Pros
- Lots of opportunities for inexperienced people to start learning the ins and outs of IT sales and network your way into the sector. You can come into an accountmanager's position without any experience on your CV and work your way up pretty fast. This is an environment where you can learn and grow massively, there are plenty of trainings, webinars, classes to take, etc. Take initiative in opening yourself up for learning and the world is your oyster. - If you show willingness for taking innitiative and putting in the effort to learn, you'll be able to create yourself a very safe and steady carreer. - Very familial and enjoyable environment to work in. If you open yourself up just a little bit, remain respectful and social in your ways, you'll get to know a lot of people very fast. There are people within the company who proactively organise activities in order for people to have plenty of chances to get to know each other and socialize, such as BBQ's, friday-end-of-the-week drinks, monthly get togethers in a nearby bar, team building activities, and many more. - Keep your eyes open for internal opportunities for growth, because depending on the period, they might or might not be plentiful. If there's an internal project being pilotted, and new insight is needed which you could provide, talk with your management or team lead and there might be a chance to fill in or even create new functions. Keep in mind, it also has to be worth it for the company. - Most offices nowadays are very modern looking and you mostly get the necessary tools in order to do your job as effectively as possible.
Kontras
- Management often feels disconnected from the people in sales and services. Lots of decisions get made without input from the people they actually affect, which is a very typical management flaw. - For some people the workload can be too much at times, and the company often relies on the carrot-on-a-stick principle for keeping people motivated and foreward-looking. Promising relief in the form of new hires, but (probably more so in the smaller countries) it can take quite a while before new people are hired, trained and ready to alleviate some of the work. - In my opinion, sales and being an accountmanager works best when you let down the leash and give people the necessary tools and more importantly trust in order to conquer their customers, which Bechtle sometimes lacks the confidence to do. - It is still a business environment, with all the accompanying tropes of such an environment. Like with any other company of a certain size, unfortunately corporate politics is rampant and in some situations unequivocally and indisputably self-destructive. - In terms of salary, the carrot-on-a-stick applies. It takes a long time to receive a pay-raise, and you'll have to take a very proactive stance in order to negotiate a satisfying result. - Some problems persist for years and years on end. Employees point out these problems numerous times, and yet often times no solutions are created. - Most of the time if you voice your constructive opinion about a certain business topic, you do have the feeling you've been heard. BUT, often times actual results are very much delayed.