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The differences between customer engineers and circuit design 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 customer engineer and a circuit design engineer. Additionally, a circuit design engineer has an average salary of $107,694, which is higher than the $101,212 average annual salary of a customer engineer.
The top three skills for a customer engineer include customer service, technical problems and level agreements. The most important skills for a circuit design engineer are circuit design, CMOS, and RF.
| Customer Engineer | Circuit Design Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $101,212 | $107,694 |
| Hourly rate | $48.66 | $51.78 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 44,709 | 70,906 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 46% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
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.
A circuit design engineer specializes in designing and developing electrical components and circuits in devices and machinery. Among their responsibilities include identifying the needs of every project, developing strategies to attain optimal quality, developing diagrams and test structures, troubleshooting, and repairing issues. They must also perform regular maintenance checks on existing systems and perform upgrades and corrective measures as needed. Moreover, a circuit design engineer typically works in a team setting, which requires an active communication line for a smooth and efficient workflow.
Customer engineers and circuit design engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Customer Engineer | Circuit Design Engineer | |
| Average salary | $101,212 | $107,694 |
| Salary range | Between $77,000 And $131,000 | Between $84,000 And $137,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Federal Way, WA |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | Rhode Island |
| Best paying company | Apple | |
| Best paying industry | Start-up | Technology |
There are a few differences between a customer engineer and a circuit design engineer in terms of educational background:
| Customer Engineer | Circuit Design Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 46% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Northeastern University |
Here are the differences between customer engineers' and circuit design engineers' demographics:
| Customer Engineer | Circuit Design Engineer | |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 90.4% Female, 9.6% | Male, 74.4% Female, 25.6% |
| 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, 4.6% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 10.5% Asian, 19.9% White, 60.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |