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The differences between field sales engineers and sales 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 field sales engineer and a sales engineer. Additionally, a sales engineer has an average salary of $93,727, which is higher than the $90,950 average annual salary of a field sales engineer.
The top three skills for a field sales engineer include HVAC, customer satisfaction and technical support. The most important skills for a sales engineer are pre sales, customer service, and sales process.
| Field Sales Engineer | Sales Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $90,950 | $93,727 |
| Hourly rate | $43.73 | $45.06 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 85,486 | 132,324 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 79% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
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 sales engineer is responsible for assisting customers with their technical equipment and advanced scientific product needs. Sales engineers must have excellent knowledge of the scientific processes and component functions of the products they're selling to deliver presentations and orient the customers. Sales engineers' duties also include troubleshooting, identifying product defects, and upgrading systems for better optimization. They are also responsible for analyzing cost estimates documents, performing adjustments as needed, process payments, arranging deliveries, and settling customers' complaints by replacing damaged items or doing refunds.
Field sales engineers and sales engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Field Sales Engineer | Sales Engineer | |
| Average salary | $90,950 | $93,727 |
| Salary range | Between $65,000 And $125,000 | Between $66,000 And $132,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | New York | Virginia |
| Best paying company | Vuzix | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Technology |
There are a few differences between a field sales engineer and a sales engineer in terms of educational background:
| Field Sales Engineer | Sales Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 79% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between field sales engineers' and sales engineers' demographics:
| Field Sales Engineer | Sales Engineer | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 90.1% Female, 9.9% | Male, 90.1% Female, 9.9% |
| 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, 1.7% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 8.0% Asian, 7.1% White, 76.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |