How I became a Sales Engineer.  First in a Series

When people ask me what I like about working as a recruiter, I always reply “I get to talk to really smart, interesting people, all day long”.   Anything else is just elaboration on that theme. And yeah, there’s money and independence also.

We place a LOT of sales engineering people.  It’s a niche that’s grown out of this experience of talking to all kinds of businesspeople in IT-related fields.   One way or another, certain technical people end upon the money-making side of the equation.  Sometimes as  Sales Reps, Product Management or Product Marketing people.  But one of the entry points is through Sales Engineering.  And if you ask Pre-Sales people how they got there, they are a wide variety of storylines.

Many technical people start put with a poor view of sales people, and want nothing to do with “dirty commerce”.  But sooner or later, there comes a point where they “catch the sales bug”, or at least find that they enjoy the customer-facing side of the technology business.

Many start their careers in hands-on technical roles such Sys Admin, Help Desk, Product Support, maybe implementation or service delivery.  And they find that they enjoy the social part of IT as much or more as they probllem-solving or building aspects.

Then there’s the moment when they catch the fever.  Somehow they like the sizzle that comes with sales, and that overcomes the reluctance to sell, or least “be in sales”.

They like getting up and training users.

They like being the smartest guy in the room, on the topic of th day.

They like fixing the pressing or chronic problem.

They like customer interaction.

They like the competition, camaraderie and drama that comes with being in Sales.

They like those commission checks, and the trips to Hawaii!!

This series of short interviews will highlight a pre-sales candidate’s or manager’s transition from purely technical roles to the Dark Side of Sales Engineering.

Here’s our first example: