Not sure what to do..

Just remember that you will only be as good as your last sale. Sales companies rely on sales and if you miss targets it's not good.

The other side is , you can always go back to cheffing if it doesn't work out or you don't like it.

Just bear in mind that you will pay BIK (i.e. tax) on the Company Car and the Health Insurance.

"20+ days annual leave + company day (what is that by the way?)"

At a guess I'd say it's probably either Good Friday (which isn't a mandatory public holiday but a lot of places might make it a company-wide day off), or it may be some day where the company has their own conference or something which isn't really work, but would also probably be mandatory to attend.

Barring the company car I was getting all those benefits in a junior position aged 24. I realise this is new to you coming from hospitality, but don't be too distracted by the new benefits over what the job entails. What will you be selling? Is it something you can sell? Is it an easy or difficult thing to sell. The phrase "he can sell ice to eskimos" describes someone who can sell anything. If you find yourself in the position of having to sell ice, and your target market are eskimos you could find the job has a hell of a lot more stress than you are used to. I know you are going to turn around and say there is nothing more stressful than working in a kitchen, but this is a very different kind of stress. Ive had colleagues burnout which led to months on leave, and some never returned to the job.

In a kitchen, if you have 30 chicken breasts and 60 people order chicken, its a stressful situation, but there are things you can do. If you have been given the job of selling something no-one wants to buy, there is not a lot you can do about it, which can lead to depression, anxiety and a world of pain.

Please go into this with your eyes open.

Field sales, ie B2C door-to-door cold calling versus a creative, highly skilled and technical job like a chef would be no contest imo, but that's probably because i'm not a great cook and I think it's amazing that someone can turn a few ingredients into something delicious to eat. And it's not just one dish, they can cook all-sorts! It's a fantastic skill, can take a person all over the world and into so many different settings, can teach others, can set up their own retail food business (although that has it's own stresses too), can find a niche and produce a consumer food product. People always have to eat.

Why did you train as a chef initially? Is it the actual work or the conditions that you want to change? Maybe another employer would suit you better, working for a new company can make a huge difference eg if the hours are different or higher pay. Pros and cons in all jobs tbf, best of luck.

Be careful what you wish for.

What you haven't said is what you're looking for in a job. If it's long term security and Good Money, then you might find that a Field Sales role isn't really much different to what you're doing at the moment. Does the job ad specify a guaranteed minimum salary, or does it push the "OTE" figure? If the latter, then you'll really need to believe in the product/service you're selling, and having that kind of mentality is quite different to the technical/craftsman work you've been doing up to now. What'll you do if you can't meet the targets set for you and the company decide to let you go at the end of your probationary period?

If you're just a bit fed up with where you are in life, you could consider looking for work as a chef in a different country. It's a very transferable skill, and - for many of the same reasons as you've already experienced - one that's always in demand with not too much of a language barrier. A change in location might also change how you see those holidays. Are they really that big a deal? Is it not better that you know you'll have plenty of hours around those dates, and you can take time off when travel and accommodation is much cheaper?

You have to stop saying things like ‘I get that 20 days annual leave is fairly normal’

It’s definitely below average. It’s the legal minimum requirement and is not a benefit. The only reason anybody working full time might not have 20 days is if they’re self-employed.

It is NOT a benefit.

Field Sales is a brutally tough and draining industry.

Would check out doing catering or something before getting into it.

Eir are very anxious to recruit sales people because of the Fibre Optic roll out system that is being introduced to new customers mainly in rural areas. I had one of them call here a while back and the company car was more like a little promo novelty Fiesta type van thing wrapped in the Eir logo. I wouldn't consider it a perk to be honest.

They are offering a good enough deal which I signed up for much to the sales reps delight, however upon reading the small print I discovered he had left out some small details like it was a 2 year deal and not a 12 month deal and the cost will increase every 12 months. I cancelled within a couple of days and decided we would stay with our local company who are a little more expensive per month and don't give TV, mobile and landline phone as part of their package but they are reliable and very trustworthy. Trying to cancel with Eir was a very difficult process which is obviously part of their strategy to keep customers.

I'd advise extreme caution before leaving a job to sign up with them, I get the distinct impression very few of the new sales reps they have recently recruited will be around longer than 12 months never mind with them long enough to draw a pension.

If you're really determined to leave your employer because they won't allow you a bit of creativity then you sound like you'd be more suited to opening your own business. Food trucks are popping up all over the place, I'm very rural south Kerry and there are 2 brand new ones opened within a 15 minute drive recently and they are both are doing very well.

Most shops and established businesses will also give a small producer of quality products an opportunity, a neighbour of ours started selling really nice cakes and cookies from his door and he's expanded over the years and now runs a very good business supplying shops, cafes and supermarkets.

That's a great post and provides some context/comparisons to people who may never have worked in a really hard job like most jobs in a kitchen.

I've worked with former chefs in a number of roles and in general they have picked up some brilliant transferrable skills in the kitchen that make them really good employees in many areas.

You seem to have a good attitude towards a new role and look to have had enough of your old role, as happens with chefing regularly. If you get the job offer go for it. It could be the change that you need.

Best of luck.