Just started a brand new job today!

Hi guys, I've just started a new job today! Remember I talked about looking for new challenges earlier this year and then working in Hungary made me realize that I should be careful about sticking to what I am good at? Well, let me explain what has happened - I had worked for this American fund manager for many years until 2014 when I decided to turn my hands to other things such as starting my own business. Well, this American has since joined another very successful company earlier this year and now has a new product that needs selling - he's turned to me because I have a proven track record with him. I had a look at the product and decided that it was a pretty good product - I know a good workman never blames his tools, but undoubtedly a salesman's job is a lot easier when the product isgood. 

Yup, I am going back to the world of financial sales.

Anyway, I met the team today and boom - I have a new work email and the work is flying in. Crikey, this shit just got real. I have a flexible contract with them, I have a retainer for the hours I put in plus a very generous commission structure to persuade me to sell. I did some maths and it is a very decent deal. I only regret that I didn't ask for more during the negotiations. I did some strange maths and arrived at a number which I thought I was worth for them to pay per month. I'm not going to reveal the figure but let's imagine I picked the number 5544.54 (there was a long formula which I bored them with to demonstrate what I was worth based on what I have earned in the past). The CFO said, that's a strange number, Alex are you a gambler? Let's flip a coin. Tails we round it down to 5000, heads we round it up to 6000. I'll let you flip the coin. I hesitated, I didn't know how to react - that was not what I was expecting at all when it came to negotiating my worth. I thought I had to bargain rather than gamble like that.

So I said, thanks for the offer to increase my pay like that, but I believe the number I had worked out for you is a very reasonable one and I am happy to stick by it rather than gamble for more. So we agreed to that - but there was a part of me that thought, damnit Alex, these people are rich, so crazy rich. They probably looked at the figure you offered and laughed because you asked for too little, that's why they were happy to play the game as they would have gladly offered you a lot more money. Oh well, I guess it's too late now - they gave me what I had asked for and I think the figure I quoted them was reasonable and realistic (rather than geredy). but had I asked for more I probably would have gotten it as well and this is not the first time something like that has happened! But given the kind of commissions they were talking about, the difference in my basic would have been insignificant: if everything does work out, the bulk of my earnings from this job would be from the commissions. I did tell them that I had just returned from the US and would be off to Germany to do a film very soon and they were totally cool about it - let's put it this way, the selling of financial products is very tricky and so they were more than willing to be flexible with me in order to use my services.

It is not easy to sell financial products.

Right now, I am excited and nervous in equal measure - I know there will be a rather steep learning curve in the first few weeks when I have to work extra hard to get familiar with the product I'm selling, but otherwise from what I have read so far, it is something that I can understand and get my head around. So fingers crossed, this will work out fine. I feel good about going back to doing something I know I am good at instead of just challenging myself to learn new stuff all the time. So, wish me luck people! I do feel good about this new chapter in my life. Many thanks for reading.