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The differences between controls engineers and customer engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a controls engineer and a customer engineer. Additionally, a customer engineer has an average salary of $101,212, which is higher than the $84,532 average annual salary of a controls engineer.
The top three skills for a controls engineer include C++, troubleshoot and UL. The most important skills for a customer engineer are customer service, technical problems, and level agreements.
| Controls Engineer | Customer Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $84,532 | $101,212 |
| Hourly rate | $40.64 | $48.66 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 50,203 | 44,709 |
| Job satisfaction | 4 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 46% |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A Controls Engineer is responsible for designing, developing, and supervising electrical control systems, machinery, and equipment. They oversee projects from initial concept to installation and commissioning.
A customer engineer provides technical support to organizations having issues with their products or services. Duties and responsibilities may vary depending on the sector, but generally include diagnosing and troubleshooting technical problems with products, performing tests, upgrades and diagnostics to prevent delay or downtime caused by-product issues, and keeping updated reports outlining the problems and measures taken to resolve them. A customer engineer is also responsible for discussing service contracts and their benefits with clients.
Controls engineers and customer engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Controls Engineer | Customer Engineer | |
| Average salary | $84,532 | $101,212 |
| Salary range | Between $64,000 And $111,000 | Between $77,000 And $131,000 |
| Highest paying City | Palo Alto, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Apple | |
| Best paying industry | Automotive | Start-up |
There are a few differences between a controls engineer and a customer engineer in terms of educational background:
| Controls Engineer | Customer Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 46% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | Georgia Institute of Technology | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between controls engineers' and customer engineers' demographics:
| Controls Engineer | Customer Engineer | |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 90.8% Female, 9.2% | Male, 90.4% Female, 9.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.8% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 11.1% Asian, 14.5% White, 64.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 4.8% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 11.1% Asian, 14.5% White, 64.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |