The demand for information security professionals is at an all-time high.
Most candidates on the market are facing multiple great offers at a time.
A recent candidate and I had a lengthy discussion on his struggle to make the correct choice.
I am going to focus on one vendor from this process. The company he ended up choosing.
He talked to me about his love for this vendor’s product. How he thought the manager was amazing, and how he had a lot of fun meeting the sales rep he would be partnered with.
He wanted my opinion of the company, and opinions from those I knew that worked there.
I have spoken to many sales engineers in the exact position he was interviewing for in different regions. So I was happy to give him some examples.
I wanted to provide him with some of the mixed reviews I have heard.
Background on the company: This firm has been around 20 years, and is currently doing around $350 million in sales. The company has around 1600 employees and is software focused has been on a constant upward climb.
Each of the candidates I used as an example would be considered “A level” information security sales engineers. All 3 have over 10 years of experience at information security vendors, and have proven record as industry leaders.
Candidate #1: Based out of Germany: With Vendor 4 years: Principle Sales Engineer
He was Engineer exceeding his quota goals each quarter at around 130-150%.
He was confident in the product, company direction, and had a great relationship with his team.
The only reason he was looking to make a move was because he felt that he had plateaued.
His career path had been stalled, and there was no way to get the momentum going again at this company.
He made a lateral move to a direct competitor that had more opportunities for future advancement.
Candidate #2 Based out of LA: With Vendor 10 months: Principle Sales Engineer
This candidate could not have had a more negative experience with this vendor.
In his 8 months with the firm he had 2 different managers and a stretch with no manager. He felt the company did not have any direction and felt lost.
He felt the product was lacking and that the technical teams could not deliver on the sales promises.
After 8 months of being frustrated he decided it was time to move on.
He looks back at his time there as the biggest mistake of his career, and cautions all of his colleagues about the experience he had with this vendor.
Candidate #3 Based out of Toronto: Principle Sales Engineer
This candidate was in love with this job. He was over 200% of his quota targets.
He felt that he was on the best team in the industry, had the best product, and had never had so much fun at work.
He told me it was mostly due to the amazing manager he worked for.
He said that this manager made the job easy, fun, and only employed like-minded and talented people to be on their team.
I have a lot more reviews from this specific vendor, but these three examples paint the same mixed review picture that I always hear.
The people who had positive reviews of the company it aligned with their career goals, they really liked the team they worked on, and they believed in company and product they were working with.
Once these variables change so did their interest in staying with this Vendor.
This positioned aligned perfectly with his career goals. He really liked the people he met on during the interview process, and he had previously worked with the product and was a big fan.
It is great to gather as much information as possible during a hiring process. However, it is best to follow your own perception of the company and people you meet. Just because it is a good fit for someone else does not mean that it will be for you. Also these types of companies are always rapidly evolving. A person who worked there 6 months ago may not know what the company is like today.
