Making the switch to sales

by Emma

Deciding your career at the age of 18 can be a daunting task but choosing a particular degree doesn’t have to limit your future prospects. Armed with my degree, I’ve been able to experience a number of different job roles during my 4 years at Codify.

In 2010 I completed my honours degree in Computing for Graphics and Animation and joined Codify as a C# Software Developer. Throughout Uni I had developed in a few different languages, like Flash Action Script, Java and C++, but I had never created any C# applications. Taking on a new development language was quite a change but I like a challenge and I had support from the great team at Codify.

After spending a few months in the projects team getting to know our style and building a C# foundation, I moved into the support team. Working in support I got to know our clients and their applications well and I really enjoyed working on something different every day.

As the support team grew I was given the opportunity to experience projects again… but not for long. Codify began looking for a new Sales Engineer as Katherine’s sales team was looking to expand. I was approached by Katherine, much to Lisa’s dismay, with offers of company phones and client networking. Of course sales isn’t just networking dinners and business breakfasts and I’m not that fickle. I got stuck into proposals, meetings and mock-ups in no time. It was great to experience being the first point of contact, chatting to our clients and establishing what they need. Having a programming background gave me an excellent advantage in understanding what we could do and envisioning the system required.

I have always enjoyed doing a little bit of everything. In sales I still do some programming and UI design; keeping myself up-to-date with our client’s applications when new projects are released. And when I get those, “I’m wondering if you can help me. I’m looking for an application that…” calls, I can say yes, I can help you.

So a few months in and I am loving my new role, even if I do occasionally have to get up at 6am to drive to a business breakfast at the AECC. An unlikely change from software developer to sales engineer, I know, but what would life be without variety.

Codify have encouraged me to follow the career path that I wanted to. They have helped me to build on what I learned at University and while on placement, and adapted my job role to suit my personality and what I enjoy. There are plenty of opportunities out there for those looking for a career in IT, you don’t need to stick to the typical software developer role if it’s not the job for you.

There are a wide variety of roles available at Codify from Project Managers, to Business Analysts which all benefit from experience in software development, the tricky part is finding the right one for you.