entry level technical sales

sales engineer

territory representative

technical engineer

senior sales engineer

Keyence

I joined Keyence with high hopes and expectations, but my experience as a technical sales representative turned out to be a nightmare. From the very beginning, the company's lack of organization and support became painfully evident.

**1. ** Inadequate Training:
The training provided was woefully inadequate. I expected a comprehensive onboarding process to familiarize myself with the products and sales techniques. Instead, I was given a few outdated manuals and left to figure things out on my own. The lack of proper training put me at a severe disadvantage when dealing with clients, leading to embarrassing situations and lost sales opportunities.

**2. ** Unrealistic Targets:
Keyence's sales targets were outrageously unrealistic. The pressure to meet these goals was incessant and incredibly stressful. It felt like the company cared more about numbers than nurturing client relationships. This approach led to a cutthroat sales environment, where colleagues were more like rivals, fostering a toxic atmosphere.

**3. ** Inefficient Support System:
Whenever I needed assistance, the support system was virtually non-existent. Emails and calls to the supposed support team often went unanswered for days. This lack of support left me feeling isolated and frustrated, hindering my ability to resolve customer issues promptly.

**4. ** Poor Communication:
Communication within the company was abysmal. Important updates about products, pricing, and sales strategies were rarely communicated effectively to the sales team. This lack of transparency made it difficult to align my sales approach with the company's objectives, leading to confusion and missed opportunities.

**5. ** Limited Product Innovation:
Keyence's product line seemed stuck in the past. While competitors were introducing innovative solutions, Keyence's offerings remained stagnant. This lack of innovation made it challenging to convince potential clients to choose Keyence over more advanced and versatile products from other companies.

**6. ** Lack of Work-Life Balance:
The company had no respect for work-life balance. I found myself working long hours, often well into the night and on weekends, just to keep up with the workload and meet the impossible targets. This work pressure took a toll on my health and personal life, leaving me constantly stressed and exhausted.

In conclusion, my time as a technical sales representative at Keyence was a disheartening experience. The company's lack of proper training, unrealistic targets, inefficient support system, poor communication, limited product innovation, and disregard for work-life balance created a hostile work environment. I would strongly advise anyone considering a position at Keyence to think twice and explore other opportunities where their skills and efforts will be appreciated and rewarded.

The company has industry leading products. The initial training is great, and prepares you well for the position. Be prepared to work long hours with a lot of travel. The company leadership and culture leaves a lot to be desired. There is a bigger focus on process numbers like sales calls and phone time than actual sales. This leads to you having to do a lot of pointless busy work to look good to management. Most of the management is remote so you rarely actually work with your manager which is frustrating. The organizational structor is very lean and leadership is asked to do a lot so they are not proactive about coaching or training after the initial training. You are expected to reach out to them and track them down for coaching. There isn't really any culture as far as personal growth or development. Everything is about process and numbers which is why most people end up leaving after a couple years. Good place to get experience in B2B but not much of a long term opportunity. Every division has their pro's and con's Appli and XM seem to get to most negative attention in the company. Appli is pretty cheap stuff that can compete with other product lines and create friction. XM is on the capital side and has the most unhappy customers of any division because the product is over sold and doesn't work for most customers. Other divisions get frustrated by this because it can fracture the Keyence to customer relationship. I would avoid XM or Appli if possible.

In my role (Sr.Marketing Analyst), my compensation was base plus bonus, however, there was nothing I was in control of to increase or ensure my bonus. They did pay as promised. However, the position paid less than the one I had come from, and I was lured away by an offer for $10K more than my base there.
I do not do well with micro-managing. I was surprised on the 1st day to need to punch into a time-clock and I didn't like that we literally had to track every 15 minutes worth of work done to determine where in our daily/weekly schedule the manager could plug in additional duties (but they didn't).
The work was extremely boring and non-challenging. The most challenging aspect of the position was learning to deal with the Japanese culture and language barrier as at least 50% of the personnel are long-term temporarily relocated to the US offices from Japan. (I was in a corporate office.) I tried to keep myself occupied and interested by creating new jobs for myself and new ideas to motivate the sales staff. My ideas were met with the bewilderment of the Japanese managers, who I think could not fathom someone who was thinking beyond what was requested, either that, or perhaps I was breaking their communication protocol in speaking directly to them instead of through my supervisor at a predesignated meeting time.

