I am currently working as an intern engineer in Salesforce (San Francisco) but have also worked as sales engineer in Cisco (in Toronto). Just based off how the lifestyle of sales people seem, I am wondering if they make more than engineers, specifically in San Francisco. Glass door has a staggering stat that SE makes roughly 165k whereas engineers make 95k$. Any S(ales)Es and S(oftware)Es, specially new to the career (<2 years experience) can comment on actual compensation differences?
What's the salary range like for shitty vs high performing PSEs(which I assume is pre sales engineer)? And how much is commission/performance based?
Depends on the company, my bonus was around 40% of my base with ~50k RSUs
Shitty ones get fired. Top ones make a lot
I have a friend who is a sales engineer for a security software company and his salary is much lower than his OTE (on target earnings). I think salary is 125k and OTE 190k.
If you think you are an OK software engineer are comfortable talking with people and selling to them Sales will be more lucrative. It is not for everyone though.
Do sales engineers normally code?
Depends on the product and problem it solves. Some sales engineers are glorified As Seen On TV hosts. They are charismatic deliverers of demos from a script. Others are required to dig into very complex problems and configure, some times code, proof of concepts to convince their prospects that to tool fits their needs.
Not usually, but they have a deep dev background. You have to know your shit
Regardless of the years experience, I can say that generally a Sales Engineer will have a larger compensation package then a Software Engineer. A key reason for the higher pay are 2 factors: 1) You are in Sales 2) You are interacting w/ Customers, a skill set which will have a higher compensation package I suspect the $165K you see from Glass Door is taking into account the quarterly bonuses a Sales Engineer will make if the assigned region is 100% quota attainment. And a point not covered is probably accelerators attached when the region You support is beyond 100% of quota.
Pre-Sales Engineers absolutely have a higher upside. I'm at 170k base with 55k as target commission. So hit your number, 225k OTE (plus RSU's). But the ceiling is much higher if you're good and are selling a good product. Accelerators multiply commission after 100% quota attainment which means 500k-700k is realistic in good years.
I've thought about going to sales engineering but I never want to lose my coding ability
Why not?
Because having a hard skill like coding is invaluable
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If you can do it well PSE or SE is more lucrative. If you suck at it you will hate your life.