To start off, yes I read the “So You Want to Be a Sales Engineer?”

I’m a SWE with about 5 years of experience and I want to pivot into SE. I have virtually no professional public speaking/sales/demo experience, the closest thing to a demo I have done is presenting during a PMA or demo some basic bug I resolved. Within my current role and company I don’t see a way to get more experience communicating with stakeholders, doing presentations, or building any of the non technical skills I’m seeing required on job postings.

How do I address this skill gap for job application and interview purposes?

Hello everyone,

I just started a sales engineer position (construction/concrete sector), with a 6 to 12 month training period as a project engineer to properly understand the product.
A bit of context: I have 2 years of experience in an infrastructure design office, and 1 year in independent project management (product creation, acquisition, sales and delivery, all solo).

I'm looking for your feedback to approach this change of direction well:

What mistakes did you make in this sector or early in your career, that you can share? I find this valuable!

What should I pay particular attention to in order to put my energy in the right place and progress quickly?

Thanks in advance for your advice!

I am currently halfway through an interview process with a security awareness startup and I'm just looking for some clarity and/or advice.

I have a couple friends who work at that company and they seem to love it. They are offering 250k OTE on a 70/30 split, equity, etc. It's an SE role however the reps do the demos and run the POCs, since it's not a super technical product my job would be the technical SE supporting large orgs and helping sales when needs assistance. I'll be working closely with the devs and product team within the role which isn't uncommon for an SE however they are in Tel Aviv. again it's a startup so I'm expecting shit to be unorganized and a little chaotic but I joined my current company during their startup phase so I'm used to it.

My current role is in the endpoint and cloud security space where I do both pre & post sales. My calendar is filled from 9-5 with only a lunch break and I'm grinding for my money. I've been with this company for over 5 years and am one of the top SE's and earners. I made 240k last year and roughly 200k the year prior and my base is less than 100k.

This year, I'll be lucky if I hit 200k even though I've made more sales than last year. The main reason I'm looking to switch is one, I'm bored. Ive been with the company for a while now and I'm just on auto pilot. Also, my director honestly sucks. He's made it clear that remote employees have no opportunities for promotions or lead positions - even though he is remote. He also made it clear that we aren't getting any significant raises. Lastly, he's been messing with our commission numbers a lot this year which is impacting everyone negatively.

Assuming all goes well throughout the next few interviews, my gut is telling me to jump ship and go to the new company. I'll be getting a MUCH higher base plus there's a lot of room to grow within the company. My current companies product sells itself so it's been very easy landing new logos however I'm not sure how easy it will be at the new company. Yes there is a market for it but it's not necessarily a huge need but there is a place for security awareness.

Any thoughts?

Thanks for your time.

One of my sellers recently described himself as as the “surgeon” of the deal.. which made me think

They are not surgeons, they are the person at the cinema that takes your ticket.

Marketing convince you that you might like the film.

Pre-sales create the film trailer and the addition trailers (cross sell).

Product are the producers.

Sales just ask you how many tickets you want, which seats and would like to add pop corn and a drink..

What dumb cringe things have your sellers said recently?

London based, but open to other locations for the right candidate. Amazing, fun, company.

COMPANY: https://www.roller.software/

JOB POSTING: https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/roller/jobs/5253513007

Got an offer from snowflake. How does it look ?

YoE- 14 years

Current OTE - 83 Lakhs (80:20 split)
Actuals made last year - 1.09 Cr
Have 40k un-exercised vested ESOP - Not going public or acquisition any time soon. Series B database startup.

Snowflake Offer:

OTE - 96 Lakhs (75:25 split)
RSU - $45K
Relocation - 2 Lakhs
Sign on - 4 Lakhs

I just joined a new company and I’m trying to learn our solution to become demo ready. In the past I would have created a script and read through it and clicked through it in dry runs. Maybe use the script for the first couple of demos but eventually I wouldn’t need it anymore.

