Comment Consider a Sales Engineer position (Score 1) 1027
I have spent around 12 years in various IT positions (UNIX/Cisco/Windows/etc.) and I can't say I was disillusioned, or bored, but the stress of being on-call and the responsibility of many times being the stop at the end of the buck had made me start looking outside of IT. I had spent some time assisting the sales force at a managed web hosting company in a previous position, so I started looking for Sales Engineer positions with technology companies.
The way technical products are sold is rapidly changing as geek has started to become chic and good Sales Engineers are in high demand. Of course, you have strong technical abilities AND be able to communicate and work effectively with sales guys (and yes I'm talking about the cliched sales guy). If you can handle all of that and find the right position, you can not only decrease your stress and day-to-day responsibility, but you can often times increase your salary.
I currently work as an SE for a global telecommunications carrier (yes, it is hard to stomach at times, but at least I don't work for AT&T, VZB, Qwest, Sprint, or any of the mega carriers) and I am significantly happier and more care free than I was previously. No on call, no late nights, flexible schedule, etc.
Sales Engineering allows you to leverage your skills and experience while ditching some of the more tedious aspects of IT. Of course you have to cope with being in sales, but I am happier for making the change.
Good luck.
The way technical products are sold is rapidly changing as geek has started to become chic and good Sales Engineers are in high demand. Of course, you have strong technical abilities AND be able to communicate and work effectively with sales guys (and yes I'm talking about the cliched sales guy). If you can handle all of that and find the right position, you can not only decrease your stress and day-to-day responsibility, but you can often times increase your salary.
I currently work as an SE for a global telecommunications carrier (yes, it is hard to stomach at times, but at least I don't work for AT&T, VZB, Qwest, Sprint, or any of the mega carriers) and I am significantly happier and more care free than I was previously. No on call, no late nights, flexible schedule, etc.
Sales Engineering allows you to leverage your skills and experience while ditching some of the more tedious aspects of IT. Of course you have to cope with being in sales, but I am happier for making the change.
Good luck.
