A journey out of aviation.
A new development.
Posted July 1st, 2008 at 20:40 by Ian J
So I had my search narrowed down to Company A and Company B. Company A is who I wrote about in the last blog (the one where I blurted out my salary requirements). Both were Project Management Positions.
Company A was my top choice as it deals with the military and helicopters.
Company B is aviation related too, but their PM job was very engineering focused. I'm no engineer, and I got the feeling they were trying to fit me, a square peg, into an engineering round hole. (Or is that the other way around?
)
But I kept up with them and had a positive attitude about it, and did my THIRD interview with them today, this time with the President of the company. (Seriously - THREE interviews! This civilian non-flying job search is exhausting!)
His VPs briefed him up pretty well on my qualifications and experience and we both agreed pretty early in the meeting I wasn't a good fit for the job. Fine. I tried, right?
But then he tells me the company is expanding. It seems in the past and up to now, all their business came from previously known customers and word of mouth. They never, ever, actively searched for new business. While I wasn't a good fit for project engineering, maybe I'd be a fit for business development?
Hell yeah! Essentially I would spearhead a non-existent facet of the company. I'd build new accounts from scratch. I would write the book for the company for business to business sales. I would create what is essentially the future of the company.
Holy crap. While certainly a scary proposition (can I really do this!?), it would be a tremendous opportunity. To hitch my wagon to a growing company and help lead it to the top sounds like a heck of a thing. In my mind, company B has moved into the A slot.
The meeting closed with the president deciding I'd be good at it, me deciding I want to do it, and him telling me the company had a strategy meeting early next week, and then it would be decided if this is the direction the company wants to take. He also asked me that if I received any other offers to please call him before accepting.
I'm stoked - and man I hope it works out. If so, I'm gonna be bugging any of you sales guys on JC here pretty shortly.
Company A was my top choice as it deals with the military and helicopters.
Company B is aviation related too, but their PM job was very engineering focused. I'm no engineer, and I got the feeling they were trying to fit me, a square peg, into an engineering round hole. (Or is that the other way around?
)But I kept up with them and had a positive attitude about it, and did my THIRD interview with them today, this time with the President of the company. (Seriously - THREE interviews! This civilian non-flying job search is exhausting!)
His VPs briefed him up pretty well on my qualifications and experience and we both agreed pretty early in the meeting I wasn't a good fit for the job. Fine. I tried, right?
But then he tells me the company is expanding. It seems in the past and up to now, all their business came from previously known customers and word of mouth. They never, ever, actively searched for new business. While I wasn't a good fit for project engineering, maybe I'd be a fit for business development?
Hell yeah! Essentially I would spearhead a non-existent facet of the company. I'd build new accounts from scratch. I would write the book for the company for business to business sales. I would create what is essentially the future of the company.
Holy crap. While certainly a scary proposition (can I really do this!?), it would be a tremendous opportunity. To hitch my wagon to a growing company and help lead it to the top sounds like a heck of a thing. In my mind, company B has moved into the A slot.
The meeting closed with the president deciding I'd be good at it, me deciding I want to do it, and him telling me the company had a strategy meeting early next week, and then it would be decided if this is the direction the company wants to take. He also asked me that if I received any other offers to please call him before accepting.
I'm stoked - and man I hope it works out. If so, I'm gonna be bugging any of you sales guys on JC here pretty shortly.
Total Comments 5
Comments
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Sounds like an exciting time in the IanJ/SC household. Enjoy and let us know how it turns out.Posted July 2nd, 2008 at 06:11 by JEP 
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Go for it, Ian!
KevinPosted July 3rd, 2008 at 01:34 by staplegun 
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Biz dev is, IMHO, the sweet spot in sales. Start doing research. Know what your stuff costs, what your buyer's purchasing cycles are, who your competitors are and above all - KNOW YOUR PRODUCT.
We can talk more later if you want.Posted July 7th, 2008 at 14:30 by killbilly -
Best of luck to you Ian. Professional flying sounds exciting (to me) but seems like for yourself, you have found something much more satisfying.Posted July 9th, 2008 at 02:00 by BCTAv8r -
Hey, thanks to all for the support.
Bill: Thanks, but that biz-dev opportunity died - see next blog. Know anything about executive recruiting?Posted July 17th, 2008 at 11:05 by Ian J
