Cybersecurity Sales & Sales Engineering
If you already make things, this is the one that pays the most. The highest-paid non-coding path in tech.
What the day actually looks like.
Four sub-roles. SDR/BDR: 60-100 dials/day, 120 cold emails, LinkedIn Sales Nav research, social-selling posts, 2-4 qualified meetings booked. AE: discovery calls (MEDDIC questions), demos, $180k 3-year deal negotiation, DocuSign redlines, forecast call, Salesforce updates. Sales / Solutions Engineer: build a custom EDR demo catching a fileless attack, run a Proof-of-Value, answer 200-question RFPs, whiteboard Zero Trust architecture. CSM: QBRs, onboarding, success plans, churn-saves, expansion hand-off to AE.
Where the work lives.
What you actually need.
- Conceptual cyber literacy (EDR vs SIEM vs SASE vs ZTNA vs IAM)
- CRM (Salesforce, HubSpot)transferable
- Prospecting (Outreach, Salesloft, Apollo, Gong, Sales Navigator)transferable
- AWS / Azure basics (SE-track only)
- Light scripting / API (SE-track only)
- Storytelling and narrative framingtransferable
Gold. Writers and producers already do this for a living.
- On-camera presencetransferable
Also gold.
- Video-first prospecting (Vidyard, Loom)transferable
TikTok creators outperform 6-person SDR teams here.
- Social selling (LinkedIn, X)transferable
- Resilience (rejection at scale)transferable
The shape of the journey.
- 1SDR / BDR0-2 yr
- 2AE (SMB)1-3 yr
- 3AE (Mid-Market)3-5 yr
- 4Senior AE / Enterprise AE5-9 yr
- 5RSM / Director8-13 yr
- 6VP Sales / CRO12-20 yr
Note. Times reflect typical paths for someone with strong communication and 10-15 hrs/week of focused study.
What it pays.
Ranges are directional. Currency: USD · annual. EMEA SDR remote: $40-70k base + $15-30k variable. Remote CSM EMEA: $70-110k base + $15-25k variable. Last updated: 2025.
The cert sequence that won't bankrupt you.
Free MEDDIC / Sandler / Challenger content
YouTubeSales rarely requires certs. Frameworks matter. Fluency in MEDDIC questions is your hiring filter.
AWS Cloud Practitioner (SE-track)
AWSFor Solutions Engineer track only.
Security+ (SE-track)
CompTIASE-track only.
Microsoft SC-900
MicrosoftCheap vocabulary signal.
Vendor certs (CrowdStrike CCFA, Palo Alto PCNSA)
VariousTypically employer-paid after hire.
Working from Lagos, Abuja, or anywhere.
Lagos WAT overlaps perfectly with EMEA business hours. Vendors regularly hire EMEA-based SDRs covering Africa. Video-first prospecting (Vidyard/Loom personalised cold videos) converts 3-5× email rates. A TikTok creator can outproduce a whole SDR team.
The good, the gritty, and who this suits.
- +Highest-paying non-coding path in tech.
- +Media skills are directly monetisable (Vidyard / video prospecting).
- +Remote and global from Nigeria.
- +Fastest on-ramp of any role in this roadmap (1-3 months for SDR).
- −Quota pressure.
- −Volatile compensation. Base is fine, OTE swings.
- −'Number on your back' lifestyle is not for everyone.
If you've ever sold an idea, a pitch, or yourself on a brand deal, this is the same muscle, paid in dollars.
Three to five hours that beat any cert.
Top 15 Sales Tactics of ALL TIME
Why watch. Best free SDR/AE training on YouTube. Start here.
How I Got Into Sales
Why watch. Honest entry-path story.
What is Tech Sales, and How Do You Break Into It?
Why watch. Specifically tech-sales focused.
A Career in Cybersecurity Sales
Why watch. Cyber-specific framing.
Do this by Friday.
This week: record three 60-second Loom videos pitching a cybersecurity vendor (CrowdStrike, Wiz, Cloudflare). DM them to a recruiter at each on LinkedIn. One reply gets you an interview.