Is an applications engineer a sales engineer?

No, an applications engineer is not a sales engineer. While applications engineers develop applications for technical engineering products, sales engineers sell those products. The role of an applications engineer is to develop applications for complex scientific and technological products or services for their company. To do this, they must have extensive knowledge of the products' parts and functions and must understand the scientific processes that make these products work.

What is an application engineer at Google?

An application engineer at Google is a professional who improves the overall functioning of Google's software. They do so by creating new software architecture, working within existing software, and engineering hardware components that optimize certain technology.

How To Become An Application Engineer: What It Is and Career Path

What is an application engineer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

5 min read

Quoted expert

Andrea Welker Ph.D.

An application engineer is a person who designs, develops, and tests software applications for businesses or consumers. They work closely with clients to understand their needs and create custom software solutions. They also collaborate with other professionals, such as project managers and quality assurance teams, to ensure that the software meets all quality standards. Overall, an application engineer plays a vital role in creating innovative software products that improve productivity and enhance user experience.

What general advice would you give to an application engineer?

Andrea Welker Ph.D.

Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, College of Engineering Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Villanova University

Be open to new experiences. Find a good mentor. Become a valued employee. Always remember that you are designing something for someone.

ScoreApplication EngineerUS Average

Salary

7.3

Avg. Salary $92,921

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.3

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.33%

Asian 11.54%

Black or African American 1.40%

Hispanic or Latino 6.68%

Unknown 6.09%

White 73.97%

Gender

female 12.57%

male 87.43%

Age - 44

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 44

Stress level

7.3

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.5

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.2

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

What are the pros and cons of being an application engineer?

Pros

High demand and job security
Competitive salary
Opportunity for growth and advancement
Ability to work with cutting-edge technology
Collaborative work environment

Cons

High-pressure environment with tight deadlines
Heavy workload and multiple projects simultaneously
Need to balance technical expertise with customer service skills
May require travel and time away from home
Can require occasional on-call availability outside of regular business hours

Key steps to become an application engineer

Explore application engineer education requirements

Most common application engineer degrees

Bachelor's

71.9 %

Master's

12.8 %

Associate

11.3 %

Start to develop specific application engineer skills

Skills	Percentages
Technical Support	7.51%
Java	6.84%
C++	5.68%
Customer Service	5.00%
Troubleshoot	4.29%

Complete relevant application engineer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New application engineers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an application engineer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real application engineer resumes.

Research application engineer duties and responsibilities

Manage $10MM sales territory selling to large OEM's brake mfg.
Manage multiple projects, resources, customers, and tasks and log activities in CRM.
Manage a program to aid a customer to go from design, planning, prototyping, and to launch.
Identify and develop supply chain management opportunities, coordinate and lead RFI, RFQ responses and develop proposal and pricing strategy.

Prepare your application engineer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your application engineer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an application engineer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable application engineer resume templates

Build a professional application engineer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your application engineer resume.

Apply for application engineer jobs

Now it's time to start searching for an application engineer job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do application engineers rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Application engineer reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Jun 2020

Pros

The Different employees i work with and what all i learn from them

Cons

very little

A zippia user wrote a review on Feb 2020

Pros

IF you have enough experience you get to walk around different manufacturing plants and tell them how you solution will impact their bottom line. every day is different.

Cons

Cold Call is pretty bad because your success rate is 1-2%. Surprises when a competitor sells to a company you did not know about and your marketing folks cant help find them.

A zippia user wrote a review on Dec 2019

Pros

Requires many aspect to be combine in order to fulfill the job. business and technical knowledge are required in order to be successful pre sales engineer.

What is an application engineer and how to become one

What general advice would you give to an application engineer?

What are the pros and cons of being an application engineer?

Application engineer career paths

Key steps to become an application engineer

Explore application engineer education requirements

Most common application engineer degrees

Start to develop specific application engineer skills

Complete relevant application engineer training and internships

Research application engineer duties and responsibilities

Prepare your application engineer resume

Choose from 10+ customizable application engineer resume templates

Apply for application engineer jobs

How did you land your first application engineer job

Average application engineer salary

How do application engineers rate their job?

Application engineer reviews

Application engineer FAQs

Is an applications engineer a sales engineer?

What is an application engineer at Google?

Search for application engineer jobs

Application engineer jobs by state