Engineers and salespeople generally have different personalities, don’t enjoy hanging out with one another, and look down on one another’s interests, but that doesn’t make it a versus thing. As adults we are no longer competing directly with one another for status.
As an adult engineer, I feel myself in status competition with other engineers: I want to be recognized as a better engineer than they are. The salespeople just aren’t on my radar.
You might not be competing, but I am certainly competing for status, mates, sex, money and all that. Yes it is definitely a vs. thing. I compete against every adult male in my proximity, whether he be sales, engineering, or janitor.
