Meet The Hiring Manager: James Kwon

Welcome to another installment of our Meet the Hiring Manager series! In this series, you will get to know the dynamic individuals who are leading and growing our teams at Systel. Today we’d like to introduce you to James Kwon, Vice-President of Sales. Learn about James and the team he leads, and how to stand out in his interview process.

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Name: James Kwon

Job title: VP of Sales

Tenure at Systel: 19 Years  

First job: My first job was in high school bagging groceries at Kroger.  It was a good first experience to really learn the meaning of working for your money. The best part was getting tips after taking the grocery carts out for customers!

Fun fact: I was a Biochemistry major thinking I was going to be a doctor. After almost 3 years into college, I started my volunteer work at a local hospital ER and quickly realized this wasn’t my path after some traumatic patient experiences. Needless to say, I don’t use what I learned in college in my job, but I can draw the chemical structure of Glucose molecule if anyone is interested.

Tell us a little about yourself! Can you tell us about what brought you to Systel?  

Systel was my first job after getting my MBA degree from Rice University. I learned about the company from the school’s career center and I was initially hired as a Marketing Specialist. I was new to the computer hardware industry, but I focused mainly on learning about our products and our customer base to make sure our offering is aligned with the customer’s needs. I was soon moved to a direct sales position and then to various management roles.  

Do you have a morning routine or afternoon post-work activity that you like to partake in?   

My current hobbies are tennis, running, and billiards but I mostly value spending my time with various family activities. Everyone in the family has a very busy schedule and my wife and I try to maximize family time as much as possible. My daughter and I swim together on most weekends during summer. My son and I like going to the movies and we have watched quite a few Marvel movies together.

Your team is currently hiring – can you tell us about your team and the open roles?   

We have five different vertical teams within the sales team and overall, it’s a very close-knit group. Everyone works very well together and supports one another in all aspects of the job.

We currently have two Inside Sales positions open for candidates who are team players and have great customer service skills. Inside Sales supports the Sales Managers with pre and post sales activities with the main duty being generating formal quotations for customers.

Candidates need good communication skills to not only interact with customers but also work with other departments to make sure our final products are fully compliant with customer requirements and most importantly, we can make our customers successful.

What does a rockstar candidate look like to you?    

An ideal candidate will possess these skills/characteristics: 

1. Strong sense of customer care.
2. Passionate about their work and take pride in what they do.
3. Strong willingness to learn and be self-driven to improve.
4. Have empathy and willingness to be there for other.

If someone reading this was interviewing for your team tomorrow, what tips would you give them?  

1. Be honest, confident, and most importantly, be yourself.
2. Do your research about the company and the open position and be prepared to discuss why you would be a good fit.
3. Have a list of questions to ask us.  You should be interviewing the company to make sure this is a good fit for you.  This must be a win-win for you and the company.

We pride ourselves on leading with fanatical customer service, absolute ownership, passion for improvement, and uncompromising integrity; what about our core values resonates with you most?  

For our Sales team, there is a strong emphasis on customer service and absolute ownership. We want employees to truly understand the customer’s need and pain points and be able to offer a solution/service that brings value. We need to make sure our customers are fully satisfied to build long term relationships. Absolute Ownership is also very critical in what we do. We want all our employees to have a sense of ownership within all aspects of their job to create a culture that fosters a proactive mindset.

What’s something at Systel that has you excited?

We are focusing more on New Product Development efforts and creating a product pipeline that’s aligned with our customer’s needs and market trends. This truly helps our Sales and Marketing efforts by making our customer engagements more successful. It’s very meaningful to know that we are offering products that really bring value to our customers. One of our key markets is the Department of Defense and we take great pride in supporting the men and women in uniform who are serving our country, and helping keep them safe.

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Follow us on LinkedIn and check out our Careers Page to apply to our open Sales positions or explore other open opportunities.