What do you do for a living?

I’m basically in sales. My title is business development manager. I work for an integration firm where we do electronic security for large companies.

How would you describe your job to someone?

We take care of the electronic security for our clients’ facilities. I tell people I’ve got the coolest job of all jobs. I get to visit some of the coolest companies in the country. They show me what they do everyday, and obviously I’m looking for security weaknesses and vulnerabilities to identify where their risks would be. And then we devise solutions to mitigate that risk.

What does your work entail?

My company does everything from design, service, install, and maintaining high level security systems. Obviously I don’t do all of those things. My role is more of a customer service liaison.

What I really like about my job is that I get to deal with people 24/7. I really enjoy people. There are a number of people out there that don’t, they’re just not a people person by nature. But people amaze me, they intrigue me, in a positive way.

That’s really what a typical sales guy is going to do. Obviously, in the business development role, it is to define new customers that we can actually court and build a relationship with, and quickly identify is there a need for what we actually provide?

I also have to identify are they the one that would make the decision to purchase or take it to a committee and develop that long term strategy and relationship.

What does a typical workweek look like for you?

Obviously Monday through Friday, 8-5, and then a whole bunch more. When I say a whole bunch more, it’s feast and famine. I have had my fair share of 60-70 hour weeks, and I’ve had my fair share of 30 hour weeks.

Like any other person in my field[sales], I can stop to get my car washed, pick up my dry cleaning, or escort the kids back and forth from school.

But I attend tons meetings and teleconferences. I sit in on many web access meetings, and answer to clients that are in every country on the globe for the most part. So obviously, while it’s an 8-5 gig, it’s also one of those where when I’m talking to somebody in Paris I have to work my day around theirs. I may wake up at 4:00 in the morning to be on a conference call. Or I may finish my day at 9:00 PM on a conference call.

How did you get started in this career?

I started installing these systems back in 1982. So I learned the technology and moved into a customer service role, then moved into a sales role. I’ve been in the sales role for probably 14-15 years.

What do you like about what you do?

It’s always changing, never constant. Since a lot of our products are IT related there are always new products and new toys on the marketplace. So that’s both exciting and challenging at the same time.

What I really like about my job is that I get to deal with people 24/7. I really enjoy people. There are a number of people out there that don’t, they’re just not a people person by nature. But people amaze me, they intrigue me, in a positive way.

So I really enjoy that part of my job.

What do you dislike about this job?

Probably the pressures of hitting your business goals and revenue generation. And I wouldn’t say it’s really a pressure thing, but I wish I didn’t even have to keep score. I wish I could just go help these people and leave it at that.

And I’ve always passed my goals that the company sets out for me, and those are basically right in line with my personal goals, but if there’s anything I don’t like about this job it’s that there’s a lot of pressure to perform. Each year, where you have consistent success, they expect nothing less than success once again. So it’s like the bar continues to get raised, even when you think you can’t do it anymore, it still happens.

Another thing I don’t like is we obviously don’t win every single project. There are potentially folks out there, every once in awhile, that are a nickel less than we are, or didn’t like how I combed my hair, or didn’t like the fact I drive a Nissan, there’s all kinds of reasons people don’t buy. None of us like losing, it’s human nature not to like to lose.

How do you make money, or how are you compensated with this job?

I’ve got a base salary but then I’ve also get compensation based on sales commission. It’s about half base and half commission.

How much money do you make in security sales?

It’s about $220-250,000. But again, that’s not the norm. I think the norm for what I do is somewhere between $100-150,000.

How much money did you make starting out in this job?

Since I started out installing systems, I was making minimum wage, which at that time was $4.25 an hour. But that really wasn’t this job, if that makes sense, that was actually installing.

When I started selling, it was probably $50,000-ish in my first sales year. Incentive plus salary, it wasn’t a whole lot. But year after year, I learned a little bit more skill and picked up some additional education along the way as well.

Are there any perks associated with what you do?

I rarely ever buy my own lunch. I rarely ever buy my own dinner. I’m always expensing meals and taking potential clients out to eat trying to build relationships. When I want to travel, I’m traveling on someone else’s nickel. It doesn’t get any better than that. The hotels are a little bit nicer. The rental cars are a nicer. Those are perks that come with success in sales.

Then there are also other benefits that you don’t really think of. We get the employee discount at an auto manufacturer we work for. We do work with an ice cream company, so we get free ice cream. We get perks for the places where we do work, which is quite interesting. We obviously are selling them products and providing contract services but we’re treated almost like their employee.

I also get to see the inner workings of all types of businesses and companies. I love that show “How It’s Made” on Discovery and I get to do that live and in person without a camera.

What education or skills are needed to do this job?

When I first started in this I didn’t have my undergraduate degree. I picked that up later on, but my job doesn’t require a degree at all.  I’ve got my Master’s degree now but it’s not required, but I think that’s something that separates me from the rest of the pack that’s out there.

But a lot of folks who do what I do don’t even have a degree.

[The misconception is}That I do nothing but burglar alarms. The funny thing is I may do five burglar alarms a year, but that would be like a burglar alarm for a billionaire's home, those are a little bit different.

As far as skills, I think it’s all about attitude. Can someone be tenacious in a nice way and not be pushy?

I’m eager to learn about my clients needs and I’m eager to help. But I tell my clients, I don’t care if you guys buy anything from me, there’s going to be enough folks out there buying stuff and my numbers are going to be met, but I’m here to help you guys.

But I think it’s a given that anyone in sales needs to understand human psychology and understand when they say ‘no’ that sometimes does mean ‘no’, and sometimes when they say no it doesn’t mean ‘no’. You have to know when you need to continue to explore or invest time or energy into an opportunity.

What would you say is most challenging about what you do?

It’s a little bit challenging trying to keep up with all of the technology as it continues to change, but that’s also one of the things that makes it attractive.

It’s also challenging in a tough economy. Some sectors have slowed down dramatically but there are other markets still buying. So you’ve got to be able to shift and be nimble as to where those opportunities are and where the market would take you based on who has money to spend.

What would you say is most rewarding about what you do?

Nice expense checks and great pay. But the most rewarding for me is being able to mentor. Taking young sales studs and teaching them the ropes and showing them how they can be successful as well. That’s more of a mental reward than it is a financial reward.

What advice would you offer someone considering this career?

It’s a great place to be and it’s not going away. We’ve been fighting this battle since the age of caveman. Someone stole somebody’s stuff. The industry continues to grow. It’s continued to get bigger with no decrease in size, revenue, etc.

The advice I guess, it’s a great place to be, it’s a growth industry, so it’s a good career vehicle for the long term.

How much time off do you get or take with this career or job?

The typical is two weeks every year up to five years, then you get three weeks. Then after ten years, you get four weeks. You get an extra week every five years or something like that. I get that but I don’t really keep track of my vacation if that makes sense. They don’t keep track of my vacation as well.

When you’re a big producer they don’t care what the hell you do for the most part. Obviously, if I wasn’t meeting the numbers, they’re probably going to cut you back and say, ‘don’t take more than two weeks you’re allotted’.

What is a common misconception people have about what you do?

That I do nothing but burglar alarms. The funny thing is I may do five burglar alarms a year, but that would be like a burglar alarm for a billionaire’s home, those are a little bit different.

