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The differences between field sales engineers and sales managers 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 sales manager takes usually requires 6-8 years. Additionally, a field sales engineer has an average salary of $90,950, which is higher than the $73,952 average annual salary of a sales manager.
The top three skills for a field sales engineer include HVAC, customer satisfaction and technical support. The most important skills for a sales manager are product knowledge, customer satisfaction, and sales performance.
| Field Sales Engineer | Sales Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $90,950 | $73,952 |
| Hourly rate | $43.73 | $35.55 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 85,486 | 119,066 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 79% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Average age | 44 | 46 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 8 |
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.
Sales managers are responsible for leading the organization's sales team. They oversee the progress and performance of the whole team, set area assignments to team members, and set weekly or monthly quotas. Sales managers oversee training team members during onboarding and providing further coaching to help them achieve their goals. They manage the challenges that team members may meet and help mitigate any problems that come along the way. Sales managers also set the strategic direction of the sales team and follow through by ensuring that the team's activities are in line with the goals.
Field sales engineers and sales managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Field Sales Engineer | Sales Manager | |
| Average salary | $90,950 | $73,952 |
| Salary range | Between $65,000 And $125,000 | Between $42,000 And $129,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Jersey City, NJ |
| Highest paying state | New York | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Vuzix | Capgemini |
| Best paying industry | Technology | - |
There are a few differences between a field sales engineer and a sales manager in terms of educational background:
| Field Sales Engineer | Sales Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 79% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | University of Southern California |
Here are the differences between field sales engineers' and sales managers' demographics:
| Field Sales Engineer | Sales Manager | |
| Average age | 44 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 90.1% Female, 9.9% | Male, 68.7% Female, 31.3% |
| 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, 3.2% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 4.1% White, 78.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |