Here's how you can ace your Sales Engineering job interview.

Prepare in advance about the specific topic to answer before even asked. Add personal experience based on the topic being discussed and remember to build attention to detail skill.

To ace your Sales Engineering job interview, thoroughly research the company and understand its products, services, and market positioning. Be prepared to demonstrate your technical expertise alongside strong interpersonal skills, showcasing how you can effectively bridge the gap between technical teams and clients. Highlight your problem-solving abilities with specific examples, and be ready to discuss how your conflict resolution skills have led to successful project outcomes. Lastly, show enthusiasm for the role and a genuine interest in contributing to the company’s success

Research the company you’re interviewing for ahead of time. Sales Engineers are expected to demonstrate subject matter expertise, so if you want to be taken seriously as a trusted advisor, you need to demonstrate you know what you’re talking about and have a perspective.

As a hiring manager I LOVE when the candidate comes with a thoughtful researched question. I see you hired a new CEO recently, what are their top 3 projects now and how will that impact the SC team? Or listen to podcasts that the hiring managers or others at the company have done recently and ask follow ups that have an impact on the job. Or share a recent industry news (X company is buying Y company) how has this or will this impact the way your company sells? But also come ready with your own opinion on it. I want to hire someone who will take my team to new heights. Not someone who needs me to tell them what to do or think. (Unless it's an entry level job, then come eagerly to contribute and show you take initiative & can learn).

This is always the fulcrum/inevitable intersection with this balance between technical acumen, and the ability to engage a customer, build relationships, and effectively help progress business forward. Being able to showcase this in your interview is vital. Your demeanor, language and tone are important and should be authentic— people see through counterfeit behaviors quickly and that is a quick way to burn trust. Be thoughtful with your answers (silence while you think is OK!) and be more thoughtful with the questions you ask. For better or for worse the first impressions are critical and this first interview is usually that.

Sales is often about solving a customer's problem. Showing how you approach the solution is often more important than the solution itself.

How do you prove you’re a good problem solver? Provide relatable problems and how you solved them. Those can range from persuading a prospect to buy vs. build, or persuading internal stakeholders to change the way something is done.

Demonstrate curiosity around how success day-to-day is measured other than revenue. Ask about the best performing SE today, and what their metrics look like as a benchmark. Be audible ready on how it works for you in your current role, because you should know. Some questions to get you started... - How much activity goes into a closed won deal? - How many opps do you work at any given time? - Why would some opps need more time than others? - How is non-customer facing time spent?\ - Where do you impact a deal the most? Why/How? - How do you verify the customer was successful? Asking yourself these questions during preparation will help you not just identify metrics, but prove you understand how they impact success.