The Official Online Newsletter of Pilipino Americans in Science and Engineering
at UC Davis
Table of Contents
A Better Mouse Trap? A Better Mouse?
How Engineers
Become Marketers
Credits
How Engineers Become Marketers
By Michelle Togonon
Congratulations! You are about to graduate with a
Bachelor’s of Science in Computer Engineering. It is now time for the
real world, so what are you going to do now? Codes for a GPS software
company? Product testing for HP? Marketing or sales for Intel? Wait a
minute. Why would a recent college graduate - with a computer engineering
degree - decide to go into marketing or sales? That was a question that
several PASE members (myself included) often pondered. So on April 7,
2000, I made the long drive to Intel’s Santa Clara facility to find some
answers about their Sales and Marketing Rotation Program.
The Sales and Marketing Rotation Program consists of three vectors a Recent College Graduate (RCG) can follow. These three vectors are the Marketing Technical Engineer (MTE), the Technical Sales Engineer (TSE), and the Technical Applications Engineer (TAE). Due to my exposure to current MTE and TSE program members, this article will focus mainly on the TSE and MTE vectors.
These descriptions are taken from the Intel website at:
All three of the vectors are designed to help engineers become highly successful field sales or marketing professionals. The TSE vector is designed to develop the skills necessary for a field sales engineer (FSE). Some of the typical responsibilities of the FSE include:
- Building relationships with Intel customers
- Advocating Intel’s products/strategies
- Communicating customer issues back to the factory
- Negotiating product sales to closure
- Determining product positioning and pricing
- Driving multiple initiatives and programs with Original
- Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs)
The MTE track focuses on developing the skills necessary to effectively pursue a marketing role at Intel. Typical responsibilities will include:
- Product planning
- OEM marketing initiatives
- Defining future products and platforms
- Technical demos
- New product introductions
- Competitive analysis
Finally, the TAE program develops the skills necessary for a field applications engineer (FAE). The counterpart to the FSE, FAEs handle the technical aspects of product sales.
Both the MTE and TSE programs involve extensive training periods. For 18 months, a program participant undergoes three 6-month rotations in various marketing groups. These rotations take place between two of the three factory sites (Santa Clara, Folsom, and Oregon). Then, for one year, the MTE and TSE work in a field sales office usually with the responsibility of handling a customer account. Field sales offices are scattered all around the country, usually strategically placed close to companies. After a year, the MTE and TSE go their separate ways. While the MTE goes back to a factory site, such as those named earlier, the TSE remains in the field.
During my visit to Santa Clara, I interviewed UC Davis and PASE alumnus, Chris Bulaon. Chris is currently in the Sales and Marketing Rotation Program MTE vector. He has been in the program for 8 months, and in his second rotation with America’s Retail/Etail Programs. In this rotation, the MTE focuses on successfully creating demand for Intel and its products in the retail channel. The retail channel can be seen as one of the "roads" to sell products. The retail channel consists of major players such as Circuit City, Best Buy, CompUSA, and smaller stores such as your local computer store. In this group, two major roles that the MTE have are coordinating efforts with retailers and training Retail Sales People (RSPs). The MTE works on a specific retail account closely with a field sales employee strategically located closer to the retailer’s headquarters. This field sales employee, more specifically the Retail Marketing Manager (RMM) usually has more face to face interaction with the retail account, thus knows the accounts specifics needs and concerns. The factory account manager, the MTE, works closely with the RMM to make sure that Intel’s and the accounts needs are both met. Ever wonder how the printer came free with your computer? Both parties interests are met with that type of promotion; Intel is able to sell a microprocessor within a PC, and the retailer gains more sales (Thank both those marketers.) The second part, training RSPs, is utilized to make certain RSPs, the ones on the sales floor, know Intel’s messages as well. This ranges from organizing and running training events to implementing programs, such as Mystery Shop, where third parties pretend to buy a product in the hopes that the RSP will pitch the Intel messages.
From speaking to various MTEs and TSEs in the program, I got the distinct impression that these individuals love their jobs. Although they work on average 5-9 projects simultaneously, these people enjoy the business side of the computer industry. MTEs and TSEs network not only with other retailers, customers, and OEMs, but also within Intel itself, which is a big company. Overall, each one spoke highly about "seeing the bigger picture." Being in marketing and sales positions, they know the direction Intel is heading because they are integral in shaping that direction. Secondly, the nature of rotations makes each group new but familiar. In the words of Sandy Wang, a TSE, "you walk away [from the program] with four different jobs with lots of [job] stability and experience."
Alumnus Chris Bulaon explains his job as a technical
marketer at Intel Santa Clara
If you are interested in learning more about the MTE and TSE rotational programs, please visit the following link:
http://www.intel.com/intel/employment/usa/students/
***NOTE: If technical sales and marketing is not for you, Intel also has a rotation engineers program as well. Rotations are not as structured as the MTE or TSE programs and can occur within any aspect of computer hardware or software that you choose yourself. See the above link for this program as well.
Contributors and interviewees to this article include: Chris Bulaon, Greg Ernst, Sandy Wang, Eunice Chang, Kerry Forell, Hitesh Mehta