How to hire a sales support engineer

How to hire a sales support engineer, step by step

Here's a step-by-step sales support engineer hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a sales support engineer job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new sales support engineer
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a sales support engineer do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a sales support engineer, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A sales support engineer's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, sales support engineers from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   This list shows salaries for various types of sales support engineers.

   Type of Sales Support Engineer	Description	Hourly rate
   Sales Support Engineer	Sales engineers sell complex scientific and technological products or services to businesses. They must have extensive knowledge of the products’ parts and functions and must understand the scientific processes that make these products work.	$25-55
   Support	A support employee is responsible for assisting the business operations and responding to customers' inquiries and concerns regarding its goods and services. Support logs all customers' interaction and escalates potential complaints to the appropriate department... Show more	$11-25
   Professional Services Engineer	Professional Services Engineers are employees who represent their company in their client's work environment. They are usually software engineers or any other information technology-related engineers... Show more	$30-71

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • CRM
   • Product Line
   • Sales Process
   • Trade Shows
   • Engineering Support
   • Customer Support
   • Product Management
   • Java
   • Technical Sales Support
   • Post Sales
   • Pre Sales
   • Linux
   • Technical Presentations
   • Business Development

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage inbound domestic and international logistics and domestic shipping with respect to carrier selection, forwarding, brokering and expediting.
   • Complete RFP responses with technical specs for project hardware.
   • Assist with HVAC design-build for several high profile projects :.
   • Prepare cost estimates and scheduling for plan and spec HVAC projects.
   • Used Microsoft CRM to document activities of customer issues from start, to resolution.
   • Retain existing clients and perform cold calls to potential new clients and keep record in CRM database.

   More sales support engineer duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the sales support engineer job description is a good way to get more applicants. A sales support engineer salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience, education, certifications, and the employer's prestige.

   For example, the average salary for a sales support engineer in Oklahoma may be lower than in Virginia, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level sales support engineer. Additionally, a sales support engineer with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average sales support engineer salary

   $78,335yearly

   $37.66 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level sales support engineer salary

   $52,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 14, 2025

   Average sales support engineer salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Colorado	$97,280	$47
   2	California	$96,630	$46
   3	New York	$95,542	$46
   4	Georgia	$93,752	$45
   5	Arizona	$87,498	$42
   6	Texas	$87,247	$42
   7	Pennsylvania	$82,715	$40
   8	Connecticut	$78,389	$38
   9	Minnesota	$77,265	$37
   10	North Carolina	$74,792	$36
   11	Wisconsin	$74,464	$36
   12	Massachusetts	$73,208	$35
   13	Washington	$72,452	$35
   14	Ohio	$70,552	$34
   15	Indiana	$67,838	$33
   16	Florida	$62,043	$30
   17	Michigan	$57,970	$28

   Average sales support engineer salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Agilent Technologies	$119,065	$57.24	3
   2	Microsoft	$116,313	$55.92	57
   3	Kerio Technologies	$108,326	$52.08
   4	Aetna	$105,160	$50.56
   5	Curtiss-Wright	$101,777	$48.93	12
   6	Nucor	$100,424	$48.28	9
   7	Informatica	$99,625	$47.90
   8	Alstom	$99,494	$47.83	2
   9	Capgemini	$97,998	$47.11	35
   10	IDT	$96,073	$46.19
   11	Quest Diagnostics	$94,302	$45.34	29
   12	Stefanini	$92,481	$44.46	4
   13	Sunrise Systems	$92,296	$44.37
   14	Siemens	$91,958	$44.21	23
   15	Lockheed Martin	$90,587	$43.55	47
   16	ABB	$90,012	$43.27	20
   17	Arisglobal	$89,330	$42.95
   18	Bank of America	$84,783	$40.76	8
   19	Salesforce	$82,900	$39.86	18
   20	Fastenal	$82,548	$39.69	24

4. Writing a sales support engineer job description

   A sales support engineer job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. To help get you started, here's an example of a sales support engineer job description:

   Sales support engineer job description example

   Architectural Ceramics is a family owned and operated business with over 30 years of experience in the industry. ACI brings a vast selection of the world's latest and finest porcelain, ceramic stone and glass tile under one roof. We expertly guide homeowners, architects, interior designers and other trade professionals in the specification of appropriate products and the design of their personally inspired space with maintaining a high level of service, dependability and thoughtfulness.

   
   

   Architectural Ceramics has been deemed where the architects and designer shop by Washingtonian Magazine.

   
   

   As an employee of Architectural Ceramics you are very important to the Company's goal of providing the finest quality products and customer service to our clients and to do so more efficiently and economically than our competitors. Our ongoing dedication to outstanding quality and service remains the hallmark of our organization's success. If you have the desire to succeed we invite you to join our team!

   Position Vision

   Create a customer friendly experience for clients as they enter and leave our showrooms by maintaining a positive can-do attitude and facilitating client interaction with our Sales and Design Consultant and Customer Service.

   
   

   Requirements:

   • Excellent verbal and communication skills.
   • Working knowledge of computer systems (CRM experience helpful).
   • Ability to maintain positive working relationship with customers and co-workers.
   • Proper phone etiquette including how to receive a call, transfer a call, put callers on hold, take a message and end a call.
   • Ability to create and use excel spreadsheets and word documents.
   • Types 60 words a minute.

   Experience in a retail sales environment, with working knowledge of retail practices and procedures, is a plus. Solid computer, systems, and math skills are required.

   
   

   Benefits

   We believe every employee should be properly rewarded for a job well done. Architectural Ceramics provides you with healthcare including medical, prescription drug, and dental insurance. Your financial well-being will be supported by an equitable compensation program and a retirement investment plan. We offer a challenging & rewarding professional work environment, balanced by a time of that includes paid holidays.

   
   

   Any offer for employment is conditioned upon the results of pre-employment drug/alcohol screening and background check.

   
   
   

   PI194477327

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find sales support engineers for your business:

   • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your sales support engineer job on Zippia to find and recruit sales support engineer candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting sales support engineers requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new sales support engineer

   Once you've decided on a perfect sales support engineer candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   To prepare for the new sales support engineer first day, you should share an onboarding schedule with them that covers their first period on the job. You should also quickly complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Finally, Human Resources must ensure a new employee file is created for internal record keeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire a sales support engineer?