1st ever TAM interview with MSFT. Am I a fit?

Avanade / Product
shhakns

Go to company page Avanade Product

shhakns
Dec 31, 2019 10 Comments

I'm feeling a bit negative about this may be because of all the hate TAMs receive, but is TAM a fit for me? What do they do anyways?

L'il about me:
6+ years of mgmt consulting experience with Microsoft tech (O365, Exchange, SfB, Win 10) and Accenture business model. Early years were tech heavy and hands-on like building servers and migrating users on-site. But career has progressed pretty well where I'm now doing Change and Release Mgmt for large enterprise infra projects.

I've got base certs for aws and azure as well, with minimal hands on.

Strong ppl mgmt, process improvement, tech rollout experience.

TC: 115k
YoE: 6
DMV area

#interviews

comments

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TOP 10 Comments
  • Amazon
    mSDf567

    Go to company page Amazon

    mSDf567
    TAM @ Microsoft = Talking Account Manager. Joking aside your job is to sell premier plans and renewals, be on the hook when your customer has a Sev A and find ways to get them to burn their unused hours with health checks etc. I think you might be a little overqualified if you want to do real tech work.
    Dec 31, 2019 2
    • Google
      formerMS

      Go to company page Google

      formerMS
      A ridiculous comment considering I was a M4 at Microsoft. TAMs were a group I managed when a M1 many years ago.

      TAMs do not manage cases anymore and they are on the hook for Premier Core Billed revenue (support) and Office 365/M365 and Azure consumption.

      They are in sales. There is no concept for "hours" in Unified Support. If you don't know what you're talking about shut up.
      Jan 1, 2020
    • Amazon
      ks890z

      Go to company page Amazon

      ks890z
      Thanks for your info from many years ago. I was in SMSG 2 years ago and this was still the case.
      Jan 1, 2020
  • I think you have a great background to be a TAM. will make building trust and relationships with customers easier. Also renewing Premier contracts is really the number 1 KPI as well as driving Azure consumption... so I would say your vast experience will make achieving these KPIs easier. It might get annoying after a while when you see that it’s all about the numbers in the end, however, it is an interesting role.
    Dec 31, 2019 0
  • New / Biz Dev
    Gravel-Ind

    New Biz Dev

    Gravel-Ind
    Why not, give it a try.

    You learn a lot through interview process, and may find out that TAM is not for you. Or what are the gaps you need to fill in etc.
    Dec 31, 2019 0
  • Amazon
    FormerOps

    Go to company page Amazon

    FormerOps
    Microsoft TAMs are beyond useless
    Jan 17, 2020 1
  • Google
    formerMS

    Go to company page Google

    formerMS
    The TAM role is easy to get into at Microsoft but hard to succeed in. Most are dumb college grads and even non college grads fail to meet quota.

    Most are duds.
    Jan 1, 2020 1