We do a lot of biometrics, whether it’s voice, retinal, vascular – I was looking at some stuff the other day with a vascular reader which reads the blood patterns on the back of your hand, facial recognition. There’s a lot of stuff out there that’s like CSI and James Bond that’s real but it’s not mainstream because it’s so expensive.

And then while we could use that stuff to make a place secure as we got this problem about how fast can we get folks through this door so they can go to work? So checks and balance – we want to be as secure as we can, but still don’t want to slow our people down.

But yeah, the misconception is that I do burglar alarms.

What are your goals and dreams for the future in this career?

My ultimate goal is that I want to be able to teach. Besides trying to put kids through college, that’s the main reason I’m working my ass off and throwing some money back towards retirement so I can actually officially say, “ok I’m still going to work, but I’m not going to work in this career field”. I may still teach in the security, but teaching’s where my passion is.

I just love the thrill of being able to say here’s what I learned that I want to be able to pass down. Here’s some wisdom, here’s some mistakes that I made and I’ll tell you about them so you make sure you don’t do these cause they were painful. As well as I did these three things right, and this is the result of that, and it’s a huge dividend whether it was emotional, monetary, or whatever. Being able to pass along that knowledge and that information, as well as being able to motivate and get those folks moving the right direction is a passion of mine.

What else would you like people to know about what you do?

I’m out there helping folks solve problems. We’re not there to sell them anything, we’re there to help but the result ends in a sale.

What do you do for a living?

I work for a company called Heartland Payment Systems and do credit card processing, payroll, sales, gift card sales. They have a couple of different items that they sell but credit cards and payrolls are sort of the bread and butter.

How would you describe what you do?

I go from business to business and I sell the services of accepting credit cards. If you’re going to pay for your meal at a restaurant or if your company has payroll they have to pay their employees, we do that. You outsource that service to us.

What’s a typical work week look like for you?

So specifically what I do is I do either phone calls or drop-ins on merchants and try to persuade them to change their services over to us. So it’s a lot of driving and phone calls.

I’ve been doing this several years now and I’ve sort of fined tuned everything. On Monday I set up all my appointments and figure out where I’m going to go that week. So I’m in the office Monday all day making calls. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday just depends on where I have appointments. I’ll follow that up during that day by driving around other businesses or making phone calls to businesses in the area.

How did you get started on this career?

I got started by a friend of mine whose parents were in the business. The business has grown from what’s called a sales organization into one of the actual direct processors and a direct processors is the entity that actual takes the money out of my account if I go eat lunch at a pizza place. And there’s only really a handful of those players out there so I decided to get into the business.

What do you like about what you do?

Freedom and flexibility, and just the ability to do what I want to that day. It’s full commission so it’s basically what you kill is what you get to eat. So, I’m my own boss. I set my own rules and I succeed if I want to succeed.

Nothing that I don’t set. I mean you have to—if you’re not out prospecting, you’re not out making calls and doing the job, then you’re not going to see any results and it’s sort of evident. It’s a real rewarding business but it’s a sink or swim type deal. The business has a lot of high turnover because it takes a different cut of people to succeed in it.

What do you dislike about the job?

It’s fast paced and I don’t like that it’s really a never ending gig. As soon as you finish a job or do a deal, you have to go on to the next. It’s not one of those products that you can take time off and somebody else can do it for you. Again, if you’re going to succeed it’s all about you and getting up and working your normal days.  I say 8 to 5 but sometimes it’s weekends, sometimes it’s nights. It just depends on what’s going on. And I’d say that’s probably the thing that I don’t like about it.

How do you make money or how are you compensated?

It’s a full commission job. Like I said, if you don’t kill something, you don’t eat type deal.  Once you sign a deal up they pay you 50% of whatever the company is going to make on it on that merchant for that year and then they pay you a 15% residual each month if that person continues to process with you as long as they process with you.

In the beginning, it’s a full commission job and so you’re starting off with nothing in the beginning but once you do make some business, you do have residual income but they expect for you to continue to meet a certain sales numbers going forward even if you have a big residual check coming in.

How much money do you make credit card salesman?

It really depends. Heartland says the average sales representative makes about $90,000. The first year is lower than that, 40 – 45 maybe. And then for me, it’s been average the last couple of years. It’s been $90,000 something. But I had a buy out where they either force you or you can decide to sell part of your portfolio so that year might have been $120,000 – $130,000.

We had a girl in St. Louis that was just amazing and I think she made like $250,000 in a year.

How much money do you make starting out?

It’s about $45,000.

Would you say if there are any perks associated with this job?

They do trips maybe every six months or quarter. Each of them are different. You just never know but I’ve been to Hawaii, the Bahamas, Las Vegas, Dallas Cowboy Stadium, all on Heartland’s dime or they pay for the majority of it and they send you out there to do company stuff. So they do have other programs where you can win gifts and prices and stuff like that on top of it.

But the biggest thing, the best incentive is the residual that you make, after you produce or you get up to $2,000 in residual, you own the residual and so you can cash that in for 30 times whatever it averages out to be. And so basically a lump sum that you can get just for working at the business.

It’s just like a cash bonus that if you ever need cash or you want to do something with it or just pull it out. They have some requirements on it. You have to meet certain standards of production and attrition which is you can’t lose too many clients but I pulled out $30,000 a year or two ago and it was just a bonus.

What education or skills are needed to do this job?

Really it’s more determination than anything. A lot of people saying they’re providing the same service that you are and so the biggest thing is getting in somebody’s door, get them sitting down and talking to you. So you don’t need a formal degree or anything like that. It’s just good work ethic and being willing and able to be rejected. Those are the two biggest things.

I mean I would say the ratio is maybe for every 10 hired, probably 6 of it don’t make it.

It’s a hundred percent commission. You’ve got to be willing to hit the ground running and put a lot of work in, and not everyone is willing to do that.

What is the most challenging about what you do?

Just getting up every day and doing the same thing and ‘making it rain’. It’s all on you. It’s sort of like owning your own business because you eat depending on what you produce. And it’s very rewarding but discouraging too sometimes where you have days where you have a big deal that was going to be a monster and just two or three things happened and it just slipped through your fingers type thing. It’s the up and down, and that may be sales in general but with this gig because it’s hundred percent commission, it’s a little bit different.

What is the most rewarding about what you do?

That I set my own schedule and that I see results from what I produce. It is not just, “Hey, I landed a big client.” You don’t really get a bonus if you work for some sales company. Its ‘I landed this big client and that’s why I’m getting this big bonus’ because I put in the work and I kept on going and that’s what I needed to. Like I said, it’s close as you can get to doing your own thing without having payroll and having to deal with employees and that kind of stuff.

What advice would you offer someone considering this career?

I would say that if you’re going to do it, you need to jump in whole heartedly and be fully committed to spend nights, weekends, a lot of time in the beginning. And it’s snowballed since then where I now have people calling me where I can use referrals to make my life a lot easier and I’d say anywhere from 25 to 50 percent of my production each month is either from existing businesses or people changing ownership that I can rewrite their business type deal.

How much time off do you get or take?

Each month you have a set goal and depending on if I’ve already got that goal locked up for that month, I may take a couple of extra days off during the week. And I take at least three weeks or maybe a month off normal vacation time.

What is the common misconception people have about what you do?

