows me to focus in on what I do well in and the areas that I have an opportunity to improve upon. The great thing about starting my career in Sales is that I’m preparing for any next step that I take at VMware. This is because I’m learning a broad set of skills that are necessary for all positions. Overall, the VMware Sales Academy is a great step-by-step program that gets you prepared for a successful career in Sales. There are many opportunities to excel throughout the program, but you have to get out there and show a lot of initiative.
Dare to Explore Cork, Ireland
Having moved to Ireland without ever visiting the country, I was a bit worried that I would get bored. I can honestly say that has not been the case as everything that I need is within reach. A lot of young professionals and students live in Cork, so there is a great youthful environment. Whether you want to go out for dinner, grab drinks, or enjoy a sporting event; there are a variety of amenities to enjoy together with people your own age. I have also explored several of the amazing travel destinations that Ireland has to offer like Carrantuohill and a town nearby Cork called Kinsale.
VMware also made it extremely easy to relocate to Ireland. Not only did they cover a portion of my relocation costs, but they also offered temporary accommodation for my first month so that I could get settled in and find a place to live. There are also complementary buses that leave from the city centre to the office each day for employees, so I never have to worry about transport to work. While it has been a big step to move to a different country, the support that I have received from VMware has made my whole experience unforgettable.
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