READ TIME: 5 MINUTES
Priya (not her real name) was a Solutions Consultant (called an SE at some companies) who wanted to become an AE.
Her manager was ready to sponsor her move to AE. She’d been a top performer since day 1.
She’d earned a promotion and been hand-picked to move from a specialist role into a broader enterprise SC role.
She was the top performing SC at her organization.
She had built the brand she needed to move internally.
The AEs supported her move.
The path was right there: move from Solutions Consultant to AE at the same company, where people already knew her work.
She said no.
It wasn’t the AE role she doubted. It was that AE role. She’d watched it up close: too many people in every deal and not enough ownership for the rep.
She had concerns about the company’s leadership and product direction.
She wanted to sell a product that was innovating at the right company for her.
She chose the harder path. No internal advocate. No AE title to point to. A resume that reads "SE" to every recruiter who skims it.
Here's how she made the move anyway.
Where she started
When Priya and I first talked, she wasn't searching yet. She wanted a straight answer to 1 question: does this transition make sense for me before I spend months chasing it?
And she was honest about what held her back. Quota. "I just didn't know if I was capable of it." With quota, the highs are high and the lows are low.
So before she sent a single application, she did the work most people skip. She talked to SEs who had already made the jump to AE, including people who left her company to do it somewhere else. One company and one vantage point wasn't enough to make the call.
We weighed the pros and cons, then broke down her background and skills until she felt confident making the move.
Then she landed on her own answer: "I don't know unless I give it a shot."
What she had (more than she thought)
Most SEs own the demo. When we broke down what Priya owned, it looked a lot like an AE’s job: discovery, demos, technical objections, the business case, and the champion who goes quiet in week 6. She helped the BDR team with messaging to build pipeline. She saw deals through negotiation. She just didn’t own that part.
Priya had seen the full deal cycle more times than she could count.
So we built the stories, deal by deal, in 1 interview template. That's where it clicked. Organizing it all in one place made her realize "I do have the experience."
The gaps, and how we closed them
Gap 1: No AE title. This one was real. Recruiters weren't going to source her for AE roles, so AE inbound was off the table. We built her search on outreach and relationships instead. All 3 of her interviews came through a person:
An AE she found through mutual connections, who put her name in front of the recruiter and hiring manager
A company led by former colleagues from her current employer
A startup that reached out about an SE role, where she asked if they had AE openings
That last one became her offer. Most people would have replied “not interested.” She asked for what she wanted.
Gap 2: She hadn't owned the close. Early on, she volunteered that in interviews. I told her to stop. Not to hide it. They could see her title. But you don't spend interview airtime on what you haven't done. Tell an honest story. Tell the pieces that support you.
When you’re selling, you don’t lead with your product’s gaps. So why do it in an interview? You build a workaround and handle the objection. That’s what we did.
Gap 3: Talking about herself. Like almost every client I work with, she hated feeling like she was bragging. Seeing her strengths on paper changed how she said them out loud.
Here’s what I saw when I looked at her resume:
Someone who spent 5 years at PwC, rising to lead teams of up to 10, which I knew meant grueling hours and outworking her peers. Then 2 promotions in 4 years at Workiva, #1 in North America by win rate in her first year, and a company value award. The reason was simple: she went above and beyond to figure things out and get them done. That’s why she owned so much of the sales cycle.
When someone else tells your story back to you, saying it out loud feels less like bragging and more like stating the facts.
3 companies. 1 offer.
She kicked off her search at the end of May. By mid-August, she signed as a Mid-Market AE at an early-stage company selling a product she wanted to sell.
About 11 weeks.
Most people making a track change do the opposite. They apply to 100 roles and hope the title gap won't matter. It does. Volume doesn't fix it. Relationships and patience do.
There were moments when we considered the easier internal path. But Priya wasn’t in a rush, so she held out until the right role at the right company lined up.
Her accounting background was the other key. That industry knowledge, paired with her SC experience, outweighed her gaps in closing and prospecting.
By the time the offer came, she’d already proven her value. The OTE landed where she wanted it.
The confusing part was the language around the draw during ramp. We worked through it together, question by question, so she could get the clarity she needed, and she walked away with 2 months of guaranteed commission: $31,200 in total.
When I asked what changed for her, she named 3 things.
Seeing her strengths: “Recognizing your strengths is something that I also learned and realized throughout the process.”
Focus: “The biggest thing was being focused and staying organized, too, and building confidence in the stories that you do have to tell.”
And support: “I wouldn’t have gotten to where I’m at without your help and support.”
If you're eyeing the AE seat from SE, AM, SDR, or CS
Decide the transition is right before you search. Talk to people who made it, inside and outside your company.
Inventory your deals. The proof is there. Organize it.
Run the search through people. Without the title, inbound won't carry you.
Don't lead with the gap. Lead with the deals you've moved.
Close skill gaps with professional development. Priya started MEDDIC training before her search even kicked off.
The internal path is the easier one. That doesn’t make it the right one.
Hit reply and tell me: what transition are you weighing right now, and what's holding you back from starting? I read every response.
To clarity and confidence in your career path,
Amanda
See you next Sunday.
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