techstacktoe

Have been programming and building systems since I was 14. Nearing 10 years of work experience now, doing pretty well I'd say from a career point of view. Managing a small team in a niche area in tech.

However, I do dread doing the same job for say another 10-20 years. With my interests and skillsets (sourced from others), I feel I'd be better placed in a more people / business oriented role and am planning to transition into a Solution Engineering or Sales Engineer role where I can use both my deep tech knowledge and my sales skills.

1) Would love it if someone can share similar moves - how did you go about it, how has it worked out and tips if any ?

2) How does the levelling work ? If I need to change roles would I have to take a downgrade or a paycut ? About Staff Engineer level now.

3) Any specific skillsets or certifications I should pick up ? I am pretty sure if given an interview I can take it from there, but seems hard to get into a field without experience at a senior-ish level.