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The differences between applications & systems engineers and sales engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become an applications & systems engineer, becoming a sales engineer takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, an applications & systems engineer has an average salary of $97,919, which is higher than the $93,727 average annual salary of a sales engineer.
The top three skills for an applications & systems engineer include application development, C++ and java. The most important skills for a sales engineer are pre sales, customer service, and sales process.
| Applications & Systems Engineer | Sales Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $97,919 | $93,727 |
| Hourly rate | $47.08 | $45.06 |
| Growth rate | 21% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 367,806 | 132,324 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 71% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| Average age | 39 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 6 |
An applications and systems engineer is an information technology (IT) expert whose responsibilities revolve around designing and developing applications and systems to optimize company operations. They typically perform internal assessments to identify company needs, evaluate existing systems and applications to determine areas needing improvements, establish testing structures, and providing solutions for different IT issues. Furthermore, as an application and systems engineer, it is essential to perform regular maintenance checks on IT systems and networks, ensuring efficiency and providing corrective measures as needed.
A sales engineer is responsible for assisting customers with their technical equipment and advanced scientific product needs. Sales engineers must have excellent knowledge of the scientific processes and component functions of the products they're selling to deliver presentations and orient the customers. Sales engineers' duties also include troubleshooting, identifying product defects, and upgrading systems for better optimization. They are also responsible for analyzing cost estimates documents, performing adjustments as needed, process payments, arranging deliveries, and settling customers' complaints by replacing damaged items or doing refunds.
Applications & systems engineers and sales engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Applications & Systems Engineer | Sales Engineer | |
| Average salary | $97,919 | $93,727 |
| Salary range | Between $74,000 And $129,000 | Between $66,000 And $132,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | California | Virginia |
| Best paying company | Meta | |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Technology |
There are a few differences between an applications & systems engineer and a sales engineer in terms of educational background:
| Applications & Systems Engineer | Sales Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 71% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Business |
| Most common college | California State University - Long Beach | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between applications & systems engineers' and sales engineers' demographics:
| Applications & Systems Engineer | Sales Engineer | |
| Average age | 39 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 85.9% Female, 14.1% | Male, 90.1% Female, 9.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.7% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 8.4% Asian, 29.7% White, 52.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 1.7% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 8.0% Asian, 7.1% White, 76.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 8% | 7% |