Support Engineering
Warm Up:
In small groups, discuss the following:
- At first glance, what are the responsibilities of someone in Support Engineering?
- What are other job titles that fit under Support? Hint: Who do you support? Customers!
- What do you think are the key responsibilities of someone within these roles?
Customer Support and Success
Customer Support, or Customer Success, can be considered the go-to fix-it team— they handle problems, troubleshoot issues, and answer questions for the users of the company product ie The Customers ✨
Customer 😞 == Bad
Customer 😊 == Good
Ok, cool. I’m supportive and an engineer… what’s my job?
Support Engineering is another way of saying Customer Support or Customer Success. In fact, there are many names for someone who is the first point of contact for users experiencing issues (as you will see). These roles usually require strong communication, problem-solving, and developer empathy. Some key responsibilities include: troubleshooting technical problems, answering questions about the product, and ensuring a positive user experience (i.e. customer experience).
Lets hear from our very own Kayla Gordon about what it was like to be a Support Engineer.
If you were someone who found themselves in the weeds of the codebase helping out your fellow cohort-mates debug and enjoyed breaking down technical concepts Support Engineering could be a potential fit.
Kayla also points how after discovering the role she was able to utilize her background in education to break down complex concepts for customers once she got the job.
To watch the full video with Kayla and learn more about her time as a Support Engineer, like day to day tasks, challenges, and some good pieces of advice, check out the full video below.
Solutions Architect
We also spoke with Dan Halverson, 2006 BE, who has experience as a CSM (Customer Success Manager), Customer Support, and has recently changed titles to Solutions Architect at Attentive. Instead of taking on a ticket of something not working, Dan works on a team that collaborates with clients to build solutions to work with their customer data platforms, email platforms, and metrics.
“We spend a lot of our time working with clients development team and tools to integrate with our software, tools, and options.”
The typical day for a Solutions Architect is similar to a Developer’s. You have standup, discuss blockers, learn new technologies, and read good ol fashioned emails.
“We have lots of client meetings, so I do a recurring weekly or bi-weekly meeting just for them to give me updates on what they’re working on. If they’re having some issues or they wanna explore some of our new features, we’ll go over that…And then we’ll do things like workshops or sessions where we go over new tooling, changes to how something works, or just some time for us to kind of chat and learn. But I would say a majority of my time is working independently on deliverables to clients and then the other half of the week is meetings, calls, and workshops.”
Initially Dan was hesitant to apply to roles that didn’t say “engineer” in the name, but has found success in a “untraditional” path. What stood out to him was how similar job postings for tech adjacent roles like Solutions Architect were to “software developer.” Some similarities mentioned were: CSM account management, SQL, AWS, payloads, and RESTful APIs. He realized these job postings, despite having a different title, were seeking the expertise he had. He mentions that this “non software engineering” role has been a much better fit for him than his previous engineering role ever was.
“I think it’s important for students to know that just because you spent eight months of your life and thousands of hours on projects, software engineering might not be a good fit for you. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing…other technical roles are still a great option.”
Lets Try it!
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Customer Engagement
“Imagine a customer wants to use an API, but they aren’t sure how it works. What steps would you take as a Solutions Engineer to guide them?”
(Goal: Check understanding of customer communication and technical guidance.)
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Collaborating with Teams
“You’ve identified a bug that’s impacting a key customer. How would you communicate this to the engineering team, and what would you include in your message?”
(Goal: Explore your understanding of cross-team collaboration.)
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Presentation Skills
“You’re hosting a demo to showcase a product feature to a potential customer. What’s one way you’d make the demo engaging and helpful for them?”
(Goal: Evaluate your ideas for communicating technical value.)
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Metrics of Success
“How would you know if a customer is happy with the solution you provided?”
(Goal: Explore your understanding of customer satisfaction and feedback loops.)
Wrap up
In your notebook take some time to reflect on your experiences before Turing, the new skillset you’ve acquired, and how those can be applied to Solutions Engineering.
- Describe some similarities and differences between a traditional Software Engineering role and someone under Support Engineering.
- In what ways does your background fit into the Support Engineering role? What part of your story can be altered or highlighted?
- Is there alignment between these roles and your previous experience / skillset? Begin to search job postings with these titles. Find 3 - 5 job postings that align with what you’re looking for.
- What are some additional questions you’d ask someone in Support Engineering roles?
Below are other titles to look out for when looking under the Support Engineer umbrella.
- Client Success Manager (CSM)
- Customer Experience Manager
- Customer Support Specialist
- Customer Relationship Manager
- Technical Account Manager (TAM)
- Onboarding Specialist
- Client Engagement Specialist
- Customer Advocacy Manager
- Partner Success Manager
- User Support Representative