That all credit card processors are equal. There’s a lot of shady companies out there that will screw the businesses that they process the credit cards for and just as likely they’ll screw their employees.

When you’re looking at companies that do this, there are only a few that are true players in the industry that actually don’t jack you around and price you fairly. And the same sort of goes for the payroll side of it is that there’s really like a couple real players in there that I compete against so just make sure if you’re looking at a business that does this to check references and verify that stuff.

What are your goals and dreams for the future in this job?

This job has given me the ability to go out there on my own a little more and reach out there and make a little more money. The concern of this job is just to keep building my portfolio up. But someday I want to do my own thing so this is why it’s a good job for me because I make good money but at the same time I’m learning skills necessary to succeed when I eventually decide to do my own thing.

What else would you like people to know about what you do?

Just make sure whatever you do is something you enjoy and keep pushing forward. And if you’re not happy with whatever position you’re in, find something else to do because life is too short.

What do you do for a living?

I sell medical devices and drugs to hospitals in this area.

How would you describe what you do to someone?

I pick a product and find a need in the hospital to fill. Then I go through the process of educating physicians, pharmacy, operating room personnel, case management and then administration. So it’s pretty complex and you’ve got multiple decision-makers that have to be satisfied before the sale ever takes place.

What does your work entail?

Lots of time on the road. I figured the other day I probably have close to 1,000 different customers within the hospitals that are kind of touch points for me. So I can’t be there all the time with them. I try to dedicate at least one day a week to some of these hospitals and then spend a lot of time on the phone, lots of time emailing back and forth.

Network as much as possible….because you’re not going to see these jobs on Monster

What’s a typical work week look like for you?

I start at the crack of dawn. My typical day starts at 5:00 or 5:30 in the morning. The first hour or hour and a half is usually spent looking at reports, being on the computer, taking care some administrative stuff. I’m usually out of the house by seven o’clock or 7:30 and just continue to make my rounds. Depending on what account I’m working on, I’ll spend most of the day there, working with customers, making sure everything is going smoothly or selling a new product If I have a new product. And then I’m home by about 4:30 or 5:00 and continue to work out of my home office. So a lot of times it about six o’clock before I’m done. But because a hospital is open 24 hours a day, this job can be never ending. So you got to kind of be careful, I guess.

How did you get started in this?

I was in sales selling dictation equipment to medical offices and had a friend that I knew give me a call and said, “Hey, we’re expanding and we’re looking for a Rep in Longview, Texas are you interested in it?” And I had no idea what a pharmaceutical rep did, but it sounded good. And it sounded a little better than what I was doing as far as an income standpoint. So I interviewed for it and took it, and here we are 15 years later.

What do you like about what you do?

I like the autonomy to be able to go create my day, every day. I’ve got a product that I have to sell that nobody really tells me how to get from point A to point B. I have to go create that every day. And so I like the challenge of going out and doing the detective work and figuring out what the problem is and where my solution fits in. And then when it comes to fruition and the product gets used and sales start coming in, obviously, that’s very rewarding. Also, most of the products that our company carries really are kind of life-changing products. And knowing that those patients are getting the best product that’s making a difference in their life really is personally satisfying as well.

What do you dislike about this job?

Some of the red tape in regards to entertaining is tough. It used to be we had free range to do whatever. We could take customers to go play golf. We could go have dinner with somebody and all of that is gone. Anything we do now has to be within the laws of the hospital. It’s got to be documented. People have to sign in. It has gotten real red tapey, for a lack of a better word. We wait for products longer than we used to. It seems like seven or eight or nine years ago there was a product every year that comes out. I think the FDA has kind of slowed down its approval process. So you see a lag as to when new products may come to market. So kind of sitting around waiting on the new latest and greatest product to sell gets to be old.

How do you make money or how are you compensated in this career?

I’m compensated with a salary and, of course, car and gas etc.  And then I have a commission plan that goes along with the products that I sell. It’s paid quarterly.

And how much money do you make as a pharmaceutical sales rep?

Last year I made $163,000.

How much did you make starting out?

Starting out base salary was $32,000. I think I made about $50,000 my first year.

What education or skills would you say are needed to do this?

Four-year college degree is mandatory. What I see now on some of their postings is 1 to 2 years of either prior sales experience or Pharma experience before they are hired by us.
You need to be a great communicator too that can listen and figure out solutions. Also, like I said before, you kind of on your own out here, and if you can’t pull that off every day you’re not going to last very long.

What is most challenging about what you do?

Probably the most challenging is getting the product in the hospital and getting it moving for the first time because of all the different touch points and different personalities and opinions. Sometimes everyone doesn’t align. So when you have one person that is against it, it’s only one versus 10 but they have so much political capital in that hospital, they can stop the process from taking place. That’s very frustrating.

What is most rewarding?

The most rewarding is seeing it get put on hospital formulary, get used, and getting my competitor removed from that hospital.

What advice would you offer someone considering this career?

Network as much as possible. Get involved in many of the groups that are on LinkedIn. There are tons of different pharmaceutical professional organizations, medical device organizations that are listed on LinkedIn. Just get into some of those boards and start talking and networking and figure out what companies may be expanding in the future or hiring in the future. And then if you got two or three recruiters, continue to work with them because you’re not going to see these jobs on Monster. You’re not going to seek them in the classified ads. They are usually filled by word-of-mouth or recommendation from someone that’s already in the industry. And if you don’t know those people, you really don’t have a chance of getting in.

How much time off do you get to take?

Now I get four weeks vacation plus two holidays, two floating holidays. So I get 22 days off of just my own time and then, of course, they’re gracious with company holidays around Christmas and Fourth of July and Thanksgiving and that kind of stuff. So I don’t know what the total is, but it’s a good amount.

What’s a common misconception people have about what you do?

People seem to think that people in Pharmaceutical Sales, as a whole, work about 2 to 3 hours a day and make easy six-figure money for not a lot of work, and this is not true.

What are your goals and dreams for the future in this career?

If I spend another 16 years that will give me 31 years in the industry with a nice 401(k) and pension. I’ve done the projections. I will retire and be just fine. But as far as promoting or moving up to management or to the home office, I’m not interested. I’m a career hospital representative.

What else would you like people know about this career or what you do?

That it’s fun. And if you like sales and like people and enjoy the “windshield”, which you will see a lot of, it’s a great gig to have and the money is great. There is some flexibility but with that flexibility comes a lot of responsibility also. But it’s a very fun and rewarding career.

What do you do for a living?

Financial Representative with Northwestern Mutual Financial Network.

How would you describe what you do?

I meet people and  find out their financial goals on 7 issues:

1. How important is it to provide for you children’s education?
2. How important is funding a comfortable retirement?
3. How important is it to protect loved ones in the event of a premature death?
4.  How important is it to have an income if you were sick or disabled?
5.  How important is it for you to address long term care needs?
6.  How important is it to evaluate your investment portfolio?
7.  And how important is it to address estate tax issues?

Then I drill down to what they need to do and which was most important and offer the most tax efficient solutions with world class companies with proven track records.  Lastly, I stay in touch with my clients to address their ever changing needs.

What does your job entail?

Creating Personal Needs Analysis and client specific presentations in both risk management and investments tailored to my prospects needs and risk level.  Networking to meet new people, and very frankly being on the phone quite a bit.

