The unpredictable jump from software development to customer success and sales and I love it.

Life is funny and unpredictable. I have a bachelor of technology in computer science and engineering and masters in computer science. I didn’t plan to become an engineer. I wanted to become a musician and singer. I have always loved helping people. I am also very passionate about sharing with people what could benefit them. So, how I got into Sales and Customer success? I had been a software developer all my professional life and loved software design and architecture but never felt fulfilled. I have heard people tell me many times that I should be in Sales. If I believe in anything and know that people will benefit from it, I have to talk about it. Everyone who knows me also knows how much I love the gym I go to. I love working at Microsoft and I share about the work culture at Microsoft with everyone I meet.

I am a customer success account manager at Microsoft but that wasn’t the job I applied for. I applied for a Premier Field Engineer role. I thought I did really well in the interview. Recruiter contacted me and said the interviewers really liked me but they think I would be a much better fit for Customer success account manager role, so they sent me a link to apply for the role. I got a phone call from one of the team member for phone screen for role. At the end of the call he said he would refer me for the in person interview. Within 2 weeks I flew for in person interview. Everyone in the interview panel was extremely nice and friendly. At the end of the interview manager told me that they will offer me the role but it might take some time. A month passed and I was still waiting and then almost 8 months passed. I had taken another job during that time. One evening I was cooking and I received a voicemail from the Microsoft recruiter and she said they have a position available if I was still interested. I called her back and I said, “Hell YES”. It took couple of weeks for the background check but I was finally in. I was confirmed to be the Customer success account manager. It has been 9 months in this role and I have loved every moment of it. I am a people person. I love learning about problems of others and find solutions for them. I work hard to find ways to help my customers. I don’t focus on selling anything, I focus on helping my customers. I focus on building trust with them and letting them know that I am on their side, I would fight for my customers to get them the best deal, offers, opportunities we have to offer from Microsoft. Microsoft’s success and my success depends on customer’s success. I look forward to many more years of helping customers.