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The differences between outside sales engineers and application engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both an outside sales engineer and an application engineer. Additionally, an application engineer has an average salary of $92,921, which is higher than the $79,145 average annual salary of an outside sales engineer.
The top three skills for an outside sales engineer include customer relationships, HVAC and product line. The most important skills for an application engineer are technical support, java, and C++.
| Outside Sales Engineer | Application Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $79,145 | $92,921 |
| Hourly rate | $38.05 | $44.67 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 113,925 | 111,338 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 74% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
An outside sales engineer is both a specialist and a salesperson of scientific and technological products or services to businesses. You have an in-depth knowledge of the products and the engineering processes that make these products work so that you can demonstrate their benefits to customers. Outside sales engineers are technical customer service representatives working for businesses that sell engineering products or the makers - they are out in the field interacting, educating, and selling to potential customers.
An application engineer is responsible for creating and re-designing system applications based on clients' specifications and sales demands. Application engineers run diagnostic tests on software programs, identify areas of improvement, install necessary updates, upgrade optimization, revise system codes, and provide technical support for customers' needs. They also generate ideas and locate other business opportunities by analyzing current trends in the technology market that would help build revenues and increase profitability for the company. An application engineer must have a strong command of programming languages, software application processes, and general technology disciplines.
Outside sales engineers and application engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Outside Sales Engineer | Application Engineer | |
| Average salary | $79,145 | $92,921 |
| Salary range | Between $55,000 And $113,000 | Between $69,000 And $125,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Redwood City, CA |
| Highest paying state | - | California |
| Best paying company | - | Morgan Lewis |
| Best paying industry | - | Technology |
There are a few differences between an outside sales engineer and an application engineer in terms of educational background:
| Outside Sales Engineer | Application Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 74% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Most common major | Business | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | Georgia Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between outside sales engineers' and application engineers' demographics:
| Outside Sales Engineer | Application Engineer | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 91.2% Female, 8.8% | Male, 87.4% Female, 12.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 1.6% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 5.8% White, 78.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 1.4% Unknown, 6.1% Hispanic or Latino, 6.7% Asian, 11.5% White, 74.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |