Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between field sales engineers and area sales representatives can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a field sales engineer, becoming an area sales representative takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a field sales engineer has an average salary of $90,950, which is higher than the $58,355 average annual salary of an area sales representative.
The top three skills for a field sales engineer include HVAC, customer satisfaction and technical support. The most important skills for an area sales representative are customer service, business development, and sales process.
| Field Sales Engineer | Area Sales Representative | |
| Yearly salary | $90,950 | $58,355 |
| Hourly rate | $43.73 | $28.06 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 4% |
| Number of jobs | 85,486 | 199,212 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 79% | Bachelor's Degree, 69% |
| Average age | 44 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 4 |
Usually, a field sales engineer prepares and delivers technical representations explaining a company's products or services to clients. Field sales engineers confer with engineers and customers for the assessment of the necessary equipment and in the identification of the required system. They conduct research and report the status of engineering projects. It is the duty of the field engineers to ensure everything in the field works efficiently and smoothly and that the engineering designs are followed.
The primary role of an area sales representative is to sell the company's products and services within a specified region or territory. You will be responsible for attracting new clients, increase profitability, and win new accounts. Other duties typically include building and maintaining relationships with both new and existing customers, traveling across the region to visit customers, and maintaining records of customer accounts and sales leads. As an area sales representative, it is also your duty to close deals and negotiate service agreements, prices, and terms of sale.
Field sales engineers and area sales representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Field Sales Engineer | Area Sales Representative | |
| Average salary | $90,950 | $58,355 |
| Salary range | Between $65,000 And $125,000 | Between $42,000 And $80,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Syracuse, NY |
| Highest paying state | New York | Maine |
| Best paying company | Vuzix | Microsoft |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Finance |
There are a few differences between a field sales engineer and an area sales representative in terms of educational background:
| Field Sales Engineer | Area Sales Representative | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 79% | Bachelor's Degree, 69% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | SUNY College of Technology at Alfred |
Here are the differences between field sales engineers' and area sales representatives' demographics:
| Field Sales Engineer | Area Sales Representative | |
| Average age | 44 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 90.1% Female, 9.9% | Male, 66.0% Female, 34.0% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 1.7% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 8.3% Asian, 5.7% White, 77.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 3.8% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.3% Asian, 5.2% White, 72.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 6% |