What’s a typical work week like?

40 hour week.  Deal with underwriting/rollovers in process/emails first hour of the day.  9 o’clock to 10 just dialing and the rest of the day seeing people or fighting to see people.

How did you get started?

I started when I went to have a beer with a buddy and asked him how his day was.  He said he set up two kids college education investment accounts.  I was about to have to fire 13 people in Buffalo New York, and they didn’t know it yet, with my current employer at the time, so I knew I wanted a career that would have a positive impact on my community.

What do you like about what you do?

I feel good know that probably without me my clients wouldn’t have saved money using the market, or wouldn’t have done as well.  Seeing a 529 college plan build up over the years and seeing that child knowing I will have had an impact on his education is fulfilling.  What is most fulfilling to me is to come in and provide financial relief when families are hurting and need it most.

What do you dislike?

I love that I was able to make it in this business and help so many people.  I know that and have to remember that because here is the bad part.  This career is sales and full of heart ache, chasing people, getting stood up without the courtesy of a phone call,  dialing people who probably don’t know who I am, and don’t want to meet me every day.

How do you make money/or how are you compensated?

I get paid if I am able to provide benefit to my prospects and clients.  If I am able to sell an annuity, mutual fund, life insurance, disability insurance, long term care insurance, trust services, or group or individual health insurance products whichever company I sell pays me.

How much do you make as a life insurance salesman?

This is a tricky question and I will try and explain it the best I can.  Bare bones…I make 10 grand a month net.  However, I have a 6 figure residual base that continues to increase along with consistent annuity and mutual fund investments and trails that I get paid on every year.  So if I didn’t work at all next year, I would probably make almost 50k because I have completed 8 years of service, but starting out, I had none of that, and guys with 25 years of service walk in the door each year and make 100k before doing a thing.  I also have 2 fully funded retirement plans with Northwestern Mutual.

How much did you make starting out in this career?

I made almost the exact same starting out as I did in my previous job.  I was 24 years old in 2003 and made around 40ish.   Again I earned more money than that on a deferred basis, but that is what I took home.

Are there any perks associated with this career?

You have the freedom to make as much or little as you want by the effort you put in.   I have the support of my team, but don’t have to rely on them.  NML will pay for any additional education like CFP designations for me.  I also win a trip or two every year to an exotic location.

What education and skills are needed to do this?

Skills and education can vary, but I would generalize that a degree is needed.  Prior sales experience helps.  Knowing people in a community so you can introduce yourself helps too, but isn’t a requirement.  The skill set is to care about people even when they don’t care about you, and be persistent, resilient and don’t give up when you are down or had a bad paycheck.

What is most challenging about what you do?

Most Challenging for everybody in my business is to get introduced to more good people and make the calls out to those people.

What is most rewarding?

Easily the most rewarding has been paying benefits to my clients/ delivering the promise.  I have paid disability benefits to a family.  I have paid life insurance proceeds to 3 families.   They used this money to survive and one used it to help fund a nonprofit.  I have paid a long term care claim where my client never wrote a check for the 20 thousand plus they could have been on the hook for.    I talked a guy with 150k given to me not to sell in March 09, so his money is back to where it was, effectively saving him a year of his take home income.

What advice would you give someone considering this career?

I would help them on their training and sales language, but the biggest advice is to know you are doing good, and when someone rejects you, they are making the mistake, not you.

How much time off do you get/take?

I take a couple vacations and now that I have a decent base, maybe more time off than I should.  It is so flexible.  Old guys sometimes take months off at a time and some people can’t afford to take any vacation days.  Sorry to not give a straight answer, but it really is up to the person.

What is a common misconception people have about what you do?

I think the biggest misconception that people have is that some of the products I sell are rip-offs because of what they heard on the radio or from some other media outlet.  Not only are they dead wrong, it hurts my feelings for someone to call me a crook.

What are your goals and dreams for the future in this career?

This will sound weird because I am not in a corporate environment.  Meaning I am sure many people will want to move up the ladder for a promotion or a job of higher stature.  I aspire to do the exact same job as I do now for the rest of my life.   Most of what I do is out in the field, and because I want to give back to my organization, I do coaching/recruiting/development for new reps as well.  I want to impact more people, make more impact, (meaning bigger sales) and at least double my income in the next 10 years.

What else would you like people to know about what you do?

I would like people to know what I do is exactly the opposite of the movie “Boiler Room”   I am committed to help people achieve their goals.  So when someone calls from Northwestern Mutual, they are working, but they care.

What do you do for a living?

I’m a medical aesthetician.

How would you describe what you do?

We focus on skincare, and skincare could be anything from improving the way you look to anything in general to do with the skin. Where I work we have a Medical Director who is a plastic surgeon, plus a couple of physician assistants that do all the injectables. My job is basically to do the consult, peels, facials and treatments, and any laser treatment related to the skin.

We have lasers for pigmentation, laser hair removal, fractural scars, IPL, and lasers for skin rejuvenation.

What is a typical workweek like for you?

On a daily basis I will see clients for a variety of treatments. Depending on the treatments I could be with a client from fifteen minutes to sometimes three hours in one day. It all depends what they are getting done that day.

How did you get started?

My first love is skincare and skin health. So I went to aesthetic school and got my license from New York City, and then you apply for different positions in the city. I just happened to apply for a job that related to medical skincare. I fell in love with it. I really never considered medical aesthetics until I started working for a medical spa. But I love the results and improvements you see in your patients. They are really amazing.

What do you like about what you do?

In my field I get to meet a lot of people from all different walks of life; captains of industries, bartenders, celebrities, etc. I meet a wide range of interesting people. I really love what I do. And I feel like sometimes I am a counselor, because they feel very comfortable in the environment and we are covered under HIPPA so we are not allowed to reveal any personal information so people tend to talk and share.

Is there anything you dislike?

Well, the one thing about this job that I am in right now is that you have to work weekends. So you have to be willing to give up some weekends and one night. But I can’t complain because there are some places where you basically only take vacations when the Dr’s on vacation. Here I have a little bit of wriggle room.

How do you make money or how are you compensated?

A lot of people in my position make an hourly wage, as well as a commission from sales, like product sales.

How much do you make as an aesthetician?

Depends on also how many hours you work, because I am on an hourly wage. If I work twenty hours I am compensated for that twenty hours, plus commission, so you could be anywhere from $40,000 to $100,000 if you have a really really good year. But the salary varies, it all depends on how much you work

How much did you make starting out as an aesthetician?

When I first started I made $25 dollars per hour.

What education or skills are needed to do this kind of career?

Well in different states there are different requirements. In New York City you don’t need to have a license background in lasers, but you do need some education and background in skincare and have a beauty license.

In Texas and in Florida I think you do need a medical degree to operate lasers, so different states require you to get a different education.

And if you have a background in sales that would be really great too.

What is the most challenging about what you do?

I think being able to get along with everybody you work with, because with small office politics you have to get along with different types of personalities.

What is the most rewarding for you?

Being able to help people, and I know that sounds kind of cheesy but I’ll give you an example. One day I had a woman who came in with horrible acne, and I don’t know if you have ever had acne before but it is a very irritating condition, and it is a chronic condition, and basically she had seen many dermatologists and they had put her on several types of oral medication but nothing had really worked. So we went over her options and came up with a program that really improved and reduced the acne on her skin, and it really changed her life. If you have acne it makes you not want to go out, you don’t want to see people, you just want to hide. And by just changing the way she looked and felt about herself it just made a world of difference. And it makes me feel good and so thankful that I got to be a little bit of help in that department.

And I grew up with acne so I know how that feels, I had it until my mid-twenties so I feel for them, I really do, and being able to help just a little bit feels great.

What advice would you offer someone considering this kind of career?

If you want a career just to make money this is not for you. You really have to like what you do, you really do. The compensation comes later, but in the beginning you really have to love what you do. And you have to be mature enough to work with different people of different backgrounds.

How much time off do you get or take?

Luckily when we first started at the place I work it closed on Sundays and Mondays, so those were my normal days off. It is different for everyone. There are places that are open very very late and open every weekend, so it depends where you work. Some people might only on weekdays, if you work in a Doctors office or a plastic surgery office, because they only do surgeries Monday to Friday and they are closed on the weekends. And some people who work in more of a spa environment have to work just about every weekend. And sometimes in the evening until nine o’clock, so it all depends where you work as well.

What is a common misconception that people have about what you do?

That all we do is facials. And that we get treatments all the time. Which is so untrue. I don’t even remember the last time I had a treatment, maybe the beginning of the year, January or sometime. We never have time to treat ourselves, it is very rare. If I wanted a facial I would have to be free and my co-worker would have to be free, and most of us don’t want to stay after work to get treatments because we are so tired at the end of the day.

What are your goals and dreams for the future?

There is so much technology that is out there right now and it is always improving, and I look forward to working with some of the newer technologies. There is new technologies out there for cellulite, to reduce cellulite and stretch marks, and that is really interesting to me.

What else would you like people to know about what you do?

Just that the biggest misconception is that people think all we do is have treatments all the time, but that is so not true.
I also want people to know who want to pursue this career is that number one, they have to do a lot of the research themselves, and second they have to be willing to work weeknights and weekends.

What do you do for a living?

I invest money for people.

How would you describe what you do?

I create either a nest egg for retirement, or an income for them to live off of based on the investable assets that they have. And then I also give them advice in areas that I really don’t have anything to do with such as whether they should do a mortgage on their house, or whether they should spend money for this or that, because ultimately I know what their basis is on their investable assets and so I try to keep them from overspending for something they really can’t afford. Or in some cases I tell them to live life a little better, be a little less conservative because they can afford to. Sometimes it helps to have someone from the outside tell you that, rather than you come up with it on your own.

What does your work entail?

Again, I have to be knowledgeable of the market, of mortgage rates, anything that has to do with your financial health.   So that I’m capable of answering a question from a standpoint “Should I invest this money in XYZ? Well it really depends on what your risk tolerance is. That’s different for different people. It really depends on what your future goals are, that’s different for everyone. And just because one person would say to you “I want my money to make X for me, and another person would say “I want to make Y off my money.”  If somebody expects to make 10% a year on their money, then why put them in investments that would make 30%. Its more risk than they’re willing to take on.

This week I’ve probably put in easily 12 hours a day, six days a week. It probably won’t be half that next week, it varies. A lot of it depends on who needs what for that week, and what the markets doing for that week. Sometimes the best thing you can do in the market is nothing. Sometimes that is the very best decision.

You don’t want to try to make something out of nothing. Probably 90% of the returns in the market are made in 10% to 15% the amount of time through the year.

How did you get started?

I’ve always been good with numbers, I like to read, the market fascinates me, and although I’ve been in it 20 plus years I think if I was in it 50 plus years, every day, almost every day without fail, you learn something new. Therefore it’s always challenging.

What do you like about what you do?

I like what I do, but more than that I like who I do it for. My clients are all very, very close friends. It gives me an opportunity to be involved in their life which I dearly enjoy, and so my life kind of wraps around theirs. I don’t know what I could do for them other than this that I would be this involved with them.

What do you dislike?

The industry that I’m in is very, very heavily regulated. And some of the regulations are so pyramided meaning so many regulations accomplish the same thing, but it’s just that so few people understand the business they create all these levels of regulations that are something you can’t get around. You have to deal with them. Our industry is one that has never moved into the computer age. We still have to keep paper records, and when I say paper records you have to keep some of them for six years, which is archaic, but it’s never changed. So the industry has never gone has never progressed itself to the level that technology has.

How do you make money/or how are you compensated?

I make money as a percentage of assets that I manage for people. If their account goes up then my salary will go up with it. If their account goes down, I take a pay cut. So as they do well so do I.

How much money do you make?

$150,000/yr

Would you say there are any perks to this career

You make friends in this business that are, you know, they start out as clients, and you can’t spend that much time with people without getting to know them extremely well. And if there is a click there between you and your clients, then you’re enriched with a friendship that you probably wouldn’t have had otherwise. If you played golf once a week, or if you were in the Rotary club together, you’re not going to develop that level of communication that you would through casual contact, and I have that with quite a few people.

What education or skills are need to do this?

A college degree, mine was in finance, but if I had to do it over again I probably would get a degree in English. So a college degree would probably be a starting point, and then you have to have obtained different licenses depending on what field you want to go into in investment. You’ve got to start out with a Series 7, and then there are other series depending on what you’re going to do in the business; 7, 8, 9, 10, 4, 63, 66, it just goes on and on.

What is most challenging about what you do?

Probably the most challenging is curbing people’s greed and expectations. Because in reality in today’s market if you can make 10% on your money you’re doing extremely well, and people think they should make more, and many times they do. But I would say curbing their expectations is probably the biggest challenge, and then making them be honest with themselves. For someone to say they want to make more than 10%, then obviously they’ve got to take risks that would jeopardize their principal. And in reality for most people, I’ve heard it said that Will Rogers said this, “For most people the return of their principal is far more important than the return on their principal.” Because as you get older you have less of a hope of replacing your nest egg, so as long as you keep that intact and it earns a return for you you’ll do well.

What is most rewarding?

Seeing people do well.  I see it before they do, and so it’s almost like being a part of it with them, so that’s definitely the most rewarding

What advice would you offer someone considering this career?

Probably don’t do it, and the reason I say that, you know I’ve got 20 plus years in it, and so it’s a little late for me to turn around, but it’s like so many fields that you go into where you put a lot of study time and before you get started. Whether you’re a doctor, or whether you’re an investment adviser, or whatever everything is kind of going into a packaged product. And for most people a packaged product is okay. They buy a mutual fund and they are diversified from dollar one to some degree. My generation, which is the generation of baby boomers, you know we’re creeping towards retirement, and so therefore we want to take less risk with our money, so a packaged product is just fine. So it’s hard to differentiate yourself from the other people in your field, and when I think you really do well is when you can do that.

How much time off do you get/take?

Well, everybody needs time away from their job.  Most people should take two weeks away just to refresh themselves. You know I take off when I want to take off, and maybe it does average two weeks a year, maybe it averages five weeks a year, but what I do is work, passion, hobby it’s a lot wrapped up in one for me. I make money at it, but I enjoy what I do so I would probably do it if I didn’t get paid. So for me I’m one of those lucky people that I get to come to work and do something that I enjoy, even more than that I enjoy who I do it for. So I’m not as in need of a break from it as most people would be if they worked on an assembly line.