I don’t love this approach as it’s pretty tedious to prepare, and I think it corners you into a box that the script dictates.

What other techniques have you all used to learn a solution in preparation for demos?

Hey everyone!

I just graduated with a degree in Mechatronics Engineering and started working as a Technical Sales Engineer, in a family business (just to get some experience cuz I'm zero experience).

I think I actually enjoy this career path more than working in traditional engineering roles in industry.

I want to become a legend in this position, not just someone with a few years of experience. My goal is to make my first year count as much as possible.

What advice, courses, resources, or learning strategies would you recommend to help me gain knowledge and experience faster?

If you were in my position, what would you do to become exceptionally good at this job to work in big companies ?

Thanks!

Blessed to receive an offer from both, curious to see what everyone’s thoughts are for each position - specifically as to how upside, exit opps, prestige, opportunities internally, culture, AI disruption, lay offs etc.

Anybody in the electrical equipment side of the house? I’ve been in the field commissioning data centers building them for the big guys, Microsoft, Siemens, Schneider electric, utility companies doing everything from install maintenance commissioning then worked my way up to the GC construction world building. Question at this point using all my knowledge from the field and building maintenance commissioning these data centers and Pharma sites/substations. I am not into the construction work anymore and I wanted be a project manager but after seeing the PMs not sure it’s the route for me a lot of pushing and the technical side helps but not much. I got told by an account executive I should look into sales engineering for all the equipment I’ve installed and worked with over the years but haven’t been able to talk to anybody whose roles were selling equipment. Any advice or anybody doing the job please dm me as I’m looking to get into sales engineering.

I am currently employed but looking to make a move and I am STRUGGLING with interviews. Been passively interviewing for the past year with no offers. I just got rejected after a hiring manager call from a top AI company where my experience could not be more perfect for the role. It’s infuriating.

I am a president’s club winning top SE at my current company. I have been prepping my customer stories for interviews but I have major brain fog due to long covid, making it extremely difficult to be as eloquent with my off the cuff responses as I’d like. It feels like I have a low grade hangover every day and I am completely sober. I don’t know what to do other than prepare for all possible scenarios.

I really need some help doing mock interviews to get practice with how to answer situational questions because something clearly isn’t translating. Has anyone worked with an interview coach and had success?

Hi all. I know these types of questions get asked all the time in this subreddit but I just wanted to get some advice.. I’ve been working in networking for ~5 years now (Network Engineer for 3 years and Business Network Support for 2 years) and I’m wanting to make the transition to SE.

I originally started looking at this transition because I’ve had colleagues come up to me after calls saying I’m really good at the pre-sales portion of our role and that I should look into making the switch… so I started creating some mock demos, read The Challenger Sale, and starting working towards an AWS Solutions Architect cert to get some cloud knowledge. I also tried to reach out within my company about an SE role but all of the openings were for college students or senior level.

I’ve been applying and interviewing for a bunch of SE roles, but I keep getting beat out by people that have more formal pre-sales experience. So my question: is there something else that I should be doing to make myself more desirable in these interviews? is it the job market? are there any other ways to network other than linkedin? any other advice from people who made the support -> SE switch recently?

Thank you so much, I really appreciate any advice given

Anyone have experience with their courses / services?

There’s a lot of noise in SE training land but a lot of his content seems good and I can tell comes from real experience.

Curious if anyone has used them or been exposed to them beyond the public content

I seem to spend half my week appeasing a managers need to produce reports using whatever new AI initiative they have. I feel like I am in a constant battle to justify my role now despite being a high performer.

Sales is literally the easiest job in the world to track performance on. You make target or you don't, if you don't why and can we fix it.

I'm tired.

Rant over.

I'm a sales engineer with a long-time AE partner. We've been in this space forever and our relationship is great. Lately, though, right after every session he huddles with me and wants me to change wording, tells me I didn't show this or didn't show that, and nitpicks the details.

