I was in the Healthcare industry before I pivoted to tech and you're right. It is slow and painful to get things done and there's no room for error because it's people's lives. Makes sense to me that the pressure is much higher in that role! Are you working with Eric?

Fair enough. That's not my experience, but, every company has their own requirements for the role. Some SEs are required to do a lot more than others. Like any role, vet the company and the role before accepting.

It depends on the role you have. Being an engineer is stressful! But other roles are less stressful. A role like a solutions engineer requires the technical knowledge but also the ability to easily present & talk to other people. In that role your day isn't necessarily 8 hours. Maybe you have 2 hour-long demos, an hour or two of prep and notes, maybe another hour meeting (all done by Zoom in your house) and you're done for the day. Add in the fact that nobody's up your ass with constant needs and demands like they are in admin or customer service.

You explain your software, show your customer how to enable the features they need for their use case, and then answer any follow up questions. You are a RESOURCE that everyone is thrilled to see.

I've always worked jobs that had managers up my ass, high workloads and high stress levels until I got into the tech industry. My job is so much easier and less stressful now, it almost feels like I'm cheating. I keep getting kudos, while also working much less than ever before. It's amazing.