Pre-Sales Engineers(looking for some advice)

[lord1234]

So, in 2-3 months I graduate college with a BS in CS(or is it a BS in B.S.?). I have always been very technical, and also very sales oriented. I have worked in commission based retail roles(read RadioShack) and was extremely successful. I also have 2.5 years of Industry experience in both a QA role and an IT role. I have heard that getting into a Pre-Sales role requires getting a foot in the door...Anyone have suggestions for how to get a foot in the door into a position like this...or better yet know somewhere I can apply where you can help me get a job

Thanks in advance,
L1234

 

[1RUSTYRIG]

Pre-sales doesn't necessarily require a "foot in the door", but it does require an intimate knowledge of the product line.

What was your previous IT role? If you say anything having to do w/ an MCSE certification you might as well erase that off your resume. How about QA?

What did you specialize in for your CS degree? What product line are you looking to get into? Unix servers? Blades? Networking?

 

[lord1234]

Specialized in networking...QA experience focused around Financial related data....IT: helped admin a SMALL office...thats about it.

 

[dlndavid]

temp agencies are a good start, get some general experience that way.

 

[lord1234]

i don't think that temp agencies will help me find a job in Pre-Sales engineering....it is a "specialized" field...

 

[dlndavid]

But maybe they can get you into an organization that does "pre-sales engineering", then you get to know them from the inside. http://www.pushtotest.com/Services/engsol.html
http://www.testquest.com/employmentdetail.cfm?oid=3511
http://www.salec.com/modules/jobs/
But what do I know? I'm just Engineering management.

 

[WarmWaterDiver]

I've never heard of Pre-Sales Engineers before, so I can't directly help you.


Maybe Monster.com???

 

[KBeck]

i don't think that temp agencies will help me find a job in Pre-Sales engineering....it is a "specialized" field...

I can't give you advice on a specific field. However, as an HR Administrator/Recruiter, I can tell you employment agencies are no longer the 'girl Friday" clerical placement that you may be thinking.

There are a multitude of employment agencies out there, many have multiple, specific branches for placement of specific lines of work...accountining, IT, etc. Some of the big name, national ones would include Spherion, Ajilon and Ledgent. If you were to do a Google search for employment agencies specializing in IT, you might be surprised. Also, the employer pays all fees; the recruit should never pay anything. Any agency that tries is a sham.

I'd say overall, a good 50% of my recruiting/hiring is done through employment agencies, and most all of our IT placements come from agencies.

Monster, CareerBuilder, and Hotjobs are also great places to start. Also, from the temp agency side, don't discount the advantage of temp and temp-to-perm work. It's definitely a foot-in-the door strategy....and how I got my first professional position 8+ years ago..........

 

[dherbman]

But what do I know? I'm just Engineering management.

I'm not going to hold that against you. You still seem like a pretty smart guy despite this.

 

[hdtran]

Look at the services consultancies; e.g. HP (though I'm not sure that they know what they want to do); IBM; Andersen (now Accenture, I think), and the other accounting consultants. Get a couple of projects under your belt that show that you can do it. Then, the next project, ask to do the pre-sales (which is actually very much what the service consultancies do).

You might want to get creative & look at the former aerospace companies (Boeing, Northrup-Grumman, Lockheed-Martin)'s IT systems. They do an awful lot of both internal and external work that involves a whole lot of customer product definition planning, which sounds like the type of work you want to do.

Good luck! And remember, your career *WILL* change. Be prepared for that!