What is a common misconception people have about what you do?

That you make a lot of money at it. If I were to put an hourly amount based on time that I spend at it, it would shock people. So that’s probably the biggest misconception.

What are your goals/dreams for the future?

Well, I’ll probably do it as long as I’m mentally capable of doing it, certainly as long as I’m healthy enough to do it, because I enjoy it. So I don’t expect next year it to be different from this year. I enjoy what I’m doing so. I’ve reached the age right don’t make long-term plans, you know. I do more long-term planning for my clients than I do for myself. Me personally I don’t buy green bananas. So that tells you a lot about my focus and forecast. And I never tell my clients “Oh you’re in for the long run. Don’t worry about it. It will take care of itself. If people really believe that, then you would be able to tell your banker when your note comes due, “Don’t worry about it. Ill get it to you eventually. You know, your money has to work for you just like you work for it.

What do you do for a living?

I’m a bondsman, bail bond agent, to be correct.

How would you describe what you do?

I bond people out and I put them back in jail.

What does your work entail?

I deal with criminals on a daily basis. I deal with their families. I deal with their troubles. I deal with everything. I make sure they go to court. If they don’t show up to court, I have to go find them and either make a new court date or put them back in jail.

Quick Fact!
How to become a bail bondsman? For starters you have to have a squeaky clean record. Then you have to take a test and get sponsored by a bonding company to get started. See what else this bondsman said about how to get started and what requirements there are to become a bondsman.

We have rotating schedules where we have several agents in this office and we rotate on a 24-hour shift. I’m on every three days. I come in to skip trace(aka bounty hunting) in between. In this state, we can’t refer to it as bounty hunting. It’s called skip tracing.
How did you get started?

I used to do this a long time ago and I actually did it part-time because I was going to school full-time with my master’s degree in nursing and decided I wanted a real job and went to nursing and worked for 11 years, hated it and then went back to bonding.

What do you like about being a bondsmen?

The rewards would be if you get some of these people that are messing up in their lives and all of a sudden you see them turn around. You’ve got to build a kind of a rapport with your clients, because if you’re a hard-ass to them, chances are they’re not going to want to go to court. They’re not going to step up for you as well. So when you reach out and help one person and it makes a difference in their life, then it’s kind of rewarding.

What do you dislike?

People lying straight to my face. The repeat offenders, we call frequent flyers, that you just keep going out on a limb for and they keep letting you down. There’s also the fear of forfeitures. You have to go in front of a judge because our client didn’t go to court and we’ve got to pay the bond. So we beg for mercy from the judge to get an extension to locate this individual.

How do you make money/or how are you compensated?

It’s commission. I make money on every bond that I write. For example, on a $1500 bond the bail is $150 plus other fees.  My commission split is 50/50 so I will make $75.

How much money do you make as a bail bondsmen?

About $55,000.

What education or skills are needed to be a bondsmen?

You have to take a beginners education class. It’s an eight-hour class and then you go and take the test, 100-question test and you have to have a 70 in order to pass it. It’s a very confusing test.

You try not to get personal with the clients, but sometimes it helps. You know, if they need a hand to get to court, if they need a ride, they know they can call our office. And most offices are sort of like that. And I think it needs to be like that. But, by all means, we’re not Momma either, they dug the hole, they can get their self right on out of it.

They say the test in this state is one of the hardest in the nation. You’ve got a lot of homers that come in here wanting to be Billy-bad-ass for the day and carry a concealed handgun so you have to weed them out. You can’t just say ‘hey’, I want to be a bondsman, and go take the class and test and be a bondsman. You have to have somebody actually sponsor your license. You’ve got to get hired onto a company before you can actually enter into the bail bonding world. You don’t necessarily have to have been with this company for a period of time. You just got to be hired through the company. You have a FBI background check done too. And it’s very thorough¦I mean, they flip over rocks. They’ll call your references, they don’t screw around. It took four months for mine. The longer it takes, the better off you are. Because they’re actually trying to find something wrong. You can’t have any felonies on your record and a few misdemeanors such as theft and domestic battery.

What is most challenging about what you do?

Skip tracing. Trying to locate the hard ones that are hiding under a rock. From the time they miss court, we have 120 days on a misdemeanor and 90 days on a felony to find them.

What is most rewarding?

Putting the deadbeats back in jail. I mean, if they don’t want to go to court and they don’t want to step up and take care of their crap, the best thing for them is be right back where they need to be. Or at the other end, you’ve got a client that’s been a drug user and you’ll see them six months down the road, they’re clean, they went through rehab, that could be rewarding as well. But…today it would be putting them back in jail, tomorrow it could be different.

What advice would you offer someone considering this career?

There’s more to it than everybody thinks. We’re not Dog the Bounty Hunter. We’re far from it. It’s not just getting them out of jail and forgetting about them. It’s also about being their friend, not just their bondsman. You try not to get personal with the clients, but sometimes it helps.

You’ve got a lot of homers that come in here wanting to be Billy-bad-ass for the day and carry a concealed handgun so you have to weed them out.

You know, if they need a hand to get to court, if they need a ride, they know they can call our office. And most offices are sort of like that. And I think it needs to be like that. But, by all means, we’re not Momma either, they dug the hole, they can get their self right on out of it.

How much time off do you get/take?

If I want to be off a couple days next week I can. We don’t have a set schedule. We don’t have the-you get one or two weeks off a year deal.

What is a common misconception people have about what you do?

We are not Dog. We don’t just go and bust down doors on an everyday basis and we’re not all just hard-asses and mean and hard to deal with.

What are your goals/dreams for the future?

My own TV show(laughs).  I don’t really want to be the owner and I like what I’m doing.  This is about as good as it gets.

What else would you like people to know about what you do?

It’s all based on trust. We go out on the limb to bond you out and we get a feeling that you’re not going to, we’re not going to write it. There’s two people in the world that you really don’t want to piss off when it comes to you sitting in jail. One is the judge and the other is a bondsman. The judge will rake your bond up and if you piss off a bondsman and —- you’re what we call a ‘screwed pooch’.

What do you do for a living?

Pharmaceutical Sales Representative

How would you describe what you do?

I manage a territory of NW Arkansas that consists of approx. 250 physicians. I am in charge of calling on a list of physicians, created by myself, my partners, and my company, and selling the doctors, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants the efficacy, safety, dosing, and clinical data of two products in which I have responsibilities for: basically bringing educational value to the office and physicians.

I have had patients in the waiting room thank me for what I do or tell me a success story of how my product changed their life. I enjoy the health field and I feel like I am making a difference each day in someone’s life.

I am also responsible for calling on pharmacy’s in my territory to keep up to date on my products and my competition. I am responsible for my “business” and must manage a monthly budget, travel and expense reports, appointments with clients, dinner programs, email, voicemail, and overall coordination with my teammates.

What does your work entail?

As a rep, I am required to make 8-10 calls on physicians a day, 2 pharmacy calls per day, and recording what happens during each call in my computer. I speak with the doctors through walk ins, appointments, lunch and learns, or dinner programs arranged through my company. I travel to each city within my territory and plan out my week based on my partners and the schedules of the physicians or existing appointments. Some days are full of waiting and a feeling of not accomplishing a lot, other days are really good and making good long calls with physicians and feeling like you had educated a physician on your product, and sometimes you are rejected by offices, but you have to keep going and keep up your motivation to do your job.

