Now what should I do?

[gthopkins]

Hi all,

I'm an out of work sales engineer/consultant, with 23 years experience in telecomm(PBX & call center, voice networks, etc)and datacom (IT). I love working on PCs as a hobby.
I have a passion for technology, excellent people skills, I'm a great presenter and speaker and a very good team player. I am very good at what I did. ;o)

The market for sales engineers has been dead for almost 2 years, so I don't expect to end up doing that in the near future.

What other positions(currently in demand) are sales engineers going to? Are there any SE's out there that have reached this stumbling block? I want to get back in the work-force, I'm just not sure what positions to focus on. Most of the consulting positions are financial type analysts. All my certs are for supporting sales of technology rather than hands on.

Well, I figured it couldn't hurt to ask. Any advice, direction, guidance or shared experience is greatly appreciated. In advance, I thank you all very much.

All the best,
Greg

 

[KimberTech]

Greg,

What certs do you have, and what direction are you seeing your local businesses going?
A general question on a national site is hard to answer.

Have you thought of opening your own firm?

Good luck to you, thought I might interject something thought provoking.

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[gthopkins]

Hi KimberTech,

My certifications are in voice network design, Checkpoint, Advanced Traffic Engineering, A+, and many others. My certs may not be IT standard, but they did provide a six figure income for quite a few years.

Our part of the country is very conservative(New England).
At this time areas of struggle are IT, Telecom, and manufactoring. The pharmaceuticals are doing very well, but primarily want senior marketing executives.

Sorry for not anticipating my audience. I should have asked if any sales engineers have transitioned in other careers, and what types of careers match the qualifications of a consultant or sales engineer.

Sorry for the poor approach.