Non-engineering jobs for engineering majors

[Schaefer Light]

I'm curious as to what the OP has been up to and if they secured a job.

OP here.  My prediction of a layoff came true, and I lost my management job in December.  I didn't shed any tears about losing the job, and luckily I did receive a decent severance package.  I started a new job as a sales engineer (in the same industry) in April.  I was unemployed for about 4.5 months, and I must say they were incredibly stressful.  I really wanted to make a change to something completely different (data analysis) that I feel would make better use of some of my natural strengths.  Unfortunately, I couldn't get anyone to give me an interview for those types of jobs.

I feel fortunate to have landed the sales engineer job as I had no other opportunities at the time.  I think there's a 50% chance I'd still be unemployed had I not gotten the offer.  I'm not sure that a sales engineer position is the best role for me as I do my best work when I can just sit in a quiet room and solve a problem at my natural pace with no one watching.  This job involves a lot more time "performing" in front of others than I'm really comfortable with, but maybe that will get easier as time goes on.

It's too early for me to be able to offer any advice about what makes one shine in a sales engineer or technical sales position, but in my interviews I stressed that I was a good listener and that I would not feel comfortable selling a customer a service or product that they either didn't need or didn't know how to use.  Being a sales engineer is weird because you're expected to be pretty good at sales and pretty good technically.  Which is more important (sales skills vs. technical skills) seems to depend heavily on the company.

The whole job application and interview process just plain sucks, in my opinion.  I know there are so many jobs I could learn how to do, but I couldn't get my foot in the door because I don't have the right degree or the right experience on my resume.  I hear so many people say you need to hire people who are intelligent and eager to learn, but when it actually comes time to hire they seem to go with experience every time.  I couldn't even find recruiters who were willing to help me make a change.  They kept trying to place me in management positions even after I told them I hated management.

[SKL-HOU]

As a person on the customer side as an engineer, i think technical knowledge is a lot more important for a sales engineer. I don’t need the sales engineer to bullshit me, i need the sales engineer to know his product and be able to answer my questions confidently and more importantly listen to what i need and provide accordingly. It sounds like you will do well in sales i think.

[pecunia]

"The whole job application and interview process just plain sucks, in my opinion.  I know there are so many jobs I could learn how to do, but I couldn't get my foot in the door because I don't have the right degree or the right experience on my resume.  I hear so many people say you need to hire people who are intelligent and eager to learn, but when it actually comes time to hire they seem to go with experience every time.  I couldn't even find recruiters who were willing to help me make a change.  They kept trying to place me in management positions even after I told them I hated management."

Right - They are short term thinkers for the most part.  They do not want to invest in their prime resource, their people.  Human Resource people may give you a lot of rhetoric, but they are merely gatekeepers and serve their masters who run the businesses.  You know, they don't like it when you tell them that.