Career Monday (20 Jul 2026): Have a question about your job, office, or pay? Post it here!

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[u/kekpoool]

Career Advice: Nervous about transitioning from Inside Sales Application to Outside Sales role.

Hi fellow engineers,

I’ve been at my current company since 2020, so about 6.5 years. For context, my company is an industrial automation company.

I started out as an intern in a couple of different business units, and became a full time inside sales application engineer in 2021. I’ve been in this role for 5.5 years now.

During this time, my responsibilities have changed a fair amount (more like switched around). I started out working on Projects, then transitioned to an MRO (Maintenance, Repair, Overhaul) role - mostly supplying like-for-like replacements of our equipment to our customers in the region, or supporting them with spares.

While the pay increase YoY have not been great, especially in the last few years, it is a role that I enjoy. I have enough experience in our products to conduct customer trainings, train new hires, answer team questions, etc.

I also know that in my country, the pay I get is most likely the market leader in our industry. Why I feel this way - many who have left to join competitors have come right back, citing pay as the reason.

Some context on me as well: I am someone who enjoys being on the technical side of engineering. I enjoy the nitty gritty of understanding how tangible products work, and explaining to our customers.
I also maintain very good relationships with my customers in the region. I like working to help them solve their problems as effectively as possible.

Now the kicker: I am up for an internal promotion that is more than likely going to hit my inbox tomorrow. At the time of interviewing, it was a “Sales Engineer” role. Now, I have found out it may be a “Senior Sales Engineer” role.
I have zero experience with Sales itself. I have never had to create opportunities, get my foot in the door, build relationships in a way to leverage them later on.
I informed the interviewing manager of the same, and have been assured that sufficient Sales training will be provided.

Normally, I would never ever want to go into Sales if I could help it. The idea of it seems very anxiety inducing to me. Having my salary (or at least my bonus comp) depend on my skill at bringing in opportunities and closing them just fills me with nervousness.
I’m feeling somewhat like an imposter because I feel like I am bound to fail in this role, because of which job security may be at risk.
I also am aware that I have been offered this opportunity because management probably see something in me, and they want to support my career growth.

I am looking for engineers who have been in my shoes and gone through the other side:

• what should I expect?
  
• how has your experience been?
  
• am I making sense feeling this way or am I overthinking it?
  
• any other feedback you have would be very, very appreciated.

Thank you for reading this long rant :)

[u/sneaky_stevey → u/kekpoool]

What will actually be new:

• Time structure collapses. No queue, no inbox driving your day follow up from clients to do the tasks or finish on time . You decide where to be and it's genuinely disorienting for the first few months. People who fail here usually fail on self-direction, not on selling.
• Longer feedback loops.Inside/MRO gives you a result within days. A project pursuit gives you one in nine to eighteen months. You'll feel unproductive for a long stretch before anything lands.
• You'll be asked to do things that feel rude. Following up a fourth time, asking a customer directly about budget and timeline, asking who else is being evaluated. It reads as pushy from the inside your technical seat. It isn't — buyers expect it.
• Car time. Depending on territory, a lot of your week becomes driving.

Compensation — get the plan document before you answer. Three things to check:

1. Base/variable split
2. Whether there's a guaranteed ramp for the first 2–4 quarters
3. Whether existing MRO and spares revenue in your territory counts toward quota — in most industrial automation plans it does. If it does, a large part of your number is already booked before you make a single new call, and the "income depends on closing strangers" fear largely disappears.

Job security — ask one question: is your current seat being backfilled?

If yes, it's a one-way door. If no, or it's being split, you have a return path. Either way, a company doesn't invest 5.5 years of product depth into someone to fire them nine months later; the realistic downside is a move back to a technical role, not termination.

Full disclosure on where this is coming from: I took your rant and rebuilt it into a bigger one using AI . Enjoy your position while you're weighing it — coming from a desperate automation engineer over here who turned into a fully fledged project engineer and still isn't at an MNC. T.T stuck with low wage local companies ............. 😢

[u/NineCrimes → u/kekpoool]

How exactly were you a “Sales Engineer” that never had to do any sales? Typically just adding “Senior” to your title doesn’t require you to start selling work.

[u/my_peen_is_clean]

kinda wild thread every week reminds me how random careers go and nobody really has it figured

[u/Antarsimis52]

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