Ready to Start Your Career Journey With TARGIT?
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At TARGIT, we believe in helping our employees pursue their personal goals and passions through their careers within our organization. This part of our company culture comes to life through specialized training and upskilling, outside education opportunities, and tailored career plans that give people the flexibility to build their ideal roles while contributing to TARGIT's overall business strategy.
One employee who recently embarked on a career transition with TARGIT is Account Executive Gareth Hennessey. Gareth joined TARGIT nearly two years ago as a Business Development Representative (BDR) with minimal knowledge of business intelligence (BI) or data analysis. Over time, he's become an expert in the field and partnered with leadership to reach his career goals within TARGIT.
In this blog post, we'll look at Gareth's personal and professional background, his time as a BDR at TARGIT, and his exciting transition to the sales team.
Gareth's career journey began in his home country of Ireland, where he earned a bachelor's degree in management in 2014. After completing his degree, Gareth spent about a year working in logistics for a prominent vending machine company before deciding it was time for a change of pace — and scenery.
So, he packed his bags, applied for a U.S. work visa, and found himself serving drinks as a bartender in the Big Apple. Bartending allowed Gareth to interact with many different types of people, and he excelled at building connections with patrons over his five-year tenure in the service industry.
Shortly after getting married, Gareth decided to start looking for a more sustainable career in the corporate world. He stepped away from bartending in February 2020. Gareth knew he wanted to transition back into the tech space, and many friends and family members suggested a sales role due to Gareth's warm personality and natural ability to connect with others.
Just as Gareth's job search began, his family moved from the hustle and bustle of NYC down to his wife's hometown of Tampa, Florida. He quickly secured a BDR role at a large software company, where rapid turnover and disorganized leadership left him dissatisfied and back on the job search after just a few months.
Despite knowing very little about TARGIT or BI in general, Gareth applied for a BDR position after a recruiter reached out to him about the role. He visited the Tampa headquarters for an interview and accepted a job offer shortly after.
Being a BDR at TARGIT was like a breath of fresh air for Gareth. For the first time, he felt genuine enthusiasm about going to work each day. To be successful as a BDR, employees must have the drive to pick up the phone and make connections – and Gareth was a natural at connecting with prospects.
"For the first time ever, I didn't dread going to work. I was happy to go into the office, be around my coworkers, and do my job, Gareth shares. "At TARGIT, the managers let everyone flourish and take the initiative to reach their own professional goals. They're always there to offer support but never micromanage anyone."
While Gareth naturally excelled at making calls and engaging prospects, learning about the industry and TARGIT's product proved to be a bit more demanding than he expected. Nevertheless, he embraced the challenge, continuously expanding his knowledge and digging deeper into the company's solutions and target verticals.
Gareth's goal in joining TARGIT was always to move into an Account Executive (AE) position, but he knew that the typical path for BDRs led to outside sales. So he teamed up with management and the sales crew to carve out a path in heavy equipment sales. And after almost two years as a BDR, Gareth officially became an AE.
In his new AE role, Gareth focuses on material handling and truck and trailer sales in the U.S. market. He's out there making deals, training new BDRs, and learning the ropes from his mentor, Tim McGuire. These activities allow him to witness firsthand how Tim and other sales reps follow up with prospects and implement effective sales strategies.
"I used to only participate in discovery and demo calls," says Gareth. "Now, I'm involved in the entire sales process. I get to see the full picture, from first outreach to ongoing support after a sale closes."
Gareth is excited to continue learning and connecting with customers across TARGIT and to evolve his role on the U.S. sales team. His story is just one example of how TARGIT empowers its employees to pursue their personal career goals and follow their passions during their time at the organization.
We can't wait to see what's next for Gareth and how his charisma and hard work keep making waves at TARGIT!
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