Before a family friend referred me to Avanade, I was feeling stuck. I had been in my first job out of college for a little over 18 months, working in technology sales, but I felt like I was going nowhere. Higher-ups had promised me a promotion within a year, but the year came and went and nothing happened. When I asked what went wrong, I wasn’t given a clear answer – I was hitting my targets, but they hired someone else for the role. Ultimately, they needed someone to keep doing the work I had been doing, but I had no opportunities for growth.

I had heard great things about Avanade, and when I joined last December, I felt right away that it was a different experience. At my old job, I had been given a quota of a certain number of calls and emails I had to get out every day. Metrics are helpful for measuring success, but it got to a point that I felt like a robot, churning out the same meaningless pitch day after day without any ability to personalize it.

When I came to Avanade, I was told, “We’re not a call center and we don’t just spam people’s inboxes. We want to take the time to do our research, to understand a client’s journey and challenges, and then begin to build a relationship with them based on that information.” It was a totally different approach, and one that allowed me to grow as a seller and experience something new every day.

I work remotely, but I’m part of a young dynamic digital sales team. There are 31 of us now, all in our first few years out of college, and there’s a great sense of community and a feeling that we’re all in it together. We have an incredible support system that empowers us to grow and does not expect us to always have the answers as we’re learning. And as a group, we can connect and share ideas of what’s working in the market. We’re also broken out by industry, which allows us to focus on specific plays and identify trends for our industry. This is important, because we don’t think of sales as a one-and-done thing; it’s about building a relationship. If we can understand a client’s business and really grasp where they’re doing, we can become a partner on that journey, rather than someone who is simply pushing product. This is a fulfilling part of the job – I feel like I’m not just a salesperson, but an advisor.

Beyond my day-to-day work, one of the most gratifying parts of being at Avanade is the opportunity to learn. In the last year, I’ve earned five certifications (currently studying for my sixth), all funded by Avanade. I’m gaining new knowledge and skills all the time that help me become a better seller, but also a more marketable employee. It feels like Avanade is interested in helping me grow, not just for what I can offer as a worker, but for who I am as a person.

As I look ahead to my future at Avanade, it feels like so many doors are open to me. When I joined, my ultimate goal was to become a business development executive and be responsible for my own pipeline, but after a year of learning more about the technology Avanade offers, I feel like there could even be other opportunities on the horizon. I’m going to start learning to code to see if I would have any interest in one day being a solution architect. I’ve already mentioned this to my career adviser, and what’s amazing about Avanade is that curiosity and having a growth are encouraged – if I ever decide to pivot, I know I’ll have the support of the team that’s already had my back.