This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Bryan Ruiz, a 27-year-old tech sales representative based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. It has been edited for length and clarity.
I grew up in Puerto Rico, and about seven years ago, I moved to the US to look for construction work. After working in construction for a couple of years, I found it to be really back-breaking work.
It didn’t matter how hard I worked or how many skills I developed; there was always a cap on what I could earn because I was paid by the hour. I tried to get noticed and eventually get a raise, but it didn’t work. I started thinking about pursuing a career where I’m really rewarded for the amount of work I put in.
Within a year, I went from earning $18 an hour doing physical labor to a new career that put me on track to earn six figures.
I decided to look into sales
I was drawn to sales because it offered more upside than hourly work, and I liked the idea that strong performance could directly affect my earnings.
I didn’t know anything about sales. I watched a ton of YouTube videos trying to understand the space and what sales was about. I listened to podcasts on the job site, watched videos after work, and read books whenever I could.
One podcast that helped me later on was “30 Minutes to President’s Club.” I also took a course through CourseCareers. The track I did was specifically for tech sales. I don’t think you necessarily need a course to break into sales, but it helped me because it gave me a structured path to follow.
It cost around $500, and I split it into a few payments. I finished the course in about a week because I desperately wanted to start my new career.
I started applying to almost anything and everything I could find
Landing interviews was a struggle at first, but eventually I got three interviews — and you only need one yes. I tried to schedule them during my breaks or see if I could get time off work to do them.
My first interview completely destroyed my confidence. The hiring manager challenged me about not having any sales experience, and I reacted poorly. I started doubting whether this was for me. At the end of it, the hiring manager told me I should go sell cellphones, and then maybe we could talk.
In my third interview, the manager really liked that I had reached out to him — that’s exactly what you need to do on the job. He said he would give me a trial.
I quit my construction job and, in January 2024, I started my first sales job. The money was a step back at first, but I wanted to focus entirely on proving I belonged. During my time there, I moved into an account executive role, and after about two years at that company, I moved to my current role at a SaaS company.
Construction has a lot more in common with sales than I expected
You deal with a lot of different people in construction: electricians, plumbers, and people from different walks of life. You learn social awareness skills that you might not realize you have.
I was also already used to working long, hard hours. In every interview, when I mentioned my background in construction, the sales managers would say they knew I was used to working hard and that was not their concern.
The hardest part about sales is accepting that most people won’t be happy to hear from you
You’re interrupting someone’s day. Even if what you’re selling could genuinely help them, most people don’t want to talk to you. It’s something you have to accept and understand that you’ll encounter this every day for the rest of your career. You just have to learn not to take it personally.
I try to remind myself — and my team now — that this is work, not life. You spend eight or 10 hours doing your job, but that’s not your whole identity. You leave work at work.
Financially, I took a step back to take a big step forward
In construction, I was earning around $50,000 a year. In my first year in sales, I made around $30,000. This year, I’m on track to pass six figures. In the tech sales roles I see, many base salaries are in the $60,000- $70,000 range, plus commission.
It depends on the sales field you’re in. Selling condos will have a very different structure from selling tech, but you should be earning a base salary of around $50,000 once you gain some experience.
The best part of my new career is that I get to set my own schedule
I work from home, so I can literally brush my teeth and sit down at the computer. I don’t have to wake up early and drive to a job site anymore.
Most days, I work a normal 9-to-5 schedule, but I also have flexibility. During the winter, I’ll sometimes work from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. to take advantage of the daylight and handle school pickup.
My advice to anyone who wants to get into sales is to make the leap
It doesn’t really matter what job you’re doing — some of the sales VPs at my company used to work in customer service. If you want to get into a career where you can earn more money by working harder, start watching some YouTube videos to learn the basics of sales.
Prove that you can do the job, because sales managers are looking. It’s not like other industries, where they only look at your résumé. If you can get in front of the people hiring and show that you can do the job, they’ll be more willing to give you a shot.
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