Guest Speaker Jason Swan, From a Students Perspective

Eric Gordon

Guest Speaker:  Jason Swan

Jason Swan

Jason Swan, a Plymouth State Alumni, is a very successful sales person. He graduated in 1994 with a degree in athletic training. He was not sure what he wanted to do when he graduated but ended up moving to Boston because he wanted to be on television. Jason got a job on public access T.V. After spending time in Boston he decided to venture to Indiana and took a job at Fox Sports. He did locker room interviews and shows on the sideline. But was not making enough money and was forced to bartend on the side. He was then offered a production position as a temp, where he moved to Connecticut. He loved the sports environment and he said the job was a great fit.

When Jason was in Connecticut he went out with some old friends to catch up and found out they were making great money, a lot more than him, and he wanted to know how. They set him up with two interviews in the sales field and told him to be aggressive at the interviews and not to be afraid to attack. He went to an interview at BEA and PTC. His first interview at BEA said it went okay but nothing special and his friends told him he wasn’t being aggressive enough. So his next interview at PTC he literally attacked the interviewer and got the job. In 2002, the first year at PTC he made 168k. He said he had healthy anxiety and was extremely competitive with his co-workers. After continuing to work hard he demanded a promotion. So they moved him to San Jose and spent two years bringing his company from 9k to 325k quarterly. He clearly strived for success. This past year Jason made 328k.

            I learned a lot from Jason’s presentation. It taught a very good lesson also. If you try your hardest for something you are passionate about, you are going to succeed. And in Jason’s case he succeeded very well and continues to push himself to become better every day.