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DiscoMan

Sales Engineer

Catalyst
Valued Contributor
Contributor
+1

SE ➡️ AE Move

Hey All --

I broke into tech as a BDR then Senior BDR. Instead of going down the AE route, I decided to become an SE. I've been in an SE role for the past 3.5 - 4 years supporting MM & Enterprise AEs across entire sales cycles but I am hungry to get an AE role. 

I'd be curious to hear from the community if they think it's possible & get any feedback from those that have done it on what they highlighted in resume/interview process to be successful. I've been applying to a few SMB AE roles asking for 2/3 years closing experience and getting shut down which sucks. 

I am all ears on the communities feedback and potentials guidance. If anyone knows of companies open to this transition, I'd also love to hear (hope that's cool - first time poster).

Appreciate it!
🧠 Advice
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9

14 comments

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Gasty
Notable Contributor
4
War Room Community Manager
I am suspecting this SE --> AE transition is not an option at your current firm?
Sunbunny31
Politicker
3
Sr Sales Executive 🐰
That’s the question. Many companies will support the transition unless there are no roles available.
CuriousFox
WR Officer
2
🦊
Unless there's an opportunity to move. Would you be willing to do that?
DiscoMan
Catalyst
2
Sales Engineer
Heavy question cause a lot goes into that. Pay, location, family. Guess it depends on where the move would be to + in the comp/company worth it
DiscoMan
Catalyst
2
Sales Engineer
Probably should’ve added this into the original post but doesn’t seem likely. A few months back they eliminated about 20/25 people (decent for us) from the MM/SMB segment and are only hiring Enterprise right now
Kosta_Konfucius
Politicker
3
Sales Rep
I think its a very do-able transition, ideally with the same company since you know the products so well.

However, you have done outbound with being a BDR and have presented to the DM for won deals.

I would think its fairly straight forward.
TennisandSales
Politicker
2
Head Of Sales
This is harder then you think it should be.

the biggest problem being you dont have experience managing ppl through a sales process from start to finish.

especially in this market where there seem to be lots of ppl looking for a job that have good experience, the best bet would be to try and make that switch at your current company
DiscoMan
Catalyst
2
Sales Engineer
It’s definitely proving difficult and that’s a fair point. I would’ve thought 4ish years building technical and business value would make up for the deal management aspect which was why I was targeting SMB AE roles.
Maximas
Tycoon
0
Senior Sales Executive
At my old company you could just shift back so easily!
Diablo
Politicker
0
Sr. AE
I don’t think it’s impossible but it could be a bit of challenging. What types of companies are you applying to? I would do some research and find the companies that do both inbound and outbound where your experience might add value. Not sure if I make sense but that’s what I would have done to enter that territory.
DiscoMan
Catalyst
0
Sales Engineer
Yeah that makes sense. As far as companies targeting, I’m focusing on just the SaaS space for now overall, haven’t decided on a specific industry. If the tech is cool and I think it makes a difference, that’s moreso what matters to me.
GDO
Politicker
0
BDM
I think it could be a very powerful background to have when moving into an AE role.
DiscoMan
Catalyst
0
Sales Engineer
Need to relay that to all hiring managers then 😅
IYNFYL
Politicker
0
Enterprise SaaS AE
Depends on the organization. Honestly I think the SE is more of a secure job, however I think both roles are similar to what you could bring to the table overall

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