How do companies feel about hybrid job positions within their companies?

Timothy:

If you are truly interested in sales, this implies being a company sales rep. for a technical product such as pumps, pipe, water or wastewater treatment equipment, etc. There are lots of companies manufacturing and selling these things. An engineering degree in mechanical or civil engineering would put you in a good position to pursue this. But after you graduate with an engineering degree I would first advise you to join an engineering design firm. You could thus get practical engineering design experience in the application and use of such equipment. It would also allow you to gain the professional experience needed to take the professional engineers (PE) exam and earn you PE license. This typically requires 4 years of professional experience after earning an engineering degree. You would have the advantage of obtaining a good knowledge of the types of equipment (and companies) that you might want to represent in a sales capacity. At that point you would be an excellent position to seek a job as a sales engineer.

Another sales-types path exists within all engineering consulting firms. This is the position of Marketing. It involves getting to know both the profession and the new project opportunities within the geographic area of the consulting firm for which you work. You would identify new project opportunities, work closely with the prospective clients and support/lead lead your firm's proposal efforts in the competition for landing new projects. This is a career path that can lead to good advancement within an engineering consulting firm.

Pete Sturtevant

Hello Timothy,
Spot on question you got there. Hybrid positions are highly valued in the corporate world. Especially in the tech industry where having a hybrid background that combines both technology knowledge and business acumen/skills will help you - First understand the products and services the company offers and how we bring value to our customers; and second allow you to develop a more business and strategic oriented mind, enabling you to see the big picture of how a company operates.
If you get the chance to develop your technical knowledge depending on where your interests are (IT, software engineering, etc.) and at the same time work on developing your marketing/sales and business skills - it will go a long way.

It may help to be more specific about what two things: but I find that over-specialisation can be very limiting. Whilst it's good to get a deep understanding of one topic, the really interesting things happen at the intersections: Maths/Computing+Biology, Physics+Engineering, Chemistry & Medicine, Sales & Technology. If you properly understand the tech, customers value your input to the sales process. However if you only understand the tech and not your customer, or how to communicate with, or lead, people, then your sales ability will be much more limited.

Hello Timothy,

Most companies have hybrid roles. Its is always a positive thing to have more than one skill set. From my personal experience I am in HR with a strong background in sales. I use both my sales experience and my knowledge in HR on a daily base as a Talent Acquisition specialist. If you are looking to work as a Engineer in Sales I strongly advise that you should take some business courses in school to strengthen your chances when you are ready to enter the workforce.

At Dell we are constantly looking for techies with a "commercial understanding". You need to understand the business as a whole and not just your little contribution. Broad skill sets are more important than ever.