Actually, I do find your thoughts useful, flu. Along with the other postings, and my own caution and predisposition prior to originating this thread, I'm getting more convinced that management might be a bad move for me.
I can't increase my salary in my current position though, regardless of how good I get. I've maxed out the pay scale. I can hang out and milk the OT at the end of the day while surfing the net and whining about my work dilemma, though.
What I'd prefer to do all day at work–manage or sell–isn't much of a factor. I'm all about the money. For what it's worth, I'd prefer the change of pace and new challenges that would come with management, but I work for money, not for new challenges and whatnot. I don't hate my sales job and that's all I really expect.
If your bonus is tied to how much you bring in, make a case to get put on the biggest accounts. In addition to the "money", you will be definitely challenged, as you will find bringing in the big fish is not that easy. If you master this, you will have skills that you can take wherever you go, in whatever industry….Again, you sound like you're a young dude, so you got a long way to go. If you're good at what you do, I frankly would be disappointed in you if you're not seeing $250k+ in the future because you decided to take a detour (again if money is that important to you). Sales people frankly make more then engineers and in many cases job blow line manager. It's harder to be a good sales person than an average engineer or average manager…though average sales people usually get paid crap and get flushed by the company if they don't meet their quotas….Again, not everyone can be a good salesman. It takes a certain personality to do it.
