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The differences between solutions engineers and product managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a solutions engineer, becoming a product manager takes usually requires 8-10 years. Additionally, a product manager has an average salary of $111,729, which is higher than the $95,482 average annual salary of a solutions engineer.
The top three skills for a solutions engineer include cloud, pre sales and java. The most important skills for a product manager are product management, QA, and product strategy.
| Solutions Engineer | Product Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $95,482 | $111,729 |
| Hourly rate | $45.90 | $53.72 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 123,287 | 125,678 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Average age | 44 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 10 |
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.
A product manager is responsible for ensuring product development, providing the best marketing strategies, and effectively handling the sales and marketing team. Product managers' duties include monitoring the market trends and conditions, identifying business opportunities and plan initiatives, and collaborating the product launch process with the appropriate departments. A product manager is also responsible for generating ideas on improving product features, determining timetables and reasonable pricing, and analyzing product sales. A product manager must have excellent strategic and decision-making skills to contribute to its growth and profitability.
Solutions engineers and product managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Solutions Engineer | Product Manager | |
| Average salary | $95,482 | $111,729 |
| Salary range | Between $68,000 And $134,000 | Between $81,000 And $152,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | ByteDance | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Start-up | Retail |
There are a few differences between a solutions engineer and a product manager in terms of educational background:
| Solutions Engineer | Product Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | University of Georgia |
Here are the differences between solutions engineers' and product managers' demographics:
| Solutions Engineer | Product Manager | |
| Average age | 44 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 85.1% Female, 14.9% | Male, 65.3% Female, 34.7% |
| Race ratio | 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% | Black or African American, 3.0% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 8.2% White, 74.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 10% |