No

What is your background? What types of degrees, skills, experiences are necessary for this field?

* Ability to build and maintain relationships. Even though one needs to always stay professional, it's all about one-to-one contact and building a comardarie with your contacts.
* Vigilance about keeping the relationship fresh i.e. regular contacts via phone or email, sending press releases, invitations to meetings, training. If you don't stay in front of your alliances, they forget you due to being so busy.
* Discernment would be very helpful. There are so many people who COULD be your partners and many will want to be if your company is 'hot'. But not every company would bring your organization a significant benefit (which is the goal of the alliance) e.g. a complimentary product that rounds out your offering, the willingness and budget to train their people so they can talk intelligently and/or sell your product, coverage of the market(s) you've chosen to target etc.

How did you get started in this field?

I worked for IBM in the PC division and they decided to sell PC's through partners. I was first involved in training partners, then went into marketing where I had to provide two of IBM's largest resellers with sales support.

What college (if any) courses have been most helpful for your career?

Now that I am working in France, my degree in French has helped. As for the marketing part of my job, my psychology and sociology courses have helped because they help you to realize not every thinks or acts the same because of having different backgrounds and culture. Thus, it helps open up your mind to new ideas and have a better understanding of others who don't necessarily work/think the same way you do.

What are your specific responsibilities?

* Recruitment of new partners in Europe.
* Sales support
* Developing marketing tools to help the partners recommend, sell and support our products.
support

Describe a typical workday and workweek. What do you do during a typical day?

Making lots of calls to talk to CEO's, General Managers, Sales Managers, Product Managers to tell them about the benefits of our product and being our partner. Often, they are not available so it involves sending numerous emails
(most people don't speak English very well so it helps to read the information instead) and then more follow-up calls.

Name 5-7 job skills that are needed for your job.

* Perseverence - It is very rare these days if people return your first call or email so you need to keep calling back and chasing the person to talk to them in person.
* Patience (this is not necessarily a job skill but if you are working in Europe, you definitely need patience because the pace is so much slower than the U.S.--especially in the Silicon Valley area where I worked for 13 yrs. before coming to France)
* Discernment (see above)
* Another language or two is very helpful if working in Europe e.g. German or any of the Scandanavian languages
* Ability to manage your time effectively

Are you in a team-oriented position?

I work with another Indirect Sales Manager and my manager
is responsible for Marketing Operations. But most of my work is done on an individual basis and then we meet regularly to co-ordinate efforts.

Do you have flextime? Vacation time? Work at home? Telecommute?

My hours are 9 to 6:30 with 1 1/2 hrs. for lunch. In France you have 5 weeks of vacation after the first year.
They don't have much telecommuting here. The French aren't into this type of work situation yet.

How many hours per week are expected or warranted for peak performance?

By law, we can only work 35 hrs./week.

Are many evenings or weekends required for your job?

The French go home and stay home. They value their family time and would rise up in anger if they had to work weekends. If they work evenings, it's by choice but most people are out the door at quitting time.

How much travel is involved with a job in your field?

About one trip a month would be required. Sometimes twice a month but, unless it was for a partner's conference, most business can be done in one-two days on the road.

Could you give me examples of projects that you are working on?

I am heavily recruiting for resellers of our software in the Scandanavian countries right now because they are the most advanced technology-wise in Europe and almost all speak English relatively well.

I tell them about our core product and ask if they have customers who could use this type of technology. Usually they aren't too interested unless they have had a significant number of requests for this type of application and if they cannot fulfill the requests themselves.

If they are interested, we have one or two face to face meetings to determine what type of partner they'd like to be
e.g. one who just sends us leads, or resells and supports or just resells and has us to the support.

If both parties agree this would be a good match, we have them sign a partner agreement and they come in for training once they have a 'live' customer who wants our joint solution.

Could you describe your work settings? Offices, machinery, resources etc.

Offices. My company doesn't invest much money in their Marketing Dept. so our resources are slim. This is one area where they don't 'get it'. The don't realize you have to invest heavily in your partners if you want to recruit/keep them.

What personal qualities do you think are necessary for someone to be successful in this occupation?

See question above about 5-7 job skills. I think these are the same in the case of this job.

What is the major challenge you face at work?

The way the French think. They are not encouraged in school or by the government to be entrepreneurial in their thinking. They think small and don't believe in spending money unless they absolutely have to. It may be different in Paris but that's how it is here in Toulouse (SWest France). The French don't believe in being direct. They beat around the bush for hours but won't give you a direct 'yes' or 'no'. Thus decisions are infrequently made and projects don't move forward. This is very frustrating.

What aspects of your job do you find most rewarding? (Pros) Least rewarding? (Cons)

Pros: Getting to talk to people from different countries and learning how the cultures differ from each other. Also,
having 5 weeks vacation!
Cons: Being from a small company in France that no one's heard of. Thus, the people I call aren't often very motivated to look further into our solution or become parnters. Also, unfortunately, the management here do not reward good performance. They always find something wrong with the way you work or what you've accomplished. That is very demotivating.

Are you confronted with difficult decisions or situations in your position?

Yes, trying to promote software that doesn't work yet or isn't finished yet.

Do you have a lot of interaction with a certain occupation? I.E. media, engineers, etc.

Mostly Sales and Marketing Managers from the prospect companies I'm trying to recruit. Also CEO's and Product
Managers.

What is the Female to Male Ratio in your position/field?

My experience in the U.S. and France is that Marketing Dept.
usually have more women in them than men. Maybe 70% women
to 30% men.

Describe the changes taking place in your field. Project future trends?

Things are screeching to a halt because our software is connected to the ERP market which has been heading downhill for the last few years. ERP won't go away but companies are trying to find ways to rationalize the millions they've spent on applications and implementations. Thus, they are looking for add-on software that will enhance their current installations.

What is the turnover rate like in your field?

Marketing is usually one of the first departments to get cut when times turn bad. I have had 7 job changes in the last 9 years and only 2 were my choice (one was to move to
France but if I hadn't left, I would have been laid off again there too because the company went bankrupt shortly thereafter).

Do you think women avoid technical careers? What do you think can be done to encourage girls to get more involved in the technology field?

No. I don't think women avoid technical careers if they are aware of them.

To encourage girls, I think more IT companies need to get involved with career days at high schools and colleges just to make the girls aware of what technical careers exist.

Do you believe that women will be in more technical jobs in the future?

Certainly because there will be so many more technical jobs in the future so it's a given.

Do you have any advice for women and girls that are interested in going into the field?

My advice would be: While completing your studies, if possible, I recommend doing internships e.g. during the summers to try and get practical experience--even if you have to work for 'peanuts' or volunteer. Companies want experience more than they want letters after your name. Of course you have to have the degree if you want to be an engineer or desire a position which requires technical skills e.g. programming, web site creation, animation etc. But you will be able to get a job more easily if you can show you've completed your studies AND have some practical experience.

Also, if you think you want to live in or take an extensive
trip to Europe, do it after college and before starting your work life. It's much easier to take the break than after you get tied down by a job, apartment, husband etc.
Your horizons will expand exponentially and you'll bring a more well-rounded person to your career.

One last piece of advice: decide what you're pasisonate about in your life and your career should compliment that passion (or at least not conflict with it). Then decide what your life/career goals are based upon those passions and then never give up the pursuit of achieving these goals!! It's O.K. to change the goal IF IT'S YOUR CHOICE but not as a result of being discouraged. Keep telling everyone who will listen (and won't add to the discouragement) what you want and it will eventually come to you. You won't be regretful later on if you pursue your passions!!!