Declined on one channel, approved on the next, and carried to the claim

A sales enablement software company with a very small Singapore team hired an engineer to become its pre-sales solutions engineer. The first programme channel declined the application, largely because it doubted that a team that small could train a new hire. The application then went through a second channel, was approved, and was taken through to a claim the agency has approved.

Industry context

Software firms selling AI-driven products need people who sit between the product and the buyer: running discovery, demonstrating the product against a client’s real workflow, and supporting the deal through a proof of concept. In a small company the founder covers that work until it no longer can. Hiring for it from inside engineering is common, because product understanding is the harder half to teach.

What changed and why CCP applied

The hire came from back-end robotics and vision engineering. The new role removed that build work and replaced it with account qualification, discovery sessions, live demonstrations, proofs of concept and deal support. That is a change of function, not the same job at a new employer, which is the question conversion support turns on.

Our strategy

The first submission went to a sector channel built for technology sales roles. Its assessor questioned whether a company with so few staff in Singapore had the internal capability to train a new hire, and the application did not go through. Rather than argue the point, in our consultation process we aligned the case to the different job scope pathway, with a training plan that showed how a lean team can still run a structured programme: named mentor responsibilities, a defined sequence of live client work, and the pathway’s workshop. The client was coached on the follow-up questions. The second channel approved it in about two weeks, and the file was then carried through to the claim.

OJT activities included

• Qualifying accounts against the company’s target customer profile.
• Running discovery sessions with prospects and writing them up as solution requirements.
• Building product demonstrations and proofs of concept around each prospect’s own workflow.
• Attending the pathway’s structured workshop alongside the on-the-job plan.

Outcome

Role

Back-end engineer converted into a pre-sales solutions engineer

Submissions

Two; declined on the first channel, approved on the second

Status

Approved, and the claim has been approved by the agency

Strategic value

A customer-facing technical role built inside a very small team, with salary support for the conversion period

Key takeaway

A decline on one channel is not a verdict on the role. Small teams get questioned on whether they can train anyone, and the answer is structure, not headcount: a lean company can still show who mentors, what the trainee does each month, and how progress is checked.