If you love technology, enjoy working on new products with customers, and desire to be a part of state-of-the-art developments, a career as an application engineer might be a viable option for you. Application engineering is a career that offers you a lot of room for professional and personal development. From hands-on activities like developing, manufacturing, and testing complex applications boards to providing documentation and customer consulting, it's a job with many facets.

As an application engineer, you may redesign, develop, test, or implement new software programs or applications. Typically you will work in an application development firm to meet the goals of your customers' or clients' unique software needs. When developing and improving applications, you'll commonly act as a bridge between clients and engineering teams. With handling the specifications and standards of technology, you'll usually work 40 hours a week. However, weekend work or overtime may come when a project is deadline-oriented.

To become an application engineer, you will generally need a bachelor's degree in a technical discipline such as engineering, IT, or computer science. Experience with programming languages, development, and designing enterprise programs may give you an additional edge over the competition as well. As a creator in the programming and technology sector, you may earn an average attractive wage of $83,000. Not only that, but becoming an application engineer may open up numerous career paths for you. Depending on your strengths, you can move to the role of technical expert or even project management.

What Does an Application Engineer Do

There are certain skills that many application engineers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed interpersonal skills, self-confidence and technological skills.

Learn more about what an Application Engineer does

How To Become an Application Engineer

If you're interested in becoming an application engineer, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 71.9% of application engineers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 12.8% of application engineers have master's degrees. Even though most application engineers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become an Application Engineer

Application Engineer Career Paths

Average Salary for an Application Engineer

Application Engineers in America make an average salary of $92,921 per year or $45 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $125,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $69,000 per year.
Average Application Engineer Salary
$92,921 Yearly
$44.67 hourly

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Roles and Types of Application Engineer

The role of an application engineer includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general application engineer responsibilities:

  • Solve customers’ technical problems develop clear tech communication channels between corning
  • Provide follow-up support in disseminating technical information on specific applications to service personnel, company sales representatives, project managers
  • Assists customers in the application of rotron products against customer needs. This involves analysis of customer technical requirements, initial product feasibility analysis,

There are several types of application engineer, including:

Software Engineer

Role:

Software Engineers get to apply lots of different areas of study into their everyday work. Whether it's science, engineering, mathematics, computer science, or even design, these engineers are able to use lots of different methods and techniques in their line of work.

Essentially, software engineers design, develop and test software applications for computers. They usually work in offices or labs during their average 40-hour workweek. Even though they use a wide range of study, typically software engineers only require a Bachelor's degree, although a Master's degree is appealing to most employers.
  • Average Salary: $100,260
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Engineer

Role:

Engineers design and develop new products in a variety of different industries. They might be mechanical or software engineers or create electric machinery, design chemical or geotechnical processes, or help to structure civil or management disciplines. Whatever the case may be, engineers are involved in creating the diverse technologies that facilitate the processes of our lives in different areas. Combining creative thinking with the principles of mathematics and science using a wide range of technical skills, engineers work on the design, manufacturing, installation, and maintenance of various products from machines, vehicles, buildings, and roads to software or social processes serving consumers, businesses, and societies.

Engineers are creative thinkers and brilliant problem solvers. They excel at mathematical, scientific, and mechanical analysis. They follow plans and blueprints with a strong focus, yet remain flexible and work well under pressure.

Engineers develop systems for solving various problems as members of a team. They know that a single component is worthless without their counterparts, so they have to be great communicators, as well, to be successful at their job.
  • Average Salary: $92,077
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Project Engineer

Role:

A project engineer is responsible for the planning and implementation of a project. In collaboration with the management of the enterprise, they review proposals and come up with project goals. They break down the process and create a viable schedule, and then coordinate and monitor the work.

The project, as such, sounds vague because it depends on the industry they work for. In any case, they go on regular meetings with clients to make sure the the evolution of the work matches their vision. It is their responsibility to carry out the work within the budget or to propose adjustments to it if they see fit.

The project engineer will analyze the performance of their team and present progress reports to stakeholders to make sure everyone is at the top of their game.
  • Average Salary: $75,050
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

States With The Most Application Engineer Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active application engineer jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where application engineers earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Application Engineer Jobs By State

Application Engineer Education

Application Engineer Majors

Application Engineer Degrees

Bachelors

71.9 %

Masters

12.8 %

Associate

11.3 %

Top Colleges for Application Engineers

1. Georgia Institute of Technology

Atlanta, GA • Private

In-State Tuition

$12,424

Enrollment

15,201

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Engineering Technology
Mechanical Engineering
Business
Electrical Engineering
Industrial Engineering

2. Cornell University

Ithaca, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,188

Enrollment

15,105

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Engineering Technology
Business
Computer Science
Electrical Engineering
Mechanical Engineering

3. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-State Tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Engineering Technology
Business
Computer Science
Mechanical Engineering
Engineering

4. Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$59,430

Enrollment

8,216

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Engineering Technology
Business
Computer Science
Electrical Engineering
Mechanical Engineering

5. Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD • Private

In-State Tuition

$53,740

Enrollment

5,567

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Engineering Technology
Chemical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Business

6. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Cambridge, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,832

Enrollment

4,550

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Engineering Technology
Business
Computer Science
Mechanical Engineering
Mathematics

7. Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,465

Enrollment

6,483

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Engineering Technology
Electrical Engineering
Business
Mechanical Engineering
Computer Science

8. Pennsylvania State University

University Park, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$18,454

Enrollment

40,108

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Engineering Technology
Mechanical Engineering
Computer Information Systems
Electrical Engineering
Chemical Engineering

9. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Engineering Technology
Computer Science
Business
Mechanical Engineering
Electrical Engineering

10. Michigan Technological University

Houghton, MI • Private

In-State Tuition

$15,646

Enrollment

5,736

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Engineering Technology
Mechanical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Chemical Engineering
Computer Engineering

Top Skills For an Application Engineer

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 7.5% of application engineers listed technical support on their resume, but soft skills such as interpersonal skills and self-confidence are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Application Engineer Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Application Engineer templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Application Engineer resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

Application Engineer Resume
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Application Engineer Demographics

Application Engineer Gender Distribution

Male
Male
87%
Female
Female
13%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among application engineers, 12.6% of them are women, while 87.4% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among application engineers is White, which makes up 74.0% of all application engineers.

  • The most common foreign language among application engineers is Spanish at 34.7%.

Online Courses For Application Engineer That You May Like

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1. Applications in Engineering Mechanics

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This course applies principles learned in my course “Introduction to Engineering Mechanics” to analyze real world engineering structures. You will need to have mastered the engineering fundamentals from that class in order to be successful in this course offering. This course addresses the modeling and analysis of static equilibrium problems with an emphasis on real world engineering systems and problem solving. --------------------------- Recommended Background: You will need to have...

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2. 3D CAD Application

coursera

Do you want to obtain all the necessary skills of a 3D modeler? Do you want to know how an engineer develop a building model in details? The “3D CAD Application” course, the second course of the new specialization, is coming! After finishing this course: You will be able to know how to use the SketchUp’s advanced functions by creating 3D building models. You will be able to develop a building as an engineer. Let’s start the learning journey!...

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3. Introduction to Systems Engineering

coursera

"Introduction to Systems Engineering" uses a structured yet flexible approach to provide a holistic, solid foundation to the successful development of complicated systems. The course takes you step by step through the system life cycle, from design to development, production and management. You will learn how the different components of a system interrelate, and how each contributes to a project’s goals and success. The discipline’s terminology, which can so often confuse the newcomer, is...

See More on Coursera
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Best States For an Application Engineer

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as an application engineer. The best states for people in this position are California, Colorado, Virginia, and Oregon. Application engineers make the most in California with an average salary of $114,148. Whereas in Colorado and Virginia, they would average $107,003 and $103,441, respectively. While application engineers would only make an average of $100,687 in Oregon, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. Colorado

Total Application Engineer Jobs: 1,525
Highest 10% Earn:
$142,000
Location Quotient:
1.51

2. California

Total Application Engineer Jobs: 9,452
Highest 10% Earn:
$157,000
Location Quotient:
1.91

3. Oregon

Total Application Engineer Jobs: 1,069
Highest 10% Earn:
$136,000
Location Quotient:
1.52
Full List Of Best States For Application Engineers

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Top Application Engineer Employers

We've made finding a great employer to work for easy by doing the hard work for you. We looked into employers that employ application engineers and discovered their number of application engineer opportunities and average salary. Through our research, we concluded that Arrow Electronics was the best, especially with an average salary of $105,275. Google follows up with an average salary of $137,948, and then comes Texas Instruments with an average of $119,316. In addition, we know most people would rather work from home. So instead of having to change careers, we identified the best employers for remote work as an application engineer. The employers include The Vanguard Group, Cadence Design Systems, and Trimble

Most Common Employers For Application Engineer

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Meta$146,694$70.53138
2Google$137,948$66.32594
3Cadence Design Systems$120,154$57.77310
4Texas Instruments$119,316$57.36454
5Applied Materials$118,125$56.79157
6Synopsys$115,761$55.65433
7Rohde & Schwarz$111,283$53.50143
8Intel$106,129$51.02320
9Arrow Electronics$105,275$50.61596
10Analog Devices$104,367$50.18108

Application Engineer Videos

Becoming an Application Engineer FAQs

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.

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