31–40 of 43 posts
It's been discussed a few times on here, but one way is through technical sales. For me it was that or management. I was a coder for 25 years. At some point, it doesn't matter if you are still getting better at code. There's a ceiling there that doesn't seem to budge. Sales has given me a lot of money and free time for my family.
Read the book Inspired by Marty Cagan. If that doesn't get you excited about Product Management I don't know what will. Having 11 years of experience in tech will help tremendously but you'll need to have some awesome soft skills too.
This is a great read on switching.
https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-get-into-product-m...
On the network side study for the CCNA to easily slide into jobs. You might take a temporary pay cut for that move but should be back to normal once you become a senior with a CCNP. Once you can write automation to configure switches or write automation improve routing table you will be worth far more than your peers.
Using your software experience to forensic tools, footprint automation, and better reports is huge and takes more experience than you would think from the outside looking in.
I'd look into jobs that allows you to either work less or make engineering some sort of side activity, like in finance they need people that can write python, technical writing, law, biotech, product management etc. I believe in those areas you can even attain a similar compensation.
Your responsibilities are light: listen to people's problems, ask them (enlightening?) questions, and take notes. You don't have to give advice unless you want to; be a sounding board and let them work their own problems out. Most people won't listen to advice anyway, even when they pay for it.
Its a perfect job if you're empathetic. Lots of interesting behavior out there. You can publish or not. Pay is OK, work is steady and will always be available. People have emotional problems when doing poorly AND when doing well. It's recession-proof, like owning a liquor store but safer and not as profitable.
Or you could buy a liquor store.
Switched a couple of times. Its hard, initially. Switching fields feels like pulling tooth and and learning how to ride a bike at the same time. Good news is that its over before you know it. It helps if you can believe in your ability to get through the first few months. Definitely talk to someone who has made a similar switch. Just to prepare yourself mentally more than anything else. If you could share which field…
I haven't decided which field I want to go to, but someone here mentioned law. That sounds fascinating to me, and a complete different thing. I am hoping my analytical skills can be used at a firm.
As a case study of one, I transitioned from engineer to being a technical writer last year. I now run a small agency, but I could have stayed employed in the field just as easily.
The money isn't quite as lucrative as in software engineering, but it's very livable, unlike many forms of writing.
You also don't have to limit yourself to dry documentation. Companies hire technical writers to do blog posts, case studies, and even marketing copy for technical products.
I've also had friends transition into fields like product management and network security, which might also be a nice change of pace. I wrote more about this here: https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/alternative-career-paths/
There's plenty you can do, but you have to figure out what appeals to you, the tradeoffs, path, etc. I found that the book "Designing your life" really helped me. It encourages talking to people who are already in different fields / roles that interest you. When I did this, sometimes I found myself saying, "yes that sounds amazing." Other times I found myself saying, "ugh that's not what I thought it was at all." Eve…
Sales engineering always sounded great to me as well, and the few times I got a chance to participate in the sales process as a SWE it was always very interesting: meet new people, do work that is challenging but not mentally as draining as being torn apart in a code review, hang out after work with energizing and fun sales folks, ... Just to collect one random datapoint, do you work for an enterprise-focused tech co…
I work as a sales engineer for Databricks. As a SWE I had built cloud infrastructure like the equivalent of AWS S3 for the companies I worked for. So the technical nature of the product and customers appealed to me and made my skillset valuable to the role.
> how much travel do you do outside the pandemic?
I have not had this job outside the pandemic. I'm NYC-based, and my understanding is that I would have traveled by subway to meet clients quite often, but plane travel would have been only a few times a quarter.
> What would be the “FAANGs” for a SWE turning into a sales engineer?
When figuring out who you want to work for, I would suggest selling a product that you like to customers you would like to work with. If you like the product and the customers the job can be a joy. If not, it can be a slog. You have a huge leg up if you already have experience with the product or came from the industry that will be using the product. Another important thing to look at is the sales culture of the organization. Some organizations have aggressive sales cultures where the "win" is what matters regardless of all else. Other sales organizations are more focused on making their customers successful. As a former SWE, the customer success sales culture appeals far more to me.
One thing I really like about working for Databricks is that, while we do make commission, it's a pooled commission. So I get compensated on the performance of the team, not just myself. So it fosters a very collaborative atmosphere. We're always jumping in to help each other out. Individual commissions can make for a cut-throat sales culture. I probably make less money than I would with individual commissions, but I'm much happier. So that's another thing to look at: how people are compensated.
There's plenty you can do, but you have to figure out what appeals to you, the tradeoffs, path, etc. I found that the book "Designing your life" really helped me. It encourages talking to people who are already in different fields / roles that interest you. When I did this, sometimes I found myself saying, "yes that sounds amazing." Other times I found myself saying, "ugh that's not what I thought it was at all." Eve…
Would it be hard to transition from that type of role back into a more product-engineering type position? Do you perceive there as being any stigma of engineering-adjacent roles?