

Ask HN: Web Developer with Sales Experience? - blairanderson

I was in sales from 2007 until January 2013 when I made the jump to software development. I have since been a consultant working on Rails&#x2F;NodeJS&#x2F;Backbone&#x2F;React, and I spend a bunch of free time writing code because its so damn fun.<p>Curious if anyone can share their experiences of being a sales person and becoming a developer?  Have you found new opportunities that weren’t available without having both skills? Have you found that you had to choose one or the other?
======
MalcolmDiggs
I had a few sales jobs before starting to code fulltime. Nothing major. It
never really helped me at my fulltime jobs, but it definitely helped as a
consultant. The ability to be "good in a room" is rare for technical folks.
You'll be a hot commodity for agencies or dev-shops; anyone who routinely
needs a technical voice to step in and woo the client before closing the sale.

I realized years ago that being in this middle-ground was my strongest asset.
Not the best salesman, not the best coder, but can exist comfortably in both
worlds. I'd recommend cultivating both skillsets.

------
lastofus
That skill set can open the door to a sales engineering position for a
software company. It's decent money and you can often take part in both worlds
doing technical stuff but still taking part in sales calls and prospect
interaction.

