RecordMove

ICT presales engineer to commercial director

An ICT presales engineer already meets 15% of what the commercial director role asks for. The move turns on 12 required skills not yet in the profile.

Fig. 1 · Skill transfer ESCO v1.2.1 · directional

From ICT presales engineer

Distant match

To commercial director

5 You already bring

12 Still to learn

32 Skills in the target role2

Learning distance A rebuild

78.5/ 100

adjacentmoderatesubstantialcareer change

1 How much of what a commercial director is expected to do is already part of an ICT presales engineer’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the commercial director role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.

Why

Why this move works

A commercial director role treats 2 of its required skills as things an ICT presales engineer already does. You would walk in with these on day one.

implement marketing strategies
product comprehension

What stands in the way is 12 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.

Table 2

Table 2 · What you already bring

Of the 5 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A commercial director role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of an ICT presales engineer background worth leading with.

Skill the target role also needs Area

already held market pricing business, administration and law
already held deliver a sales pitch communication, collaboration and creativity
already held implement marketing strategies communication, collaboration and creativity
already held perform market research information skills
already held product comprehension business, administration and law

All 5 carried skills, including the 2 the commercial director role treats as required.

Table 3

Table 3 · What you may need to learn

The 27 missing skills fall into 5 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.

Skill to pick up Tier

01 communication, collaboration and creativity 5 required, 3 supplementary

still to learn align efforts towards business development required
still to learn build business relationships required
still to learn develop professional network required
still to learn integrate new products in manufacturing required
still to learn manage contracts required

optional, not held communicate with customer service department optional
optional, not held achieve sales targets optional
optional, not held train employees optional

02 business, administration and law 4 required, 3 supplementary

still to learn commercial law required
still to learn project management required
still to learn customer relationship management required
still to learn risk management required

optional, not held customer service optional
optional, not held international business optional
optional, not held pricing strategies optional

03 information skills 2 required, 2 supplementary

still to learn manage sales channels required
still to learn use analytics for commercial purposes required

optional, not held analyse consumer buying trends optional
optional, not held prepare cost-plus pricing models optional

04 management skills 1 required, 6 supplementary

still to learn manage sales teams required

optional, not held fix meetings optional
optional, not held manage staff optional
optional, not held manage tender processes optional
optional, not held manage yield optional
optional, not held recruit employees optional
optional, not held use theoretical marketing models optional

05 information and communication technologies (icts) 1 supplementary

optional, not held e-commerce systems optional

Table 4

Table 4 · Where to start

The 3 entries a commercial director role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.

Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.

Appendix

Appendix · The rest of the record

All 5 skills that carry over

Skill Type

already held implement marketing strategies skill
already held product comprehension knowledge
already held deliver a sales pitch skill
already held market pricing knowledge
already held perform market research skill

15 supplementary skills, helpful but not required

Skill to pick up Tier

optional, not held communicate with customer service department optional
optional, not held customer service optional
optional, not held e-commerce systems optional
optional, not held achieve sales targets optional
optional, not held analyse consumer buying trends optional
optional, not held fix meetings optional
optional, not held international business optional
optional, not held manage staff optional
optional, not held manage tender processes optional
optional, not held manage yield optional
optional, not held prepare cost-plus pricing models optional
optional, not held pricing strategies optional
optional, not held recruit employees optional
optional, not held train employees optional
optional, not held use theoretical marketing models optional

30 held skills the commercial director role does not ask for

Skill Type

not needed by the target role ICT market knowledge
not needed by the target role ICT sales methodologies knowledge
not needed by the target role ICT system user requirements knowledge
not needed by the target role SAS language knowledge
not needed by the target role apply conflict management skill
not needed by the target role apply statistical analysis techniques skill
not needed by the target role business intelligence knowledge
not needed by the target role comply with legal regulations skill
not needed by the target role coordinate technological activities skill
not needed by the target role customer segmentation knowledge
not needed by the target role define technical requirements skill
not needed by the target role define technology strategy skill
not needed by the target role develop account strategy skill
not needed by the target role develop revenue generation strategies skill
not needed by the target role digital marketing techniques knowledge
not needed by the target role emergent technologies knowledge
not needed by the target role hardware components knowledge
not needed by the target role hardware components suppliers knowledge
not needed by the target role identify customer's needs skill
not needed by the target role identify training needs skill
not needed by the target role keep up to date on product knowledge skill
not needed by the target role perform project management skill
not needed by the target role prepare scientific reports skill
not needed by the target role produce sales reports skill
not needed by the target role set sales goals skill
not needed by the target role software components libraries knowledge
not needed by the target role software components suppliers knowledge
not needed by the target role statistical analysis system software knowledge
not needed by the target role supervise sales activities skill
not needed by the target role use different communication channels skill

8 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice

Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.

Skill to pick up Tier

still to learn commercial law required
still to learn project management required
still to learn customer relationship management required
still to learn risk management required
optional, not held customer service optional
optional, not held e-commerce systems optional
optional, not held international business optional
optional, not held pricing strategies optional

Index

Other moves recorded from ICT presales engineer

Full index of moves from ICT presales engineer

FAQ

Common questions about this move

Can an ICT presales engineer become a commercial director?

Yes, and it is a career change move. An ICT presales engineer already covers 15% of what a commercial director is expected to do: 5 skills carry over, 2 of which the commercial director role treats as required.

What skills does an ICT presales engineer need to become a commercial director?

12 required skills are missing, plus 15 optional ones. They fall into 5 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by communication, collaboration and creativity. The single most important is manage sales teams.

How hard is the move from ICT presales engineer to commercial director?

Its learning distance is 78.5 out of 100, which is the career change band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.

Note

How this record was compiled

Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.