Stepping straight into an SE role is going to be a challenge. Here are the career paths I’ve seen most frequently (IT infrastructure space on the OEM side as well as the VAR/partner side)
- Start in sales and take advantage of all tech training opportunities provided; let SE management know of your interest in moving into a more technical role, and ask what you need to achieve for that to happen.
- Work for a customer, with the tech in question, and be a positive and easy-to-work-with person. Talk to your tech vendors and partners about how much you enjoy their tech and how much you’d like to be able to help other companies realize the value you’ve experienced from their product/solution.
- Start in lower-end technical role (3rd shift tier 1 support engineer, for example) and work your butt off to move up the org chart (TIer 2, Tier 3, jump to project engineering) improve your technical skills and demonstrate your customer service and advocacy focus.
For most companies in tech, great SEs are the difference between “ok” performance and “awesome”, they are also a significant expense, so the hiring qualifications are very restrictive and you must truly balance strong tech skills, strong presentation skills, and the soft skills to quickly establish trust and rapport with clients.