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The differences between product 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 a product sales engineer and an application engineer. Additionally, an application engineer has an average salary of $92,921, which is higher than the $92,735 average annual salary of a product sales engineer.
The top three skills for a product sales engineer include product sales, UL and product development. The most important skills for an application engineer are technical support, java, and C++.
| Product Sales Engineer | Application Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $92,735 | $92,921 |
| Hourly rate | $44.58 | $44.67 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 139,762 | 111,338 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
Production sales engineer positions will require good judgment and business sense, resilience, and even, in an increasing capacity, foreign language skills, as well as teamwork and problem-solving skills. Those who choose this career path will be called upon to provide pre-sales technical assistance and product education, as well as make technical presentations and demonstrations. They will also be required to form liaisons with the sales team and other technical experts and solve any issues clients may have.
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.
Product sales engineers and application engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Product Sales Engineer | Application Engineer | |
| Average salary | $92,735 | $92,921 |
| Salary range | Between $67,000 And $126,000 | Between $69,000 And $125,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Redwood City, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Morgan Lewis | |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Technology |
There are a few differences between a product sales engineer and an application engineer in terms of educational background:
| Product Sales Engineer | Application Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Most common major | Business | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | Georgia Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between product sales engineers' and application engineers' demographics:
| Product Sales Engineer | Application Engineer | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 74.8% Female, 25.2% | Male, 87.4% Female, 12.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 1.7% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 8.0% Asian, 6.5% White, 77.2% 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% |