6 Figures 6 Certs Random Thoughts Thread

[Rawtid]

Finding the correct number of fukks not to give at work, is really the key. With my other manager, we had a more flexible schedule so work had become more like 7 days a week as long as I made 40 hours. I would use weekends or evenings to build out/test projects. Now it's straight 9-5. I don't log in after 5, I don't check in at all during the weekend.

Luckily with design stopped...for now, I can focus on SOP's.

 

[ViShawn]

Any of y'all have memberships to places like Pershing, SoHo Club, The Gathering, etc? I think those exclusive places would be good for business and networking.

 

[dora_da_destroyer]

Any of y'all have memberships to places like Pershing, SoHo Club, The Gathering, etc? I think those exclusive places would be good for business and networking.

i've been to a few via vendors or other people in my network who have invited me. not sure what they look like post covid, especially out here in the bay where so many people are remaining remote so there's not the same after work social scene, but IMO, they kinda feel like you're either already in that world and you and your buddies have memberships there or you're a business who can write off a membership. i never felt like i could fully break into the inner circles in those places, it felt like being a groupie with VIP access trying to get on but people don't know you from all the other places and private/residential events/parties they go to so they'll chat you up but you aint gonna be part of the group chat KWIM?

But I guess this varies by city, the industry(ies) heavily represented at said club, and the racial makeup/diversity of the club. The ones in SF have a bunch of people who made a lot of money in tech and that skews really white and male, with a handful of chinese and indian folk, and it doesn't feel welcoming for the average black chick who wasn't brought up well off/around white people.

 

[ViShawn]

i've been to a few via vendors or other people in my network who have invited me. not sure what they look like post covid, especially out here in the bay where so many people are remaining remote so there's not the same after work social scene, but IMO, they kinda feel like you're either already in that world and you and your buddies have memberships there or you're a business who can write off a membership. i never felt like i could fully break into the inner circles in those places, it felt like being a groupie with VIP access trying to get on but people don't know you from all the other places and private/residential events/parties they go to so they'll chat you up but you aint gonna be part of the group chat KWIM?

But I guess this varies by city, the industry(ies) heavily represented at said club, and the racial makeup/diversity of the club. The ones in SF have a bunch of people who made a lot of money in tech and that skews really white and male, with a handful of chinese and indian folk, and it doesn't feel welcoming for the average black chick who wasn't brought up well off/around white people.

I know a few people that have memberships. I'm in Austin so it's SoCal-lite in terms of being very white and tech centric. I'm in tech so there may be some advantage for me. I could see what you mean though - sometimes you talk to interesting people for a night and nothing will come out of it. Maybe being a regular at one of those spots could be worthwhile though.

I know The Gathering spots are Black owned so I would assume in Houston, Atlanta, or DC you'd see more Black people represented.

 

[dora_da_destroyer]

I know a few people that have memberships. I'm in Austin so it's SoCal-lite in terms of being very white and tech centric. I'm in tech so there may be some advantage for me. I could see what you mean though - sometimes you talk to interesting people for a night and nothing will come out of it. Maybe being a regular at one of those spots could be worthwhile though.

I know The Gathering spots are Black owned so I would assume in Houston, Atlanta, or DC you'd see more Black people represented.

i was thinking about applying 2 yrs ago when moving to DC, but the application asked about marital status and for social profiles, i'm like yall trying to create a hookup spot instead of a professional network

but go to a few and feel them out, everyone's experience will be different.

 

[Everything Zen]

thinking about transitioning from IT to full blown software development. been doing the service desk/sys admin thing for a while now and im really feeling the grind and am kinda over it. not that being an engineer is going to be a cake walk, but when i hear about the flexibility and workload (at some companies), i definetlely get jealous.

 

[ViShawn]

thinking about transitioning from IT to full blown software development. been doing the service desk/sys admin thing for a while now and im really feeling the grind and am kinda over it. not that being an engineer is going to be a cake walk, but when i hear about the flexibility and workload (at some companies), i definetlely get jealous.

I was in a support role the past few years. I've also done SRE roles and yes it becomes a grind over time. That's why I switched to tech sales.

Make the switch brotha.

 

[Everything Zen]

I was in a support role the past few years. I've also done SRE roles and yes it becomes a grind over time. That's why I switched to tech sales.

Make the switch brotha.

damn breh, you're like the 5th person in the last few weeks to mention tech sales to me. i got a mouthpiece and am charismatic enough, never thought of myself as a sales guy tho. what''s the background and/or trajectory for someone looking to pivot into that? what are employers looking for?

 

[ViShawn]

damn breh, you're like the 5th person in the last few weeks to mention tech sales to me. i got a mouthpiece and am charismatic enough, never thought of myself as a sales guy tho. what''s the background and/or trajectory for someone looking to pivot into that? what are employers looking for?

Technical Sales, at least a role like a Sales Engineer or Solutions Architect, aren't super heavy on sales. You are seen more as a trusted advisor supporting the sales team. You help them understand the customer's pain i.e. what is preventing them from accomplishing their day to day work, and ultimately advise them on how to use our products to help them solve said pain.

I came from heavily technical support and ops roles so I have technical knowledge. Being able to tell stories, present well, and ultimately identify the customer's pain helps to transition.

Here's a brief video on it.

 

[ViShawn]

 

[Everything Zen]

Technical Sales, at least a role like a Sales Engineer or Solutions Architect, aren't super heavy on sales. You are seen more as a trusted advisor supporting the sales team. You help them understand the customer's pain i.e. what is preventing them from accomplishing their day to day work, and ultimately advise them on how to use our products to help them solve said pain.

