Anyone here work in Software Sales/Sales Engineer? (employees, alternative, interview)

[augusto718]

I'm a currently studying Marketing at Baruch College in NYC. I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on how to get into software sales or to be a cisco sales engineer? Any professional related advice is greatly appreciated.
I have a feeling that software and technological advances are going to hinder job growth for sales people, which is why I chose this field. Am I right or wrong?

Thanks everyone

[tabbcat]

I'm a Requirements Analyst right now... and this is actually something I'm considering as a next step. Do you have development experience or architecture experience? Requirements is a great jumping-off point because you need to understand software backwards and forwards, and you need to understand what the customer wants as well

[augusto718]

I don't have either hahah... I have commissioned sales experience, but wanted to find out how to get my feet wet in this industry. What would you suggest I could start doing to distinguish myself? Thanks for the quick response!

[tabbcat]

Definitely get involved even at a low level with IT Support... testing and use cases in particular. Or try your hand at project management so you can see the process in action

[gea12345]

Originally Posted by augusto718

I'm a currently studying Marketing at Baruch College in NYC. I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on how to get into software sales or to be a cisco sales engineer? Any professional related advice is greatly appreciated.
I have a feeling that software and technological advances are going to hinder job growth for sales people, which is why I chose this field. Am I right or wrong?

Thanks everyone

I don't know the answer to your question...but what I do know is that you should not just study marketing, but you should also take upper level business classes and math/economics/statistics. You could also take some programming classes.

however, I think most sales people learn on the job....

do you have to know 3 compute languages to sell software...I doubt it. But you might want to know one, just to understand it.

Sales people need to know how to sell, they need to know what makes people tick and how different kinds of people tick...

and most importantly you need to know your products...if you do, you will never be intimidated by a programmer customer.

but there are a lot of sales peopel out there for example CANON sales peopel who don't know their product and you end up having to Call the Technical People.

Also, if you are interested in programming projects, there are lots of volunteer programming projects on the internet ....and they are always asking for volunteers. good luck

[tgify2001]

My best friend is in software sales for Cisco. You have to have technical knowledge. She has a degree in computer science from Stanford. Companies like this often recruit heavily at top schools, so it might be worth your time to check out any programs going on at Columbia or NYU. My friend recently did a recruiting session at Stanford, and students from area colleges attended.

[oberon_1]

Originally Posted by tgify2001

My best friend is in software sales for Cisco. You have to have technical knowledge. She has a degree in computer science from Stanford. Companies like this often recruit heavily at top schools, so it might be worth your time to check out any programs going on at Columbia or NYU. My friend recently did a recruiting session at Stanford, and students from area colleges attended.

Heavily? Nobody recruits heavily nowadays.
Sorry to be the party pooper, but you may want to reconsider your enthusiasm for Cisco and high tech in general. You are years behind in your assessments. The high tech industry suffered a huge setback in recent years. If you work for Cisco, MS, Intel, HP, etc, you are just one tiny part in a huge machinery. Cisco sells its products trough a million channels and you have to ask what is your advantage over others selling the same products. As it was correctly mentioned above, you will also need technical knowhow and hands on experience with Cisco's products and datacom in general. With a commission based job in this extremely competitive field, you have to be quite special.
A different alternative is working for a small company or a startup with a unique product or technology. There you will probably be one of a few, but introducing a new product to the market is a real challenge.

[tgify2001]

When I say heavily, I mean they disproportionately recruit from elite schools over non-elite schools. Perhaps in bad times like these, they may not even bother with non-elite schools since they will trim their hiring.

[gea12345]

Originally Posted by tgify2001

When I say heavily, I mean they disproportionately recruit from elite schools over non-elite schools. Perhaps in bad times like these, they may not even bother with non-elite schools since they will trim their hiring.

Yes, we appreciate your point, laid on with syrup, that people who go to elite schools, like your friends, have a chance to interview with intel, hp, cisco, etc. and non -elite schools will not get a chance to be interviewed, in this harsh economic climate.

Well, having lived in portland for 9 years, and have met many Intel employees, I would say that they interview heavily at U. of Oregon, which is not an elite school.

Also, you might want to take Oberon's post to heart. He is giving you an industry birds eye view perspective!

Unfortunately, one cannot make the usual assumptions of the downward pecking order in all fields, including the computer field.