What do you like about what you do?

I enjoy going into different environments, making relationships with many different people in different offices, helping provide important information and samples for patients that may not be able to afford prescription medicines. I have had patients in the waiting room thank me for what I do or tell me a success story of how my product changed their life. I enjoy the health field and I feel like I am making a difference each day in someone’s life. I enjoy not being at a desk all day, constantly moving around, the flexibility of my job is a great perk. I have great benefits provided by my company, a company car without the expense of gas or car insurance, and quarterly bonuses based on how my products are performing in the market.

What do you dislike?

I am constantly in and out of my car going to different offices and that can become cumbersome in the HEAT, RAIN, or SNOW. Traveling to meetings for a week or special trainings are usually not something I look forward too either.

What skills and education would someone need to become a pharmaceutical sales rep?

Potential candidates must have a Bachelor’s Degree or higher. Some companies would like to see experience in outside sales. Someone who is very organized, responsible, and motivated. You manage your own territory and have a district manager who will come down and ride with you for two days about every 4-6 weeks.

Some days are full of waiting and a feeling of not accomplishing a lot, other days are really good and making good long calls with physicians and feeling like you had educated a physician on your product, and sometimes you are rejected by offices, but you have to keep going and keep up your motivation to do your job.

Your driving record is also of importance so it should be clear of all accidents or speeding tickets. The company does run a full background check, credit check (because you will have a company AMEX), and degree check of possible candidates.

How do you make money?

We are paid a base salary based on our years of Sales experience or Pharmaceutical experience, we have an annual review of our performance in which we are given a merit increase based on our rating, and finally we are paid 4 bonuses throughout the year based on our product’s performance in market share and volume growth. There is a lot of opportunity for advancement in this industry and each company will be competitive with the next in pay.

How much money do you make?

I currently make a base salary of $57,000 per year with bonuses around $17,000 per year.

How much time off do you get?

We are given four weeks of vacation, one week between Christmas and New Year’s is company provided, and all of the major holidays, we also receive 5 personal days to use throughout the year. Basically , whatever a doctor’s office would close for, then we have that day off as well.

What is most challenging about what you do?

I feel like trying to get in front of some doctors to have a conversation can be challenging and frustrating, having a doctor tell you what you want to hear instead of what they really think, managing the territory and making up for lost time if you were to be off on vacation or if a doctor is off on vacation.

What is most rewarding?

Having a doctor tell you a success story about how your product helped a patient, having a patient thank you for doing what you do, getting a nice bonus check!

What is the biggest misconception people have about what you do?

People think that Pharmaceutical reps are just like “UPS” drivers in the sense that we deliver samples and get a doctor’s signature, a signature collector, female reps just flirt with doctor’s all day, we are just caterer’s for offices, etc….

What advice would you offer someone considering this career/job?

Ride with someone who is currently a representative and see if it is what you could see yourself doing in the future. Getting someone who is already a representative to pass along your resume is a huge help. A lot of it is internal recommendation and it is a lot of who you know sometimes.

What are your goals/dreams for the future?

I just want a career that works for my lifestyle, that continues to make me happy, and something in which I have room for advancement and will always be needed!

Is there anything else you would like people to know about what you do?

Some people either have it or they don’t when it comes to selling skills and relationship building. It is important to remember this job is about the patients, not yourself, not competition bashing, helping to educate the doctor and his staff and ultimately help the patients! This is a great job to have for any walk of life, family, part time or full time. I really enjoy my career and do not foresee any changes in the future.

What do you do for a living?

I’m a trial attorney.

How would you describe what you do?

I help people in a time of need, when someone has been hurt by someone else’s negligence.

What does your work entail?

It’s a lot of relationship with the clients. My work entails quite a bit of paperwork and discovery with the defendant, and working with the defense lawyers, negotiating skills and trial skills.

The most rewarding thing is helping…Whenever you win that trial and your client is extremely excited and medical bills are paid and they’ve been properly compensated for what they’ve been through and you know that you put it all on the table and you’ve done a great job, that’s the best feeling in the world.

I would say I average 50 to 70 hours a week of work, but it really fluctuates.

How did you get started?

It’s a combination of a few things really. I enjoyed serving people. That’s the kind of profession that I always thought I was going to be in. Originally I thought I would be in the political arena because I really enjoyed serving people and I also really enjoy the public speaking and oral advocacy skills that it takes to be a trial lawyer when presenting a case. I just combined those two to say, “Hey this is the area of law and trial skills that I think best combines my talents to help folks.”

What do you like about what you do?

I really like the interaction with people. I really get to know my clients. I get to learn a lot about their family, about their careers, about what their problems are, what their successes are. I really like going out and fixing a problem. So for example there’s a large company who is doing something wrong that is causing people to get injured; throughout this process it’s actually fixing the problem. Because if someone gets hurt by the negligence of the company, or a tractor trailer, or a medical profession, whatever the defendant may be; throughout this process, hopefully they fix it. I really love that part of trial work.

What do you dislike?

I dislike having to deal with insurance companies whose only concern are profits. Insurance companies don’t care about the people, they’ve just worry about profits and bottom line numbers. So when I’m talking or negotiating with an insurance adjustor, the overwhelming majority of the time their hands are tied because this is not a person they’re talking about, it’s a dollar figure. And that makes it really hard to swallow, it’s one of the things I least like. I like the negotiating side of it but I don’t like dealing with someone who doesn’t really care about the person they only care about the dollar figure.

How do you make money/or how are you compensated?

Our firm operates on a contingency fee basis and what that means is we only collect a fee when we win. It really gets the client in the best scenario. Nobody could afford our services if we didn’t do it this way. So this is an opportunity for the client to get wonderful, great, top of the line representation at a no risk to the client. Basically we accept the risk for a percentage of the outcome, whether it’s a verdict or settlement.

How much money do you make?

Well that fluctuates tremendously. This year I’m set to make about $110,000. But I don’t know exactly what it’ll be.

Would you say there are any perks to this career?

To me there are a lot of perks, I like everything about it. I like the strategy, the amount of research that it takes, the constant learning curve, the negotiating with other attorneys, being able to present your case in a court of law in front of a jury. I mean these are all perks to me. Being the master of your schedule and nobody says I have to be there from eight to five. I don’t have to ask anybody to take off.

What education or skills are needed to do this?

Well you need a bachelor’s degree and technically it doesn’t matter what that degree is. Then you have to get your law degree. And that’s all you need to practice law. I’d say the skills that you need to be a trial attorney, you need people skills, you have to be motivated and you have to be a good orator to demonstrate your trial skills in the court room.

What is most challenging about what you do?

Probably the most challenging thing is controlling our resources. Keeping control of our time and my time and allocating how much time you’re going to spend on this and how much on that, and not getting too stretched out because you have to balance your family life, your church life, your work, your hobbies, your friends, and the most challenging thing for me right now as a young attorney is balancing all of those different things.

What is most rewarding?

The most rewarding thing is helping…Whenever you win that trial and your client is extremely excited and medical bills are paid and they’ve been properly compensated for what they’ve been through and you know that you put it all on the table and you done a great job, that’s the best feeling in the world.

What advice would you offer someone considering this career?

Number one, find a mentor. If you are strongly considering being a trial attorney, you need to find a trial attorney who’s been successful, who represents the morals, values and principles that you want to represent, and you need to make contact with that person, ask that person if you can… Basically follow them around, learn from them, gain from their experiences, their hardships, their successes, and see if that’s what you really want to do, and if it is, you need to mimic your mentor, and if you mimic someone who’s been successful, you’re almost guaranteed those same results.

How much time off do you get/take?

This year, my wife and I went on a four or five day vacation, right around our anniversary. I am going to try to make it a habit to take off at least four to five days at that time of year every year.

What is a common misconception people have about what you do?

People think that trial attorneys are out for money, which is completely not true. Also, I think that in my particular case, just being associated as a trial attorney, people talk about frivolous law suits. Which I can tell you, I’ve not been associated with a frivolous law suit. I would be foolish to accept a frivolous law suit because I spend all this money on it and time on these cases on a contingency fee. So if we lose, I’m just out that money. So if I spent ten thousand, or fifty thousand, or a hundred thousand on a case, and lose, because it’s frivolous, or even if it’s not frivolous, that’d be stupid wouldn’t it? It’d be silly. So we have a very, very thorough screening process. We screen these cases and only accept cases that have merit.

What are your goals/dreams for the future?

Well, I would like to become a respected trial attorney in the community, and the state, and the region, maybe even the nation, by helping people who need help. And that may involve opening up more offices, it may not. I don’t know how much our firm’s going to grow as far as the number of attorneys, but I would like to see us potentially opening up more offices in areas of the state where there’s need for trial attorneys.

What do you do for a living?

I’m an investment consultant for TD Ameritrade.

How would you describe what you do?

I would say that my goal is to contact high net worth clients in regards to their investment strategies, and make sure that they’re doing everything they can as far as investment strategy goes to reach their financial goals.  I basically analyze their situation, consult, and I’m not giving specific recommendations per se for stocks, bonds etc., I give them advice advice on channels that our company has available to them, and see if one of those advice channels might be fit their needs. I get them in touch with advisors who can make recommendations, or help them through our market watchers and our portfolio managers to build accounts or customize their portfolios to fit their needs.

What does your work entail?

Typically, I work eight to five Monday through Friday. The schedule is pretty flexible depending on the manager. And being a sales position, they don’t micromanage you too much, so you still kind of have that feeling like you are your own boss in a certain way.  However, being a salary role, you don’t have the complete flexibility as someone who’s a commission-only worker, who can come and go as they please we do have a bonus structure, and those bonuses can be very, very large.  It’s basically what you put into it is what you get out of it.  I’m required on minimum standards to make 50 dials and get in touch with 15 people per day. And we have campaigns and lists and things like that that are given to us weekly, monthly, and quarterly to keep us with activity and new ideas to call on. Right now they’re trying to bump our standards up to about 75 dials and 20 contacts a day. So basically, the whole goal is just maintaining a high level of activity.

What do you like about what you do?

I get to talk finance, current events, and markets with people all over the country all day long. It’s ever changing. You’re talking to someone in New York, and someone in Florida, and someone in California. It’s different accents, different views and feelings on the market.  And just basically, to hear how they feel about things, at different stages in their lives—it could be old people, young people—and it gives me the ability not to come into work every day and do the same mundane tasks. I also get a chance to see different perspectives and learn from people who have been in the market for many more years than I have.

What do you dislike?

The fact that it is still eight to five and I have to be there every single day. Because in past jobs, I had the flexibility to come and go as I please and take a vacation when I want to. I still have that desire to want to travel a lot more and take more days off and see people when I have the ability to, so I think making the change into the 40-hour week is my least favorite thing. I’d kind of like to be my own boss completely and run my own company, but I understand that that takes time to learn so that I can get to the point to be able to do that.

How do you make money/or how are you compensated?

It starts with a salary of $40K, and after that your bonused quarterly with a lot of annual kickers and incentives that kick in for total production throughout the year. Quarterly bonuses, I would say, can average between $5,000 and $25,000.

How much money do you make?

This year, being my first year, there’s two guaranteed bonuses in the first two quarters of $2,500 each unless you break them. This year I’m probably looking to make between $80,000 and $100,000, depending on how the actual year-end bonuses work out. Potentially, if I work hard and things go well, probably $100,000 in the first year.

What education or skills are needed to do this?

Well, you definitely have to have a high school degree and a Bachelor’s degree, preferably in finance or accounting or some type of business degree with some training in finance. There’s many examinations that are required. Just for my job there’s the Series 7 and then the Series 66. Primarily those are the two main certifications that you needs to have to get into an entry level position.  But also sales experience is a must.  I had a year of experience prior to this job, so that’s kind of one of the reasons why I got this job.  It’s tough to get into a salaried sales role with bonus and incentives without having some kinds of sales experience.

What is most challenging about what you do?

The most challenging is something that  I actually dealt with today, which is dealing with the ebbs and flows of the business cycle and the sales cycle. I started the quarter off tremendously, kicking ass and doing really well, I felt like everything was going my way, but the last couple weeks things have really slowed down. And it’s not that I’m doing anything differently, or I’ve changed my game plan or what not in the past few weeks, it’s just that sales has its cycles, there’s nothing you can do about it. Sometimes you’re on top of the world, and sometimes you feel like you’ve just lost it and you don’t know what’s going on. I think the hardest part is maintaining the consistency to know that you don’t have to change every time something starts not working or not going your way. You do have to change and adapt to different things that are happening and learning new products, but that consistency, working hard, and just putting your head down even when times are tough, I think, is the most challenging part.

What is most rewarding?

The reason that I’m in this business is to—not to say that I’m greedy—but I want to make a lot of money.  The top guy doing the same job I have this year will make $220,000, and we’ll have also people who’ll make their salary and just a few bonuses and not get to $55,000 or $60,000. And so, I think that the best part about it is that you still kind of control your own destiny. There’s an opportunity in your first year to make $100,000 to $150,000, so I think the desire to be wealthy is something that really brings me to this job.

What advice would you offer someone considering this career?

Someone would need to have a real passion for following the market and be able to carry on a conversation with someone who has fifty or sixty million dollars in an account and someone that’s going to put in 500 bucks. Doing those two things is what I enjoy the most. Also, the ability to always be learning and always wanting to be taking higher education and continuing education to be able to keep up with the ever-changing markets.

What is a common misconception people have about what you do?

The biggest misconception is that we’re stock jockeys and that we are calling clients constantly trying to get them into the next big stock, or trying to push something upon them, or just the typical sales guy.

What else would you like people to know about what you do?

This is a great place to meet a lot of great people. Like I said, part of the sales roles is getting advisors—we have a network all over the country. We meet with them periodically throughout the quarter, just getting your name out there and trying to get business thrown their way.  I’m meeting a lot of great people and the connections that I make through that program I feel are something that weren’t given to me at the beginning as far as the job description. I knew I’d be selling and getting clients into advisory products, but the chance to interact with these guys that are CFA’s, that went to Yale, that went to Harvard MBA programs and things of that nature, really touching base with them and getting their business cards…They can see a side of you that they probably wouldn’t be able to see if you just tried to interview with their firm, and really get you a good foothold on arriving to the next step outside of the company.