Manufacturing Engineer looking to make the switch to SE
This is my first post in here so not sure if this has been asked before. My apologies if it has.
I am currently a manufacturing engineer in the semiconductor/fiber optic (quantum industry as well now) and I feel like I've hit a roadblock in what I want to do with my career. Most of my friends are in sales roles and I hear what they make and it sounds phenomenal. I make $110k which is fine but obviously there's a cap much lower in MFG EGR than there is in sales. I see posts here of people making upwards of $200-300k which gets me interested.
I have always been more interested in a customer focused position (since I would rather talk to people than write procedures and be on the floor all day long (and a technical role doesn't interest me long term). I have had to talk to customers before but more in a "customer service" sense rather than sales. I want to leverage my technical skills into a potential sales role to bring something more to the table since what I have learned seems valuable. Yet all the SE's I see out there are for software or medical fields. I would hate to start from scratch wherever I go but to get that long term higher pay it feels like that's what I need to do. And I know what some people say, it's stressful in sales but I think I would do much better with having goals and something to shoot.
Is making the switch the right move? Should I think about moving industries? Is it worth it in the long run? I just feel I am at a crossroads. If anyone has any experience in this situation that would be great!