Notes:
All sales engineers watching this show have been through the recruiting process in the past. Some have had great experiences, and some have been ghosted. It is hard. But looking through the other end of the process, SE Managers and Directors have to recruit and make decisions that can either greatly improve the SE team, or bad behavior can permeate throughout.
Along with my guest Co-host, John Hodgson, we interview Jeff Margolese and David Schultz, both great SE leaders with different backgrounds and experiences as we discuss the best process to recruit SEs.
Key Takeaways:
- We look back at the first SE hire, and what they have learned since
- Best new hire decision-making process
- The sales team’s pressure for SE hiring
- Hiring for a one-to-one pairing with sales, or pool model.
- Improving one aspect of the hiring process
- Hiring from within the organization
- The interview process
- Finding new SEs from within the organization
- Who controls the interview
Quotes:
[About hiring] “You’re always making a subjective decision here. Let’s just be clear.” – Jeff Margolese
“We want to bring people that are additive to the team and not just fill a headcount number.” – David Schultz
“Someone that doesn’t meet the standards is not just, oh, I’ve got one person that’s not as good. I’ve now impacted the broader business, particularly at a smaller size company where each incremental hire has a little bit more impact.” – David Schultz
“The standard shouldn’t really change depending on the size of the company. We Cannot afford to hire crappy people” Jeff
“If you’re an SE, you’re gonna be with your sales rep probably more than your spouse or your partner.” Jeff Margolese
“When I’m doing interviews I always essentially tell the team we’re proposing after a couple of dates,” – David Schultz
“Don’t let the fear of getting the perfect candidate get in the way of hiring a really, really good candidate that can grow.” – David Schultz
