Training & Educations - Career Change

Name: Chris Taylor
Former position: Police officer
New job: National business development manager, Australian Outdoor Living.

At 16 years of age, I joined the WA Police Force as a cadet and was in the police force until I was 31. When you’re in the police force, you talk to people and listen to people and that’s what sales is all about. When I left, I became an insurance private investigator. Three years later I joined Carpet Call then an insulation company called Cool or Cosy. Later, I started as a franchise manager for Solomons , rising to general manager. I got to a point where I needed something exciting and refreshing. Two months later, AOL created the position to bring me on board. I’ve done time-management courses and have some certificates but don’t have a qualification.

Name: Colin Kuchel
Position: Managing director, Australian Outdoor Living
Skill tips: For this role we were looking at the candidate’s personal skills – their business acumen – the ability to make very quick decisions that generally work out. I think, in this particular instance, I would have looked for a formal education but Chris had experience in a related industry for many, many years and I think it came down to experience more than formal qualifications. His experience was very similar to our business and our business model – marketing, sales, administration and strong customer skills. I think being a police officer gave Chris a fantastic grounding for his current role. He understands the policy procedure. We’ve been getting bigger and bigger and we need our policies and procedures.