Engineering to Sales
Hi everyone, Had anyone made the jump from Engineering to Sales? I am realizing that I would rather be on the Sales side of things after four years.
Panasonic Avionics Nintendo64 Oct 7, 2019
I’ve gone from being an electrical engineer to sales. I will say that if you’re after TC, it’s not the best move. Yes, sales can make 500k but those positions are for very high profile companies where you bring your relationships in. Most AE roles are churn and burn with a starting Bay Area salary of 80k base + 80k commission. Also most companies have crap products so it’s an ever more uphill battle. Also because sales requires no specific training or degree, every Tom dick and Harry are vying for those positions. I’d much rather make 130k consistently versus feast or famine roles.
Why on earth would you want to be on the sales side of saas? Long hours, inconsistent pay, even when absolutely crushing it the TC is barely equivalent to engineering comp.
Wrong. Many sales guys make 2-3x the software engineering salaries. Of course there are some sales guys who make half as well. I’ve worked at more than a few places where the b2b sales salaries would rival some of top salaries posted here by higher level FAANG engineers.
You might find some sales guys who make more than the average Eng, but the average sales guy makes far less than the average Eng. You shouldn't compare the average to the extremes. Most experienced sales guys have a base of like 60k, and feeding the pipeline can take months. The average sales cycle for large b2b contracts has been creeping past 6 months since it requires long RFP/RFQ hurdles. On top of that larger SaaS companies can have sales quotas in the millions, with tiered commission structures that fuck you if you fall short by just a bit. If you're going from Eng to Sales, unless you were an extraordinary outlier, you likely didn't have much direct client contact meaning you'll have to build your network from scratch. You'll also have to sharpen your own sales framework in the context of a product that you did not have a hand in building.