Tech sales career pathways
Nineteen customer-facing technology roles in four stages: what each one does, what you need to be able to show, which external credentials people in the role commonly hold, and where an ASTRA credential fits. Pick a stage, open a role, share the link.
You are new to technology sales or to technology itself: a student, a career changer, or in your first commercial job. The risk at this stage is promising something you do not understand. The goal is to understand what your company sells well enough to be trusted with customers.
Start with ASTRA Tech Fundamentals. Move to the ASTRA Tech Sales Associate programme once you are running deals.
ASTRA Tech FundamentalsNot sure where you are? Three questions.
External credentials mentioned on this page — all 22, with issuer and what each evidences
| Credential | Issuer | Type | Cost | What it evidences |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Certified Customer Success Manager (CCSM) | SuccessCOACHING | Customer success | Paid exam | Customer success fundamentals: onboarding, adoption, renewals and expansion. |
| Strategic account management programmes (SAMA) | Strategic Account Management Association | Leadership | Paid exam | Managing an organisation's largest customers as multi-year programmes. |
| Microsoft Certified: Azure AI Fundamentals (AI-900) | Microsoft | AI | Paid exam | AI and machine-learning concepts and Azure AI services, at an introductory level. |
| Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert | Microsoft | Cloud | Paid exam | Designing solutions on Azure. Technical; presales and architecture roles. |
| Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900) | Microsoft | Cloud | Paid exam | Cloud concepts, Azure services and pricing basics. |
| Google Cloud Professional Cloud Architect | Google Cloud | Cloud | Paid exam | Designing solutions on Google Cloud. Technical; presales and architecture roles. |
| ITIL 4 Foundation | PeopleCert (on behalf of Axelos) | Service management | Paid exam | Service management vocabulary: incidents, requests, SLAs, change. Useful in support and managed-service roles. |
| AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner | Amazon Web Services | Cloud | Paid exam | Plain-language understanding of cloud services, billing and shared responsibility on AWS. |
| AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate | Amazon Web Services | Cloud | Paid exam | Designing workloads on AWS. Technical; common in presales and solutions roles. |
| ISC2 Certified in Cybersecurity (CC) | ISC2 | Security | Cost varies | Entry-level security principles, network and access concepts, incident response basics. |
| Salesforce Trailhead badges and certifications | Salesforce | Sales | Free | CRM skills and Salesforce product knowledge; the certifications themselves are paid exams. |
| Gainsight customer success certifications | Gainsight | Customer success | Cost varies | Customer success practice and the Gainsight product. |
| CompTIA Security+ | CompTIA | Security | Paid exam | Core security concepts, threats, controls and operations. Technical; vendor-neutral. |
| Google Cloud Digital Leader | Google Cloud | Cloud | Paid exam | Cloud concepts and Google Cloud products from a business point of view. |
| Presales and demo training (PreSales Collective programmes, Demo2Win and similar) | Various training companies | Presales | Cost varies | Discovery-led demos, proof-of-concept scoping and technical storytelling. Not a standardised credential. |
| Sales methodology training (MEDDICC, Sandler, Challenger, Command of the Message and similar) | Various training companies; usually bought by employers | Sales | Usually free through your employer | A shared language for qualifying and running deals. Valuable inside the company that uses it; not a standardised credential. |
| Product administrator certification for the product you support | The software vendor | Customer success | Cost varies | That you can configure and operate the product customers ask you about. |
| AWS Certified AI Practitioner | Amazon Web Services | AI | Paid exam | AI, machine-learning and generative-AI concepts and AWS AI services, at an introductory level. |
| Vendor partner sales accreditations | Cloud and software vendors through their partner programmes (for example AWS, Microsoft, Google Cloud, Cisco) | Partner programmes | Usually free through your employer | Vendor-specific selling knowledge required to keep partner status. Usually free to partner staff. |
| HubSpot Academy sales courses | HubSpot | Sales | Free | Prospecting, qualification and inbound selling basics. |
| Sales leadership and management programmes | Business schools, vendors' partner executive programmes, employers | Leadership | Cost varies | Forecasting, coaching, hiring and territory design. Track record matters more than any certificate at this stage. |
| Vendor security sales accreditations | The security vendors your company resells (firewall, endpoint, identity, SIEM) | Security | Usually free through your employer | Product-specific sales and technical sales knowledge required by many partner programmes. Usually free to partner staff. |
No credential gets anyone a job or a salary, and ASTRA does not promise either. An ASTRA credential attests that the holder passed an examination; it does not certify performance in a job. External programmes and certifications are listed because people in these roles commonly hold them. ASTRA is not affiliated with their issuers and does not endorse them; names are trademarks of their owners. Details change, so check the issuer's site before you buy. Last reviewed 12 October 2026.