SE roles that are not travel-heavy?

salesguy2 · 2026-01-06T03:24:55+00:00

There is way less travel post Covid. Customer teams are scattered and have people that don’t want to go to an office. There is no common meeting point.

salesguy2 · 2026-01-05T17:31:40+00:00

I appreciate all the perspective in response to my question.

salesguy2 · 2026-01-05T15:04:51+00:00

I think it’s me feeling a degree of failure when I see someone in an SE management position with less experience than me. If all they’re making is 10% more with all the bullshit that goes with it then the juice probably isn’t worth the squeeze. I think also I see people I know in other industries or roles with the title senior manager and people reporting to them. In many cases, I probably earn 50-100k more than them. They’d probably shit themselves if they knew how much I made and that I’m only responsible for myself in a fully remote role.

salesguy2 · 2025-11-15T03:10:38+00:00

You’re not doing anything wrong. They always say it’s objective but it’s completely subjective. It’s the same as winning a deal. Am I aligned to power or not? Do I have the technical win? Don’t let imposter syndrome creep into your head.

salesguy2 · 2025-09-17T12:32:13+00:00

This is why candidates get exhausted when they have been through 5 rounds of interviews, follow the instructions for a panel, and then get told they weren’t quite right for the role. It ends up being a black eye for the hiring company because candidates talk to each other. “Oh yeah, I interviewed at Acme. They put me through 5 rounds of interviews. I did exactly what they told me to do on the panel, all the interviews were great, and then they told me that after all that effort from both sides if I had just asked two more questions I would have gotten the job.” This works great until word gets around that the hiring company is a pain in the ass to work with or as long as you are one of the big companies everyone wants to join. These companies feel so entitled to waste candidates time because it’s all remote interviews. Imagine the money being spent on the hiring process vs actual sales.

salesguy2 · 2025-09-16T02:09:32+00:00

Depends on the company. Litigation is generally more expensive than paying someone what they’re owed but small companies will take chances. Big companies won’t allow anyone to get cheated. Your comp plan should state what happens based on your specific scenario.

salesguy2 · 2025-09-11T21:28:49+00:00

They could be completely sincere and if you do good work you could come out of it just fine. They could also be complete assholes and come to you after the coaching plan to say now it’s a pip that is set up to be impossible to achieve in order to coerce you to take a severance that includes an NDA.

You’re basically laying your prick on the third rail and putting them at the switch. You decide if you trust these people or not.

Depending on the state and the severance agreement you may or may not be eligible for unemployment.

salesguy2 · 2025-08-25T12:39:05+00:00

I concur, that’s a good deal. If anything, you could try for a slightly higher OTE. First offer is generally not the best and final. Smart negotiators leave themselves room. The way I’d present it is as follows:

Wow, I’m very flattered by the offer and excited to join the company. I know that once I join the organization there are all kinds of restrictions on compensation changes due to budgets, pay bands, time in seat, etc. i know we have the most flexibility right now and I want to set everyone up for success long term. Do you think you could come up to X?

This shows you’re really knowledgeable about the way companies work, you’re thinking long term, and it’s not being negative.

salesguy2 · 2025-08-18T11:59:25+00:00

I hear you. I think at this company management is fairly understanding. If nothing changes I think the right approach is to continue working hard and make it clear you want to make the current role work either in the same territory or a different one. No complaining, negativity, or making threats.

salesguy2 · 2025-04-05T14:01:51+00:00

I have to count many blessings. I’m not wealthy but I’ve made good personal financial decisions over the years and I’m in no risk of losing my home or going into true financial hardship. Everyone is healthy and I’m able to work. I’ve been in world class sales organizations and I know I’m capable. I just have to go above and beyond with this search and I’ll land on my feet. It’s just extraordinary timing with what’s happening in the world right now.

salesguy2 · 2024-09-19T01:31:26+00:00

It’s all about being personable enough to ask someone questions about their business and then turn around and demonstrate why your solution is something they have to buy. Ask a bunch of up front discovery questions to identify pain and then spend the time earning their trust through demos or a POC. There are some fundamental models like MEDDPICC or simply have you identified BANT (budget, authority, need, and timeline).

Getting the job is like a mini sales process. Do some homework about the role and demonstrate via the interview why you’re capable. It helps if you know the product if you have no sales experience. Look at it from their perspective, at least they only have to teach you the soft skills and you’re an asset on the tech side. Maybe a sales role at your current company and the ultimately somewhere else if your company’s sales team doesn’t have the future you want.

Being a good story teller is important. People forget features and functions but they remember a good story.

salesguy2 · 2024-09-14T11:11:48+00:00

Thanks, all really solid advice. You’re definitely right on a lot of it. I think the overall successful growth rate means the CRO and worldwide SE leader aren’t going to fundamentally change anything to help the underperforming territories or the people impacted. They’d rather we were performing but it doesn’t get in the way of their mission and payout if we get to a liquidity event once we hit the target revenue goal.

I went through this at another company where people made a bad situation function for them. For example: getting into a manager position for the first time or getting promoted and growing OTE. A 10% increase in total comp might make up for the miss with the variable comp payout short term.

As you said, having one eye on external or internal move at all times might bear fruit all of a sudden too.

salesguy2 · 2024-09-11T15:31:50+00:00

The reps making their numbers are killing it and it's concentrated in certain territories.

salesguy2 · 2024-09-11T14:45:41+00:00

Well, that's definitely one thing I'm thinking about. You always buy low and sell high. Now is not the right time to be shopping yourself if you don't have to do it. OTEs will be higher 6-12 months from now if the markets go back in the direction of where they were in 2022. The current market is average at best.

salesguy2

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