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The differences between field sales engineers and field 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 a field 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 $48,460 average annual salary of a field sales representative.
The top three skills for a field sales engineer include HVAC, customer satisfaction and technical support. The most important skills for a field sales representative are excellent time management, customer service, and powerpoint.
| Field Sales Engineer | Field Sales Representative | |
| Yearly salary | $90,950 | $48,460 |
| Hourly rate | $43.73 | $23.30 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 4% |
| Number of jobs | 85,486 | 228,254 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 79% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| 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.
A field sales representative is an employee who is employed by business-to-business (B2B) and wholesale organizations to visit leads and sell products or services to their customers in person. Field sales representatives must attract new customers and win new accounts so that they can maximize profitability within their territory. They travel around their assigned territory and visit their customers regularly to educate them on how their products can benefit them. Field sales representatives must also maintain records of all sales leads and monitor the organization's competitor, new products, and market conditions.
Field sales engineers and field sales representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Field Sales Engineer | Field Sales Representative | |
| Average salary | $90,950 | $48,460 |
| Salary range | Between $65,000 And $125,000 | Between $26,000 And $88,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Seattle, WA |
| Highest paying state | New York | Washington |
| Best paying company | Vuzix | VMware |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Technology |
There are a few differences between a field sales engineer and a field sales representative in terms of educational background:
| Field Sales Engineer | Field Sales Representative | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 79% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| 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 field sales representatives' demographics:
| Field Sales Engineer | Field Sales Representative | |
| Average age | 44 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 90.1% Female, 9.9% | Male, 69.5% Female, 30.5% |
| 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, 3.9% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.5% Asian, 5.2% White, 72.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 6% |