Making the career move into Customer Success

Rachel Jennings

Hey Everyone, 

Having been in the CS world for nearly 5 years in Australia, I was early in what is one of the fastest-growing roles in the Australian job market (if not the world). I have friends ask me all the time how they are best to make the move into Customer Success especially if you work in an industry that is not Tech. For example, I have a friend who is an environmental consultant that is wanting to pivot into a CSM role but doesn't feel like she can (despite I think she is capable) 

What advice or tips would you give them? 

Stacie Ward

Hi Rache,
She probably has many transferable skills from her consulting work.  One piece of advice is to look at how she is describing her skill set on her resume and LinkedIn.  Now look through a Customer Success lens and describe those skills and tasks with CS terms.  Use "CS lingo." Since many search engines and recruiters are looking for keywords only, play to that.  She probably did something similar to a "quarterly business review" in her consulting work, but may have called it like an "environmental review" or whatever.  This advice has helped a couple of former Sales colleagues pivot to CS.  

Read the profiles of several CSMs on LinkedIn and see how they describe their roles and responsibilities, especially for people who were in different roles.   

The other possibility is to look for CS roles where her environmental background would be a plus.  Is there a SaaS software company in that field who may be looking for CSMs?  

Hope that helps.

Stacie