Transition from IT Pro to Sales Engineer: How?
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If you had asked me where I wanted to be ten or twenty years ago, I would not have pictured where I am today. I had a game plan back then and I executed it somewhat sloppily. Then, over time, I opportunistically took what came my way and leveraged that to get where I am.
Twenty years ago.... I would have put myself designing software full time. Even thirty years ago. Ten years ago, I would never have guessed that I was doing "influence" business and solution architecting.
You need a good plan to help support your ability to leverage opportunity.
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@scottalanmiller said:
If you had asked me where I wanted to be ten or twenty years ago, I would not have pictured where I am today. I had a game plan back then and I executed it somewhat sloppily. Then, over time, I opportunistically took what came my way and leveraged that to get where I am.
Twenty years ago.... I would have put myself designing software full time. Even thirty years ago. Ten years ago, I would never have guessed that I was doing "influence" business and solution architecting.
You need a good plan to help support your ability to leverage opportunity.
Just to give even more validity to this point A.J.
10 years ago I was going to be a Locomotive Engineer, working for Union Pacific or CSX. College and IT wasn't at the forefront.
However, back in 2005, a little MSP in Dayton, OH offered me a bench tech position repairing desktops right after I graduated with an A.A.S in Computer Networking Systems from ITT. I took it because they offered me a job, the railroad kind of did but couldn't guarantee me anything.
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@Bill-Kindle said:
@ajstringham said:
@Bill-Kindle , I do my best at every job I take. The reason I said I didn't want to be a sales engineer at this company is simply because I don't believe in their products. That being said, I will not short the quality of my work or my effort to learn everything I possibly can. I will strive to be the best Tier I tech, and then maybe Tier II. Who knows? Maybe even Tier III.
I have nothing against my company. In fact, the reason I don't feel I could ever work sales for them is because I'd be shorting them. I wouldn't be able to give it my all. I'd be lying to others and myself if I was. Their products are sound, but I couldn't do it personally, and that would be as unfair to them as it is to myself. I intend to take away everything I possibly can from this job. My quality will not suffer.
Thanks for the advice.
I know you have thanked me, but did you really understand what I was saying?
The very first sentence proves the very point I was making. You took a job that you don't believe in. They should fire you or you should just quit. You're wasting not only your time but their time as well. Doesn't matter if you support the product well, you aren't promotable with an attitude like that.
You then go into the very thing I said not to do. Don't go thinking you are better than a job (I'd be shorting them). Hell A.J., you already have by not believing in their product! This may sound brutal, but that's exactly what I mean. I'm not going to sugar coat it. Your priorities are $%*##$# at the moment.
Step out of yourself for a moment and put yourself the position of your boss at McAfee. What would you do if you just hired a new guy that goes public and states that they do not believe in the product, yet is willing to accept a check from them, and that they won't let their personal feelings infiltrate their work?
A rational response would be, "BS. They need to pack their stuff, I need a team member who is all in." You know this A.J., you're not stupid.
The very reply you have contains those backhanded comments again. Listen to yourself at times, that's all I'm trying to say. Again, it's not your career needing the reboot, it's your viewpoint of your career that needs the reboot.
I took the job I did because I had no other choice. It wasn't my first choice, but it was my only choice. In Upstate NY, if I interviewed for a job, it was pretty much a sure-fire thing I'd get it. Dallas has more jobs, but a much bigger pool of people to draw from. I interviewed several places to no avail.
The advantage of support vs sales is I don't have to think the product is the best on the market to support it. I need to have the drive to learn how it works, and how to fix it when it's not working. I don't badmouth the product to customers. I also don't praise it. I get down to business and fix what's broken. I've done the job I was hired for. I am where I am for now. I won't short my employer by doing sloppy work. I haven't done anything wrong.
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I think that AJ is correct with his support versus sales thinking here. I can support a lot of things that I don't think are the best. I almost always have to support sub-optimal setups and approaches. My job, normally, is to do the best possible given what is available. The artificial constraint is fine.
In sales, you don't want those artificial constraints. In support, the customer has clearly agreed to the constraints. In sales, they have implicitly but your job is to make them forget that the constraints are there to their own detriment.
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@scottalanmiller said:
I think that AJ is correct with his support versus sales thinking here. I can support a lot of things that I don't think are the best. I almost always have to support sub-optimal setups and approaches. My job, normally, is to do the best possible given what is available. The artificial constraint is fine.
In sales, you don't want those artificial constraints. In support, the customer has clearly agreed to the constraints. In sales, they have implicitly but your job is to make them forget that the constraints are there to their own detriment.
We've all been there. We'd be lying if said otherwise. I've supported software that wasn't as good as it could be. But I don't take to public forums and pronounce it all the time. Instead, I take customer suggestions / wants, add them to what I think would be good and then work with developers and product managers to make it a reality. It's an attempt to be part of a solution instead of continuing a problem.
IMHO, it's not fair to even compare sales vs technical support. But how can you expect to be promoted from within when you badmouth a flagship product? It turns opportunity in the wrong direction.
The sales engineers I work with are the go between customers and developers. They facilitate the solution.
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I will say this - Don't let your job title define you. I can be a janitor and be happy as long as I'm treated okay at the job. At the end of the day as long as I'm paid enough to live off, and just as important treated well (don't leave a good job for a higher paying one, seriously I learned that the hard way. took another job just because it was higher paying. Big mistake.)
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@scottalanmiller said:
I think, AJ, that you need to work on three plans.
"Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans"
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@Carnival-Boy said:
@scottalanmiller said:
I think, AJ, that you need to work on three plans.
"Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans"
This is very true. Make plans but don't expect to stick to them. If you have no plan, you will probably flounder. If you stick rigidly to a plan, you will certainly flounder. Use a plan to force yourself forward, but abandon the plan when opportunity arises.
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I like the three planning points idea. Write out your plan now. Start thinking about how to get to point A. Does that require a new cert? Get working on that cert. Does it require learning a new skill, get working on that skill. It will help to keep you from flapping between ideas that might prevent you from achieving a short term goal.
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Thanks everyone. I will take these suggestions to heart!
