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The differences between service engineers and software engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a service engineer, becoming a software engineer takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a software engineer has an average salary of $100,260, which is higher than the $87,151 average annual salary of a service engineer.
The top three skills for a service engineer include customer service, infrastructure and cloud. The most important skills for a software engineer are java, python, and software development.
| Service Engineer | Software Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $87,151 | $100,260 |
| Hourly rate | $41.90 | $48.20 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 21% |
| Number of jobs | 143,806 | 339,938 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 3.5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 57% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| Average age | 41 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 4 |
A service engineer is responsible for assisting the customers' concerns regarding the products and services offered by the company through technical support solutions. Service engineers conduct preventive maintenance, upgrade systems to boost optimal performance, create product manuals, record the occurring issues, perform adjustments on the systems infrastructure, identify business opportunities to generate more revenues, and analyze current market trends to meet client demands. A service engineer must have excellent communication skills, including extensive knowledge of the technology industry and network systems.
A software engineer is a computer science professional who is responsible for the development of information systems, designing and building computer systems software and applications software. They often prefer to call themselves as a software developer or computer programmer. They have substantial knowledge of programming languages, software development, and computer operating systems, and other technologies. They use these to turn a plan into a final output. They can create a design, test, and develop software based on the needs of their clients.
Service engineers and software engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Service Engineer | Software Engineer | |
| Average salary | $87,151 | $100,260 |
| Salary range | Between $62,000 And $122,000 | Between $73,000 And $136,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Bruno, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | The Citadel | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Start-up |
There are a few differences between a service engineer and a software engineer in terms of educational background:
| Service Engineer | Software Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 57% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Michigan Technological University | Harvard University |
Here are the differences between service engineers' and software engineers' demographics:
| Service Engineer | Software Engineer | |
| Average age | 41 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 91.8% Female, 8.2% | Male, 78.0% Female, 22.0% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.3% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 8.9% Asian, 13.2% White, 69.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | Black or African American, 4.4% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 8.1% Asian, 34.0% White, 48.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 8% |