“I wanted to work closer to people, better culture and career progression opportunities.” Discover how and why Sebastian transitioned to tech sales after 6 years in finance.
Before Hyrise
Sebastian is a hardworking Hyrise student who has been able to start his career in the Tech Sales industry. He was born and raised in Germany, still living there. He enjoys outdoor running and fitness in general. Italian is one of his other passions, which he is learning in his free time. He is definitely a busy man that knows how to work hard but also play hard.
He has a master’s degree in business and mechanical engineering, and after this he decided to pursue a career in financial accounting, where he worked for six years. However, he was struggling with three specific factors.
- He wanted to work more with people and communicate with them, as he spent most of his day in front of Excel.
- The career progression was more difficult in his industry. In the tech industry it is a lot easier, due to its rapid growth more opportunities arise for career development.
- He was not always satisfied with the culture in his old industry, where he had the feeling that people want to take the pie piece from others instead of growing the whole pie together. He knew the culture in Tech Sales was more open and welcoming to new ideas and technologies.
His Hyrise Experience
Sebastian was at a point in his life where he had to make a decision, he knew he wanted to change his career path but was unsure what path to follow.
He considered going into the data science industry and learned to use tools like SQL, Tableau and Python, but soon he realized that he was not as talented and passionate about deep mathematical fields as others. Additionally, he learnt companies in Germany were not yet adopting these new technologies in a broad scale.
He then stumbled across the tech sales industry, and started to dig a little deeper. In the beginning, he was a bit skeptical because he was unsure whether this was the right time for him, or if maybe was too old to join the Tech Sales world. He did not know if just by doing the bootcamp he would be able to find a remote job, which is something that was high on his priority list.
“In the end everything worked out better than anticipated. The bootcamp was a fun experience but also a lot of work because I had to combine it with my full time job. Even before finishing the bootcamp, I already got three remote job offers. I had no problems finding a job.”
There is definitely a lot of demand for sales tech professionals in Germany, he noticed. Additionally, he joined groups on LinkedIn to hear experiences from people that were already working as SDRs in the industry.
“I noticed that they did not have much more knowledge than me, despite having already worked in the industry for 2+ years. Thanks to the bootcamp you get a complete overview of the selling process because it is very structured and systematic."
He also enjoyed being part of our slack workspace as he could profit from the networking of the Hyrise community, where he learned from others experiences.
“I have never felt so supported in my life from an academic or professional view, no company or institution has ever supported me as much as Hyrise.”
After Hyrise
Even before finishing the bootcamp, Sebastian received several work offers from different companies. He went through the different selection processes and finally decided to join Zscaler as an SDR. He will work in the cybersecurity industry, which is growing at a rapid pace, in one of the market leader companies.
How Hyrise had helped to change his life.
“In the beginning of working remotely you might feel alone, you get “FEUD” (fear, uncertainty and doubt). It is a big risk, and you feel a lot of uncertainty since you are making a life changing decision.”
Sebastian was able to find the needed support in his Hyrise squad. They still to this day share tips and tricks that may be helpful and support each other in their journeys. They plan to meet in person.
“Your squad are like the friends you meet in uni, because you share the same problems and are there to help each other out and provide support. So, it was a community feeling despite being on the remote.”
Advice for Future Hyrise Students
Sebastian’s advice is to do a lot of research and connect with past students to hear their experiences. And once the decision is made, time should be locked from the calendar to be able to be dedicated to the bootcamp. He also pointed out that as a student, you will be supported throughout the whole process, so no worries should come from this side.
“Do your research, but in my eyes the data clearly points that this industry is on a big growth and that the culture is very modern and open and I don’t see any negative point to it. So if you think that Tech Sales might be for you, you should definitely join Hyrise."
Want to launch your career in Tech Sales just like Sebastian? Apply here.
