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What is a field sales engineer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read

If you have a dual preference for sales and engineering, then the role of a field sales engineer can be a good fit for you. Generally, the responsibility of such a professional is to prepare and deliver technical presentations in front of clients that explain the products or services of the company. Field sales engineers identify the required system and access the necessary equipment by discussing with engineers and customers.

Reporting the status of engineering projects and conducting relevant research are also some of their other duties. These sales engineers normally have a bachelor's degree, and they usually study mechanical engineering, business, or electrical engineering. Field sales engineers have good interpersonal, technological, and problem-solving skills. They have sales goals to meet and have knowledge of customer service, technical support, HVAC systems, and company products.

Averagely earning around $43 an hour, field sales engineers make more than $90,000 per year. The career growth rate is decent enough to produce more job opportunities in the future.

ScoreField Sales EngineerUS Average
Salary
7.1

Avg. Salary $90,950

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level
7.3

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity
3.4
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.34%

Asian 5.67%

Black or African American 1.71%

Hispanic or Latino 8.28%

Unknown 6.21%

White 77.78%

Gender

female 9.88%

male 90.12%

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

Field sales engineer career paths

Key steps to become a field sales engineer

  1. Explore field sales engineer education requirements

    Most common field sales engineer degrees

    Bachelor's

    78.6 %

    Associate

    10.5 %

    Master's

    7.5 %
  2. Start to develop specific field sales engineer skills

    SkillsPercentages
    HVAC5.33%
    Customer Satisfaction5.07%
    Technical Support5.06%
    Product Line5.03%
    Trade Shows4.59%
  3. Complete relevant field sales engineer training and internships

    Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New field sales 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 a field sales engineer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real field sales engineer resumes.
  4. Research field sales engineer duties and responsibilities

    • Manage merchandising and POS materials at the retail store level ensuring meticulous compliance with all current corporate initiative regulations.
    • Assign Vlans on different IP subnets.
    • Test storage configurations utilizing iSCSI over IP in HDS test labs.
    • Work directly with large OEM accounts (agriculture, marine, automotive, mobile off-highway, medical, etc . )
  5. Prepare your field sales engineer resume

    When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your field sales 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 a field sales 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 field sales engineer resume templates

    Build a professional field sales 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 field sales engineer resume.
    Field Sales Engineer Resume
    Field Sales Engineer Resume
    Field Sales Engineer Resume
    Field Sales Engineer Resume
    Field Sales Engineer Resume
    Field Sales Engineer Resume
    Field Sales Engineer Resume
    Field Sales Engineer Resume
    Field Sales Engineer Resume
  6. Apply for field sales engineer jobs

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

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

How did you land your first field sales engineer job

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Average field sales engineer salary

The average field sales engineer salary in the United States is $90,950 per year or $44 per hour. Field sales engineer salaries range between $65,000 and $125,000 per year.

Average field sales engineer salary
$90,950 Yearly
$43.73 hourly

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How do field sales engineers rate their job?

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Field sales engineer reviews

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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.


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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.

Cons

no general certification like PMP exists for pre sales engineer, they are all specified for one product. requires an absurd amount of concentration required for proposals writing if you don't have the adequate tools to help.


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A zippia user wrote a review on Oct 2019
Cons

Presales tasks are usually working under Pressure, no enough time to improve skills


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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.