Finding My Unique Role
From high school and after nearly 10 years of “finding my career path”, I started what I consider my true career path as a “breadman” in 1978. As a direct store delivery salesman, I was ordering, delivering, merchandising bread and snacks to groceries, restaurants, schools, etc. At face value, thousands enter and leave that very journeyman-like job. As I entered that world, I was unique in that I was a computer literate, near college graduate joining a world of high school level peers and an industry that was at the literal starting gate of automated technology.
Fast forward 12 years into the 1990’s and I successfully deployed automation technology across that same nationwide company, it was time for a shift again. Adoption of that type technology was starting to ramp across the industry. I joined the technology side of that initiative, beginning to market, sell, and deploy that technology throughout the other companies wishing and requiring same type technology. Once again, I stood out among peers and now competitors in that I was a technologist developing and deploying software. Yet, I was unique in that I had actually been a user, been a sales manager, and had actually deployed something like the solution I was proposing.
At every stage of my career, I’ve leveraged my unique skills to position myself for growth in the company and make the right shifts at the right time.
Name: Jim
Title: Director – Vertical Marketing Strategy
Industry: Technology
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Photo by Jungwoo Hong on Unsplash