I worked as a technical marketing engineer at Keyence for 5 years.  I thoroughly enjoyed the job.  It was a largely reactive role; responding to phone calls, emails, and chats from inside sales, existing customers, and prospective customers.  I liked not knowing what my day would entail, and having to think on my feet with customers to resolve problems.  Keyence believes in an open-floor office concept, meaning your team members and managers are all accessible.  We helped each other answer questions and develop ideas all day every day.  It made for a great team atmosphere.  Each team member may have focused projects outside of support based on their interests and skills.  I was heavily involved in new hire training and development, while other team members spent more time on marketing material for example.  You have autonomy in choosing your projects, so I rarely felt stuck doing something I didn't enjoy.  

Much of your happiness at Keyence is luck of the draw. If you get a local territory you can be comfortable. If, however you get a remote territory (which is the case for the majority of sales employees since you are required to live near your assigned sales office) you could have to drive for hours just to get into your sales territory. I had a relatively local territory yet I still drove almost 1000 miles/week. Traveling into your territory or for a sales meeting and think you can say, stay there for the weekend on your own time? Forget about it. For example, I had to travel to Chicago for a sales meeting and I had a family wedding in the same area that weekend. I asked if I could stay the weekend and just change my return flight from Friday after work to Sunday night. Nope. Instead I was expected to fly home from Chicago, then turn around and fly back to Chicago on my own dime. Thats one example that might show how Keyence takes separation of work and personal life a little too seriously.

I worked in engineering team and learned a lot and was happy with my job. I got unlucky to have received an offer the day i got offer from keyence. So taking this job for a pay cut got me demotivated to not perform my best. I still worked hard and worked for 10 months and learned a lot. Its a huge hassle to apply and make it in to this company. You need to pass 5 interviews and some exams.  I got an offer again from elsewhere for a very high compensation so I left. I eventually applied here again about 30 times as my other job was terrible and got rejected by keyence and then they made me inelligible for employment again. I am not satisfied by hr or talent acquisition. They are a bad portion of this wonderful company. I highly reccomend to do this to their hr and talent acquisition  that make them jealous by working for competitor. 

Keyence will pay you alot of money but you will drive hundreds of miles a week and clock in 60 hours minimum a week no exaggeration.

The work day starts at 7:30am and ends 5:30pm. That's when your in the office (Mondays and Fridays). The other 3 days you drive and drive and drive. You could start at 5:00am and end at 10:00pm.

The company cares about sales but they care more about their sales peoples knowledge and they will compensate you more if you pass their tests.

The office culture is like Jones-town, and most of the employees are drinking the corporate Kool-aid like they have an IV drip.

You will get paid out at this job no lie if you can put up even semi decent sales numbers, but you will have absolutely no free time and you wil be excessively tired.

If you are a technical nerd/whizkid and you can feign kool-aid drinking. You will never be fired and you will have lots of money.

Overall, positive experience. I was fortunate to have a understanding and Hands-off manager who was willing to adjust corporate initiatives to my personal selling style. Pay and benefits are very competitive in the industry and there is fairly good opportunities for advancement. Depending on product line, there is a great deal of technical aptitude necessary to be successful. They do put you through a good training program during on-boarding but be prepared to give thorough product demonstrations as well as be the first( and often only) line of technical service at the customer's facility.

Keyence is a great place to work for a lot of reasons. The company is large, innovative, extremely profitable, and offers amazing products. There is a very laid out path for advancement and the company has never laid anyone off that I am aware of. The trade off for this security and innovation is a middle of the road salary and commission structure for most positions. If job security and product innovation are important for you, Keyence is the perfect place to work. If you are looking for the top ranges of compensation in the industry, look elsewhere.

You apply and you get an email back asking you to complete a personality profile (which have been proven nonsense for 30+ years). Then they want you to spend time dressing up and doing some nonsense of Virtual Interviews. They cannot even be bothered to have someone spend 30 minutes doing a phone screening. 

If they do not value you or your time as a candidate, how do you think they will value you as an employee? It is clear that the work culture is exploitative and will not value you or your time. If you are desperate enough, jump through their hoops, but they need you more than you need them. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Entry level technical sales 9 salaries reported	$86,122 per year
Sales engineer 18 salaries reported	$68,356 per year
Territory representative 1 salary reported	$93,070 per year
Technical engineer 9 salaries reported	$77,922 per year
Senior sales engineer 10 salaries reported	$85,659 per year

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