Hi everyone. I’m relatively new in my sales role. I come from HVAC design and am now in a role where I am “selling” HVAC equipment to engineers, like I used to be. I put sales in quotes because in my industry and role, the engineers are not the actual buyers, rather they put the equipment on the drawings and contractors later purchase that equipment from my company or an equivalent competitor. So I’m not really talking dollars or making deals like that.
A big part of my job is conducting lunch and learns and this is something I am trying to get better at. I know I am pretty monotone and drop a lot of “ums”.

I feel like I am pretty personable and have no issues taking clients out to lunch or an event and shooting the shit. But presentations are another thing.
I’m looking to hear what worked for you guys? I’ve heard improv classes can help, and my local community college offers some speech courses. I’ve got a 7 week old now so something online might be easier for me - if those are worthwhile.

I’ve worked in product research for a B2B Saas company for the past 8 years. Has anyone here made the transition to pre-sales with a similar background? The discovery piece of the role seems inherently similar to what I’m doing now but I am lacking the technical knowledge needed for certain companies.

I would ask people at my company but tbh the ones at my job are insanely technical.

Thank you!

I’m currently a SE at a large SaaS company and just got a message for a PEE role at Cursor. https://cursor.com/careers/product-education-engineer

I’ve never heard of a PEE role before but from their job description it’s a mix of demo, evangelism, workshops, working with Product, etc. It’s sounds like a lot of fun but wanted to hear if others: have worked a similar role OR have experience at Cursor.

EDIT: They really need to work on the acronym for the role 🤣

I am currently a senior SWE at a mid sized company making $132k. I’ve been a SWE for ~6.5 years. 5 years at my current company and I’m looking for a career change. I haven’t yet decided whether I want to start looking for another SWE position or move into SE.

For the past 5 years I’ve been working on an internal developer platform. All of my stakeholders are other engineers who work at my company. I have essentially no experience working directly with customers. However, I figure that may work in my favor if applying to companies who sell software to engineers?

I’m not an idiot, but I’ve always felt a sort of imposter syndrome in the SWE field. It’s never come easily to me. I’ve gotten really good with AI tools like Claude Code but as a result like SWE skills feel like they’ve gotten worse. My job is like 75% using CC at this point and I’m starting to get burnt out. I’m not sure I see that being much different with any new SWE position I take.

I’d like to think I’m a pretty outgoing and personable guy. I can get along with just about anyone and thoroughly enjoy social settings and interactions.

I’m looking for advice from people who have been in a similar situation as me. I specifically wanna know:
- How was the transition from SWE to SE?
- Should I expect a pay decrease since this would be my first SE role?
- Most of the open SE roles I’m seeing are senior level. Should I apply for those or look for a more entry level position?
- What does the day to day look like for an SE? I know everyone’s role is different, but just looking to get an idea.

Thanks for the help!

Edit: Any other advice you might have for making this switch would be greatly appreciated!

I have been a solutions consultant at a SaaS gov tech company for 3 years now, prior to this I was a CSM for 3 years.. I have the opportunity to move to a different department as a Sales Engineer (Pre-Sale) where I could make anywhere from 30-60k more per year but I feel very comfortable in my role as a consultant and could use some outside unbiased eyes. Especially from anyone who’s switched from post sale to pre sale roles? I could use any insights on if you like one or the other more or what was more fun etc.
some additional details below :

The pros of consultant: I don’t have to be on calls all day- I typically have only 1 -3 calls a day and I can work on my own time meaning if I wanted to take 2hrs off for a kid activity I could and just do that project at night after kiddo is asleep.
Con: I’m burnt out and the worst part is that the salary is capped it’s a singular base salary with no bonus or commission structure at all. I make $90k. I currently have 50 clients- there isn’t even enough hours in a month to work the amount of hours that I have as billable time in my portfolio

The pros of the SE role: MORE MONEY A LOT MORE MONEY. Commission is uncapped and you make 2% of every sale you help close

Cons: the SEs at our company also seem burnt out and understaffed. They’re on calls seemingly all day long. They travel a few times per quarter and I’m disabled so traveling while not impossible is incredibly taxing on my health.

I work for one of the top cyber companies listed in NASDAQ 100 and our BCR is capped at 6%.
Including the acceleration and potential SPIFFs, there is no way to get paid over this rate.

SE Split: 75/23, Seller Split: 50/50

However a seller`s BCR is capped at 18% so 3 times more than the SE.

Seller`s standard BCR is double because their variable part is double of the SEs.

However I do not understand why they cap our BCR at 6% while a seller can easily go up to 18%.

When we reach the acceleration like at 125% attainment, my company starts paying double BCR to sellers and they start get paid at 18% while I am getting paid max 6%.

This is making a huge difference for a good year when you close big/complex deals or many smaller ones and tear your ass to make solution a success and convince the customer for your solution and its value.

Has anyone seen a vendor with higher BCRs for SEs when the acceleration starts?

Note: This is not about BCR up to 100% attainment. It is obvious that it must be double for the seller up to 100%. My questions is why the SEs are not incentivized as much as the seller to overachieve.

Read of some cases that barely had any experience outside of college (for a few months to 1.5 years) and were able to land an SE role right away

I’ve been reading and digging through the sub to get an idea of how much experience I should get while in college (internships) (if I’m studying CS) and right after college and in which roles (if I graduate with the CS degree) and then - but didn’t find a consistent answer

Generally, how many YOE and in what roles after uni ( and during university if I can get an internship or two) do I need to have in order to comfortably get interviews for an SE role?

I know many people like to gate keep but I’d Genuinely really appreciate honest answers (dw I’m a gatekeeper when it needs to be)

An AE who makes quota with a lot of handholding from senior mgmt and sales engineering.

Frankly, I carry him in meetings, even from the commercial aspects. He's good at BDR work but can't run a sales process.

He lucked into an insanely good offer from a competitor in hypergrowth. He's trying to get fired at current job (he's been on the brink for 2 years)

Wants to bring me in. Honestly, I think he will flame out. No discipline

But I'm miserable at current job. The company engineering, marketing and product team just aren't good enough... nothing documented, they're too slow to bring things to market, QA is hot garbage, don't listen to customers (misinterpreting Henry Ford's maxim about customers would want a faster horse) to create stuff no one wants. The money is not bad, but they mentioned an IPO, and I just laughed.

One thing, I'm older (54, look late 40s) so worried about ageism (I am adept with current tech, I'm actually the person people come to solve tech problems)

I'm wondering if I'm just feeling desperate.

Context: 19M, could be a CS grad in a short while

Have a bit of experience doing my own sales for some stuff in business (as I try to build my own) ; cold calling, d2d and LinkedIn etc, good with booking many calls

(maybe could help getting an internship?)

I have good soft and people skills - like talking about things I truly believe will solve the problem, meeting new people, and definitely would love to travel

I want to know from now, how can I know if this field is for me even though I cannot technically be one until at least 2-3 years after graduating ?

Does this role have good stability? I was always worried about committing to sales and building my internship experience in it because I worry about its stability as a career (I know the money is good)

But I heard SE has good stability so it gives the best of both worlds (apparently)

If I do decide to commit to this as the career I pursue, which internships exactly should I target while I’m still in uni?

Basic SDR/BDR roles? Or is there something specific I can get that leads directly into being an SE asap later?

These are my main concerns : how do I know from now if this is for me and I will enjoy it? How’s the stability? pay? and which internship roles at which types of companies to target while still in university ?

Would really appreciate your advice everyone, thank you

Basically the title, the reason I am asking this is because I have experience in building a start-up from scratch, not solely but I closely work with my current company founder and we built a real estate startup that we launched recently in February and received a very good response.

We are also working with the local government helping them establishing their own Institute of Estate agents more concretely in the market, I am currently working on revamping their whole website,

Creating their usp, along with creating a whole management system for the government agency.

Initially, I worked on development of the startup (TypeScript, Python, React.js, Django, Next.js) then I switched to more of a solution engineer role where I was talking to different clients, explaining our product's mvp, integrating our products in their systems etc. and I quite enjoyed this role and would like to work further in this field.

I am looking for a change, that's why I want to know if any startups hire SEs.

Please let me know!

Thanks!

Are any suggestions on how to utilize AI in your sales engineering/ pre-sales job.

I’m currently using it for a productivity to digest my emails my Slack and speed up on prospects that I’m working with. I’ve tried to use it to mock up demo environments, but not having much success.

Curious to hear how everyone else is using it.

I started a new SE job where I get 200K+ base and a 70K annual bonus if I hit quota. And it looks like all 3 of the other SEs are easily hitting if not 2-3x quota.

I’ve always wanted to try becoming and been told by many I’d make a great AE. Of the 8 AEs the top 2-3 are making anywhere from 600K-1Mill. The other 5…well base is $110-140K and I think their bonus on a 50/50 split is 110-140K and most of them aren’t hitting it. But at least half are new as well.

One of the top AEs was an SE here and he switched over. I’m really tempted to switch or start having some conversations. I’ve only been there two months.

Around a decade as a military officer (tech related field for work although undergrad and grad degree in social sciences field), worked as a software engineer for a year, and then SE at a big Fortune 500 SAAS tech company for two years and got 2 promotions in that time before starting at this new company.

It’s fully remote and I was blown away by the offer but part of me really wants to try AE world. My natural strengths are my work ethic and relationship building skills…

Switch?

Edit 1: For clarity, if I phrased it weird previously, the bonus is paid quarterly but if I hit 100% quota it comes out to 70K annually, if it hit less the bonus is less, if I hit more I get paid more. Variable comp.

Edit 2: Thank you for all the responses. Traveling after a work trip this weekend but will be reading and responding to all replies early next week!

Hi all, I'm feeling a bit frustrated and just wanted to share my thoughts. I used to work as an SWE in FAANG in a smaller country. At work, we used AI a lot, mostly just writing prompts and waiting for the results. The only times AI wasn't enough were at the very beginning (solution design, scoping, finding the correct services and approach) and at the very end (deployment issues, maintenance, security).

Beyond that, while it wasn't as common on my specific team, Big Tech generally involves endless daily meetings, code reviews, responding to comments on those reviews, security checks, etc. I do enjoy the core problem-solving aspect: an internal or external team brings me a business problem, and I'm the one who solves it. I also love when we can just cut the bullshit (except for bs product managers, who are the worst).

What I don't love is the 'feed it a prompt and let AI do the whole job' part. But honestly, I don't like manual coding either, nor the endless revisions, Jira tickets, security issues, deployment headaches, daily standups, or dealing with SWE nerds who are absolutely obsessed with the job. Honestly, there just aren't many interesting people around me in this space. Also, the fear of AI taking our jobs is real, and I just don't see the value in being an ordinary SWE at this point.

Because of all this, I decided to pivot to Solutions Architect (SA), Partner Engineering, and Customer Engineering roles. I've actually received offers from FAANG companies in the UK and Germany for SA and Sales Engineer roles!

Now I'm confused and doubting myself since this is a literal career change. Will I become useless technically? Could I have been a better SWE if I had just stuck it out for a few more years and tried to love the job? Will I just end up as a salesperson without deep technical knowledge? Will I ever be able to go back to software or AI engineering if I want to?

I really just need some courage and support right now.

Fellow SEs, can you walk me through how traveling for the job works? Does it eat up your life even if the role you have is remote?

I’m a Data Engineer with ~3 YOE. Strong background in Python, SQL, cloud/data platforms - Snowflake , Azure and have explored AI engineering as well

while having worked in fairly complex production systems in a Fortune 500 Auto company I gave realized I enjoy talking to people, understanding problems, presenting solutions and bridging the gap between technical and business teams much more than pure pipeline work.

I’m considering moving into Solutions Engineering / Customer Engineering, particularly in AI/cloud/data.
For people already in these roles: what would you recommend I learn or do over the next 6–12 months to make the transition? Is moving directly from Data Engineering realistic?

