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The differences between field sales engineers and solutions 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 solutions engineer. Additionally, a solutions engineer has an average salary of $95,482, 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 solutions engineer are cloud, pre sales, and java.
| Field Sales Engineer | Solutions Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $90,950 | $95,482 |
| Hourly rate | $43.73 | $45.90 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 85,486 | 123,287 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 79% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| 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 solutions engineer is an individual who assists customers in identifying their computer software needs and generates customized business software solutions for them. Solutions engineers collaborate with other department engineers to create practical demonstrations of proposed solutions and showcase them to the other members of the team. They are required to test the installed software and fix programming bugs that create errors with the system. Solutions engineers also maintain customer relations by providing post-installation follow-ups.
Field sales engineers and solutions engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Field Sales Engineer | Solutions Engineer | |
| Average salary | $90,950 | $95,482 |
| Salary range | Between $65,000 And $125,000 | Between $68,000 And $134,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New York | California |
| Best paying company | Vuzix | ByteDance |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Start-up |
There are a few differences between a field sales engineer and a solutions engineer in terms of educational background:
| Field Sales Engineer | Solutions Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 79% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between field sales engineers' and solutions engineers' demographics:
| Field Sales Engineer | Solutions Engineer | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 90.1% Female, 9.9% | Male, 85.1% Female, 14.9% |
| 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, 1.4% Unknown, 6.1% Hispanic or Latino, 6.9% Asian, 10.8% White, 74.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |