Nicola M. Doherty

When you were a student, did you do anything outside of school to build skills or get knowledge that has helped your career?

When I was a student I needed to work part time, at the time I thought that this was terrible as I wasn't able to go out to parties each night or join University societies and clubs. (There were definitely downsides and I do regret not having a more rounded college experience.) But the upside was that I had strong experience by the time I graduated which allowed me to immediately find work, despite the recession (I graduated in 2009). I worked in a variety of work; General Operative in a fish factory, Bartender, Telesales Agent, Door to Door Sales etc. I learned how to identify transferrable skills and highlight them in my resume and interviews.

Did anyone ever oppose your career plans when you were young or push you in a direction you did not want to go?

I was lucky to have parents that didn't push me in a certain direction but inspired me to dream big. My siblings and I never felt that we were limited in where we could go in life. You would hear things from extended family or teachers, encouraging me to go into teaching or nursing because I was a girl but the confidence and perspective I got from my parents pushed most of that away. Plus I'm pretty stubborn when I want to be :) I think if anything, it was my own awareness of the limitations of my financial situation that led me down the path I chose. There were overseas Universities that offered me a place but the financial strain and risk was too much for me to take on. So I took a safer option and while that course was not the right career for me, it did its part in getting me to where I am today.

In layperson terms, what do you actually do at work?

As a Senior Sales Manager in LinkedIn, I lead 2 sales teams that work with Higher Education customers across all of Europe, Middle East, Africa & Latin America (EMEA & LATAM). My teams engage with potential new customers to see if the LinkedIn Learning solution is suitable for their staff and students. We also manage existing clients and ensure that they are getting value from the LinkedIn Learning solution. I would support the team in a multitude of ways: I'm responsible for achieving our sales targets, I support my Reps in achieving their targets, I support my reps in their career planning and development and I support them with Customer Calls & visits. As my region is quite large, I travel quite often and would generally spend one week a month on the road.

What is it like when your job gets tough?

Sales is an incredibly interesting and dynamic function, the role is varied and no two days are the same. It is also incredibly rewarding to support our customers in achieving their business outcomes. But sales is also one of the most transparent and results driven roles in the world. All salespeople work to targets, whether they are annual, quarterly or monthly. These targets are often black and white, you are either hitting them or you aren't. Personally I love the lack of ambiguity and the clarity in knowing whether you are achieving in your role or not. But it is tough when you aren't hitting your number and it can lead to stress when deals are not closing as you expect them to. But this stress in sales is often shortlived and connected to specific periods in the year e.g. end of the year or end of the quarter.