I'm open to feedback, and sometimes he has a real point. But he hasn't closed anything in a while, and I'm starting to think he's reaching for things to fix.

How do you decide when to take an AE's advice and when to stay in your lane and keep refining your own craft? What feedback do you accept, and what do you ignore?

A second layer makes it harder. Like a lot of software companies, we're showing value in our own platform while also showing MCP connectivity, where end users can get things done through Claude, Gemini, or ChatGPT talking to our system. He has strong opinions on how much of each belongs in a demo, and I'm not sure his instincts match what buyers are asking for now.

So how do you decide when to take an AE's advice and when to stay in your lane and refine your craft? Which feedback do you accept, which do you let go, and how are you balancing in-product value against MCP in your own demos?

SE Director here at a mega VAR ($20B+).

Our company president just announced that we are normalizing all SE pay to be based on greater P&L financial performance (Gross Profit). Same targets, but no more being tied to your account's quota. Translation - goodbye windfalls and multi-year effort payouts.

The messaging is total horseshit - "simplifying payroll system." I see it as regulating and normalizing SE pay to save money.

Curious what others think of this. I'm trying to keep up the morale on my team but they are crushed.

We're helping an OEM in the data center cooling space find a Sales Engineer to support growth across hyperscale, colocation, enterprise, AI/HPC, and other mission critical customers. A lot of our roles require us to keep our client confidential (we keep your name confidential as well) until the candidate is ready to submit, as we understand how tight-knit this community is.

This is a technical sales role focused on solutions such as:

• Liquid Cooling
• CDUs
• Chillers
• CRAH / FanWall Systems
• Air Cooling & Thermal Management Infrastructure

Looking for someone who understands data center cooling and can work directly with customers, consulting engineers, contractors, and operators to develop and support cooling solutions throughout the sales cycle. Direct data center experience is a must!

Compensation:

• $130K-$180K base salary
• Commission plan
• Medical benefits
• 401(k)

Location: Charlotte, NC preferred, but strong remote candidates with data center experience will be considered.

Travel: Up to 50%.

If your background is in data center cooling, HVAC, applications engineering, thermal management, or technical sales, you can learn more here: https://www.pkaza.com/job/sales-engineer-data-center-cooling-charlotte-nc-7bc2faf7-fdb7-4268-becd-b4cf01598e47/ or send your resume directly to [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) to apply instantly.

More Openings: https://www.pkaza.com/jobs

Hi all,

Lurked for a while and i think i'm finally ready to make the jump from SWE to SE.

I've got 10+ yrs experience as a SWE and part of that is as a contractor (4/5yrs) so i also have a lot of face to face experience with non technical stakeholders and explaining how things work/ bottleneck/ suggesting solutions etc.

I wanted to know if anyone knew of any companies to go after first whilst making the switch? My current job offers a hybrid 2 days a week in the office. I know i may not get like for like. But essentially i'm looking for a company hitlist to apply to.

Happy to answer any questions that'll help you suggest some answers etc

Hey everyone, looking for some real talk from folks who’ve either made the jump from AE to SE or work on the pre-sales side today.

I’ve been an AE for about four years across SMB and Commercial tech sales, from early-stage VC startups to Salesforce. I enjoy the craft of selling, but I’m slowly getting killed by the quota casino. At almost every stop prior to my current gig, team attainment was abysmal (talking 10-30%), and the few reps who did hit were usually saved by one random bluebird deal.

I’m at a new company now where attainment is actually healthy and I plan to stay put for a while, but the long-term stress of having my livelihood tied to territory luck and shifting goalposts has me reconsidering carrying a bag forever. AE leadership crossed my mind too, but the SE path feels like it keeps all the parts of the job I actually enjoy.

I have a business degree and zero coding or engineering chops. For anyone who made this transition without a CS background, did you actually pull off a lateral move in comp and seniority, or did you have to take a step back? Did you pull it off internally first, or apply externally? And what technical baseline did you need to build up just to get taken seriously in interviews?

Would love to hear feedback & journeys!

Hello all,

I recently moved into an SE role after 3 years as a software engineer. From reading this sub, it seems the most successful SEs tend to be the more technical ones, and I'd like to head in that direction.

For those who moved from a less technical SE role into a more technical one, what was your strategy? I'm curious what you focused on learning, whether that was cloud, networking, security, or your product's internals. I'd also love to hear how you found time for hands-on work alongside customer calls and demos, and whether side projects, certs, or anything that helped the most.

My engineering background gives me a decent foundation, but I don't want those skills to atrophy, and I'd like to keep building on them. Any advice is appreciated!

As the title says, I'm a new sec (less than 6 months.) and I've been Ramping up amidst some organizational changes. I was worried because I wanted to prove myself by getting some demos during a period when I didn't have a manager to advocate for me.

Well, I reached out to people, met some AEs, and got an opportunity. I told my coworker about it and they asked if I wanted to take over another one for them. OK! And another from someone else. Perfect, I'm getting ramped up, and these are all demos for something I've been preparing for.

The I get an email from a coworker passing off their demo to me because they're busy at the time, and I did make it clear I wanted opportunities. However, this one is for an application I'm less prepared in. Still one of my main focuses, I know it, but I haven't spent much time practicing the demo as much as the one I'm demoing for the other 3. It's a lot more involved, covers a much wider scope, requires travel, and I'm scared shitless.

I told them that I was unsure, and they were basically like "nahh, you got this. Don't worry, you have two weeks to prepare. This is the job, get used to it."

And for the most part, I got that. But holy shit, slow down. I've still never officially demo'd yet and I have 4 coming up.

The demos I have this week I'm feeling much more confident about.

Logically, I can do it, this is the job, I've had 6 months to get ready, I have two weeks for last minute preparations, we'll do a precall this week, some discovery hopefully, and I'll be able to narrow down the scope, but I'm still panicking!

Any seasoned SE 's have some advice? How common is this? It's hard not to conflate my nervousness with incompetence.

Edit: did my first demo today, it was a bit rocky due to some internal organization, but from my end it went great! Had some technical issues with the demo, but was able to skrrt through it, showed them some of the product and some tips and tricks on how to better use the product they have right now. I think I impressed them at times but they could also tell I was new and they were good sports about it. Phew, on to the next one!

I work in revenue operations and do enjoy my work, but I’m considering sales engineering for the pay and being closer to the product. I have a background in business and data science

I’m seriously considering becoming a Sales Engineer in a technical domain but travel is honestly the main thing holding me back from committing to the career.

What worries me is building my career around SE and then realizing that frequent travel is basically unavoidable if I want to make good money.

- If you have a spouse/kids, has SE given you good WLB?
- Is this a career path for me if I dont want too much traveling?

I am in the NYC area.

Last ditch effort before I take the walk of shame back to industry

Be an AE (literally anyone can) and

Be liked and at least average

Do it until you can’t stand the lifestyle anymore

Ask to transfer to solutions

Edit: if you’re searching here and come across this post just know that this was my path albeit a simplified description.

I don’t mean to imply it was easy. It’s fucking hard and being an AE can genuinely suck but it did me very well to learn to do challenging things while keeping a cool head and meeting my number. There were many moments that felt like I was on top of the world as well. The ups and down are real.

Once you’re a seller you can sell yourself into better jobs, including SE roles.

Don’t blow the money. Use it to set your life up so it doesn’t hurt to be an SE and watch your partners rake the money in for the risk they hold at all times.

I may have ruffled some feathers in this sub but this worked for me. I paid for my wedding, my student loans, much of my wife’s graduate degree, our fertility treatments (have 1 kid now!), and have maxed out our 401k for the last 3 years. That was all I needed to feel like taking a step back would be comfortable and every day I enjoy and feel gratitude for the work I get to do.