We’re often asked by athletes about the entry requirements for tech sales careers. Generally speaking, companies hire for attributes over educational attainment/previous experience.

This post examines 6 attributes which tech companies often value in early careers sales hires:

COACHABILITY: There is no one “degree” for sales, so companies that hire early careers sales talent put a lot of emphasis on training and development. It follows that new hires who are coachable have a much higher chance of long-term career success. Put yourself in the mindset of your early sporting years. If you focus on soaking up as much knowledge as possible, learn from high performers around you, and seek out and act-on feedback to improve – you’ll build strong foundations for career success.

CURIOSITY: People who are naturally curious are always asking questions to learn and explore more about a topic. This is a trait displayed by top performers in sales/business development roles. In a sales context, asking intelligent questions helps to uncover challenges faced by potential customers, and explores if your product/service can solve these challenges.

ENGAGING COMMUNICATION SKILLS: Any sales role involves communicating with new people daily. Successful salespeople are confident and thoughtful communicators, who enjoy building relationships.

ORGANISATION: Being successful in a sales role requires high levels of daily and weekly activity. Managing this effectively requires excellent time management, prioritising, and organisational skills.

COMPETITIVE SPIRIT: Sales is a target focused environment, where results are measurable, and progression is based on merit. In relation to Athletes, a Harvard Business Review article wrote that “there is a correlation between sports and sales success as top performers are able to handle emotional disappointments, bounce back from losses, and mentally prepare themselves for the next opportunity to compete”.

EMPATHY: Having the ability to understand and experience the perspective of others is important for building trust, and for being able to guide customers to the right solution. Internally, companies also value empathy as it promotes a healthy team culture.

To learn more about the careers we facilitate for current and ex athletes, and for available opportunities, please contact us at info@athlete-origin.com, or angus@athlete-origin.com.

We’re delighted to announce that Athlete Origin has entered a partnership with East London Phoenix Wheelchair Women’s Basketball team.

The East London Phoenix are the University of East London’s first sporting franchise and will form part of the inaugural Women’s Wheelchair Basketball Premier League – the first professional para sport league in the UK.

Athlete Origin will be the team’s career consultation provider, providing career services and support to the Phoenix players.

East London High Performance Sport Manager Will Ashby said, “It’s great to have Athlete Origin become a partner of East London Phoenix. As a club we want to provide the best opportunities for our players in terms of education and future careers and we think they offer this to our players. Our Phoenix players are in good hands with Angus and his team”.

Athlete Origin Founder Angus Gilmour commented, “We’re delighted to be the official career consultation provider for East London Phoenix. This partnership very much aligns with Athlete Origin’s founding mission, so the opportunity to be involved with the UK’s first ever professional para sport league is something we couldn’t pass up. We’re excited about this partnership and look forward to providing our career services and support to the elite athletes involved”.

We’ll be cheering the Phoenix in their first match against the Cardiff Met Archers this evening at 7pm. Watch live on the British Wheelchair Basketball Youtube channel!