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The differences between product applications 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 product applications engineer and a solutions engineer. Additionally, a product applications engineer has an average salary of $101,877, which is higher than the $95,482 average annual salary of a solutions engineer.
The top three skills for a product applications engineer include technical support, product line and RF. The most important skills for a solutions engineer are cloud, pre sales, and java.
| Product Applications Engineer | Solutions Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $101,877 | $95,482 |
| Hourly rate | $48.98 | $45.90 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 101,218 | 123,287 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A product applications engineer's job is to determine business needs and develop solutions with product managers and address customer queries and issues promptly. They typically address customer questions and issues in a timely manner. They communicate feedback from customers to the design team and provide post-sales support to make suitable modifications in product design. Moreover, it is part of their responsibility to evaluate new software products, check defects, conduct internal application trials for verification, and maintain accurate documentation of problems related to applications, including solutions.
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.
Product applications engineers and solutions engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Product Applications Engineer | Solutions Engineer | |
| Average salary | $101,877 | $95,482 |
| Salary range | Between $75,000 And $138,000 | Between $68,000 And $134,000 |
| Highest paying City | Mountain View, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | ByteDance | |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Start-up |
There are a few differences between a product applications engineer and a solutions engineer in terms of educational background:
| Product Applications Engineer | Solutions Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between product applications engineers' and solutions engineers' demographics:
| Product Applications Engineer | Solutions Engineer | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 89.4% Female, 10.6% | Male, 85.1% Female, 14.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 1.4% Unknown, 6.1% Hispanic or Latino, 6.6% Asian, 11.1% White, 74.6% 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% |