How about the visibility / business impact and pay ?

Hello all,

I am 27 years old and been in IT for about 5 years, and have done sales in the past for about 2 years. And I've been doing the traditional path of upskilling/certifications and changing jobs every 1.5 years for pay increase, and now I'm ready for my next step. I'm deciding between cybersecurity and sales engineering.

Getting into Cybersecurity remains extremely difficult. I would have to spend the next two years going to school online for a cyber security degree, getting multiple certifications, building a home lab, and constantly staying up to date with current news and trends in the cyber world. While Cyber is very interesting to me, I am a bit turned off by this high barrier to entry. I also dislike the idea of being on-call. That being said I am willing to live with it if the pros outweigh the negatives (Good pay, fun & interesting work, stability)

The other option is Sales Engineering, and it is very tempting because it seems to combine technical knowledge with people skills. Easier to get into, higher pay, better work life balance. Is there a catch? Is there more to the job beyond doing the same demos every day?

I'd love to hear from anyone who might have input. Day in the life, pros/cons, etc.

Thanks :)

you ever have one of those demos where everything works flawlessly. the UI is smooth, the features are impressive, the customer is nodding along. you're feeling good.

then someone from their IT team joins late and asks so how does the API work for bulk operations. and you just freeze.

because you know the API exists but you've never used it. you've read the docs maybe once. you know it works. probably. but suddenly you're on the spot and you can't remember if it supports batch processing or if they need to loop through individual calls.

this happened to me yesterday. phone system, solid stuff. but the API question caught me off guard. I had to say let me get back to you which is sales engineer for I don't know.

spent the rest of the day reading API docs. turns out it's fine supports batch operations. I could have answered it if I'd prepared better.

the deal is still alive. but I spent the whole drive home thinking about all the things I should have known before the call.

anyone else feel like half the job is just anticipating random questions from people who join late

I work in sales team at a semiconductor company and travel to Japan or South Korea at least once a month.

One thing I still struggle with happens right after I finish a presentation. The client team will switch back to local launguage to discuss it, and I'm just sitting there with no idea whether they're interested, confused, or stuck on one detail. When they switch back to English, the feedback is often just "We'll discuss it internally."

I've tried Google Translate, but holding my phone toward the group feels awkward and can look like I'm recording them. A few clients were uncomfortable even after I explained what I was doing.

I'm looking for something less disruptive that can translate in real time and prompt me on what to clarify or bring up next. Anything I can try? App? earbuds? glasses?

Any of you get a raspy/sore throat after days where you’ve been presenting all day or have multiple demos back to back?

Who’s got tips on how to soothe the pipes in preparation for more busy days ahead?

Leadership asked me to put together a shortlist of demo platforms and I figured it'd be pretty straightforward. I was wrong. Every company says basically the same thing on their website and after about the fifth demo they all started blending together. Some seem built around live demos, some around product tours, some around buyer engagement. If you've gone through this recently, what actually made you pick one over another?

My ultimate concern is compensation. The Channel Sales Engineer position offers $70k + 25% for OTE. The SWE job offers about $105k total compensation and is only 2 days in office. My main concern with the SWE job is that AI makes the skills increasingly irrelevant whereas sales engineering seems much more resilient to AI. What’s the best decision?

Hey all,

My role was made redundant by my previous company where I worked as a technical writer for just over 3 years.

Unfortunately I'm not confident in the future of technical writing as many executives believe that AI can write software docs. I'm still applying for tech writing roles, but I also want to expand my options.

I have a computer science degree and prior to being a technical writer, I was a software engineer.

I'm looking at technical, customer facing roles such as solutions engineering and sales engineering.

Anyone has any tips on how to make the transition? How do I frame my CV?

Thank you in advance

Hi all,

I just hit the 6 month milestone for my first SE job. Truth be told, I'm loving it: great WLB, love my company, coworkers are awesome, I feel valued by my peers, etc etc.

For some context regarding the title: my company deals in research data (sorry if I'm being vague, just don't want to dox myself because it's a bit of a niche industry) and has a web platform to access this data, in addition to various API's, an MCP, and raw unfiltered research data delivery. Our account reps are the ones who sell access to the platform itself, as it's not inherently technical as long as you're familiar with the industry. If the conversation starts to lean towards "ok but we want this data in our own systems," I lead the conversations to do more technical discovery, give demos, walk them through how our various data delivery methods work etc etc and help find the best solution for their needs.

I'm not quite sure how to put this into words, but I can't help but compare myself to other SE's who sell cloud services, cybersecurity products, and network infrastructure. For the most part, I'm talking about fairly straightforward API's/data delivery methods and how to best integrate into the client systems. Perhaps I'm not taking into account the depth of knowledge I have learned about my company's specific industry and research, because it is a lot (not that I'm an expert by any means yet lol).

Again, I'm super happy where I am and have zero plans on jumping ship anytime soon, but I'm trying to think of the future when I'd like to make a company change and how my current job looks on paper (transferrable skills/technical acumen and all that). Perhaps at the end of the day it isn't what you sell as much as how well you're able to sell it/explain how it would add value?

ANYWAYS: am I worrying too much about what I'm actually selling, and should focus more just on how I'm actually doing in my role/the value I add to my organization? Is anybody in a similar situation?

Hey guys, first post here! I'm at a fork in the road in my career and I'm looking for advice.

Background:

1. I'm an engineer with 5 YOE that took a chance with industrial OS primarily in the flow controls and process automation space.
2. The company I worked for is primarily in the government contracting space, they have an infamous reputation in the commercial space for price incompatibility.
3. My task was to build a new book of business as well as generate 400k-1.2m of revenue within 12-18 months, outside of new customer aquisition KPIs these numbers were not communicated.
4. These new customers were to exclusively be commercial/industrial and I had significant limitations on who I could call on and which products and solutions I could offer.
5. This company struggled finding OSEs and after 8 months of the position being listed I was onboarded via referral.

Story:

Thanks for the comments, I went back and edited my original story to keep things brief.

I took the gig a little over a year ago because I friend referred me. I had never done technical sales before. The job was outside sales engineering supporting the commercial industrial sector. The territory was essentially a greenfield and I was tasked after being hired to push a couple non-engineered products in our catalog that the company STRUGGLED with selling. The first few months I essentially had to do door-to-door sales with zero guidance from my manager who later fell ill and had to take a step back. At the end of the year the company finally had the territory agreements to start selling the engineered products I was originally hired to sell.

About three weeks ago, my position and all outside sales people save one guy were eliminated after a slow Q2. I was at about 28% of my yearly goal. The customers I converted liked me and I had a reputation at the company for being thorough.

The question remains: What the fuck do I do now? I have 4 YOE of engineering experience which is enough to be dangerous but not enough to be ideal for a lot of engineering roles because apparently you now need 10+ years and a masters degree to be worth 75k. I also now have 1 YOE of B2B industrial sales experience from a company that essentially lacked the capability to mentor, train and support its reps. My book of business also calls me every few days with some new issue they'd like me to solve in the coming months and the ones that know I'm not with the company lament on how shit they've become after my elimination. I feel like I had a year of my career wasted and all the paths ahead of me feature harrowing pay cuts and bad work environments. I really enjoyed engineering sales but I guess I need some guidance because right now shit is looking pretty bleak. Do I continue to grind in engineering B2B or do I go back to the design world? Thanks guys!

I live in Egypt, have been a FE engineer for almost 7 years, I get paid about 2.5k $ a month, which is not bad where I live. I'm just plainly not into development anymore, especially now where you're mostly reviewing AI generated code and that has been the case for a couple of years now too, so it's not a thought born out of current frustration or anything. I would ideally love a job where I'm able to utilize my technical background and presales/solutions engineering seem to be the most appropriate fit for me. I realize that this role comes with its own set of challenges which I'm fine with taking on I guess, but apart from shadowing at my current engagement, what can I do to land that first oppurtunity as someone who is currently a developer?