I came from heavily technical support and ops roles so I have technical knowledge. Being able to tell stories, present well, and ultimately identify the customer's pain helps to transition.

Here's a brief video on it.

thanks breh. seems adjacent to cloud engineering/solutions architect type roles.
what's your day to day like usually? outside of foundational support knowledge/experience and presumably, working knowledge of one of the big 3 cloud providers, was there anything you needed to know or learn before starting your current gig? feel free to link the post if you've already answered this elsewhere, btw.

 

[ViShawn]

thanks breh. seems adjacent to cloud engineering/solutions architect type roles.
what's your day to day like usually? outside of foundational support knowledge/experience and presumably, working knowledge of one of the big 3 cloud providers, was there anything you needed to know or learn before starting your current gig? feel free to link the post if you've already answered this elsewhere, btw.

Right now I'm doing a lot of training. Yes it is adjacent to solutions architect roles. We essentially are support for Sales/Go To Market Team.

My colleagues essentially are on the same pre-sales team as the sales manager and other sales engineers. If the customer needs a proof of concept or education on using one of our products I provide a demo, answer questions, and follow-up with them if they need any other help. Your audience can be C-Suite individuals, VPs, Developers, SREs, or DevOps Engineers. Knowing who your audience is and how to talk to them is important.

During my interview I had to answer a lot of questions regarding my experience in Cloud Computing, Big Data, Machine Learning, Linux, etc. I came from a web hosting background and I have a speciality in object storage & big data.

On my team we already have large accounts so ultimately what we want is to keep the customer renewing with us at each sales cycle or purchase more. New opportunities come in but it's mostly us trying to stay on target and not let competitors come into the space. This will also mean I'm contacting the customer seeing if they are encountering issues, do they have any pain points. It's partly about keeping a good relationship with the customer.

Some of the other sales people identify champions in the company to help evangelize our product within the organization. While it isn't a strict sales role it is a crucial role for the business to get a sale to complete and address any questions certain people within the organization may have.

As far as pay I'm on a 75/25 salary/commission split. Our commission is based on the success of helping the sale. This is not including RSUs. Total comp I calculate will be around 250k. Low 200s this year since my stocks don't vest until this year.

 

[Everything Zen]

Right now I'm doing a lot of training. Yes it is adjacent to solutions architect roles. We essentially are support for Sales/Go To Market Team.

My colleagues essentially are on the same pre-sales team as the sales manager and other sales engineers. If the customer needs a proof of concept or education on using one of our products I provide a demo, answer questions, and follow-up with them if they need any other help. Your audience can be C-Suite individuals, VPs, Developers, SREs, or DevOps Engineers. Knowing who your audience is and how to talk to them is important.

During my interview I had to answer a lot of questions regarding my experience in Cloud Computing, Big Data, Machine Learning, Linux, etc. I came from a web hosting background and I have a speciality in object storage & big data.

On my team we already have large accounts so ultimately what we want is to keep the customer renewing with us at each sales cycle or purchase more. New opportunities come in but it's mostly us trying to stay on target and not let competitors come into the space. This will also mean I'm contacting the customer seeing if they are encountering issues, do they have any pain points. It's partly about keeping a good relationship with the customer.

Some of the other sales people identify champions in the company to help evangelize our product within the organization. While it isn't a strict sales role it is a crucial role for the business to get a sale to complete and address any questions certain people within the organization may have.

As far as pay I'm on a 75/25 salary/commission split. Our commission is based on the success of helping the sale. This is not including RSUs. Total comp I calculate will be around 250k. Low 200s this year since my stocks don't vest until this year.

appreciate the quick response. hella helpful, too. lots to learn!
coming from the perspective of someone who has basic, high-level knowledge in most of the core areas (break/fix, networking, infosec, systems administration) but no real specialty, how would you go about breaking into the field if you were doing it again today? more specifically, what skillsets would you focus on sharpening up?

 

[ViShawn]

appreciate the quick response. hella helpful, too. lots to learn!
coming from the perspective of someone who has basic, high-level knowledge in most of the core areas (break/fix, networking, infosec, systems administration) but no real specialty, how would you go about breaking into the field if you were doing it again today? more specifically, what skillsets would you focus on sharpening up?

It would certainly help if you had pre-sales experience but that's a sort of chicken or the egg sort of situation. Taking opportunities to present within your company helps. I've trained and mentored junior engineers and I have good presentation skills. You can't really go to school for this role because, well there isn't a degree for it. It's a true interdisciplinary role. Some people go on the tech side and later learn the business acumen. Others come from other less technical roles and develop their technical skillset over time to get in the role.

From what I've seen the best sales engineers are great at telling stories about their product or the business to customers, they're personable, genuinely curious, and have a genuine passion to help their customers get the outcome they want. It's also important to ask a lot of questions to help identify the problem the customer is facing. It is not as tech intensive as a SRE or DevOps Engineer role but you are still problem solving, except you are taking a more human-centric aspect to get to the root cause and solve it. You have to be okay with not being as hands on as you do with other roles which I sometimes miss.

Timing also comes into play with these roles. I was fortunate because the timing was right and the company that hired me were looking for people they can train up.

This book is the Bible of Technical Sales.



Also another good book.

 

[Tr0yTV]

Scheduling all these interviews is harder than my actual job. I don’t know how the OE ppl on Reddit do it

Edit:
@ViShawn whats the name of those books? I can’t see/click it.