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The differences between solutions engineers and technical support 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 solutions engineer, becoming a technical support engineer takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a solutions engineer has an average salary of $95,482, which is higher than the $85,716 average annual salary of a technical support engineer.
The top three skills for a solutions engineer include cloud, pre sales and java. The most important skills for a technical support engineer are technical support, customer service, and troubleshoot.
| Solutions Engineer | Technical Support Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $95,482 | $85,716 |
| Hourly rate | $45.90 | $41.21 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 123,287 | 184,542 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Average age | 44 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 2 |
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 technical support engineer is responsible for responding to customer issues, providing immediate resolutions to their system issues through remote assistance. Technical support engineers must have strong knowledge of software and hardware applications to diagnose system defects and process troubleshooting. They also assist customers with the installation of programs and updates to improve system performance, escalating high-level concerns to appropriate internal technology teams. A technical support engineer must have strong command with technical systems, as well as excellent communication and time-management skills to understand clients' issues while documenting procedures.
Solutions engineers and technical support engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Solutions Engineer | Technical Support Engineer | |
| Average salary | $95,482 | $85,716 |
| Salary range | Between $68,000 And $134,000 | Between $61,000 And $119,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | Washington |
| Best paying company | ByteDance | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Start-up | Technology |
There are a few differences between a solutions engineer and a technical support engineer in terms of educational background:
| Solutions Engineer | Technical Support Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between solutions engineers' and technical support engineers' demographics:
| Solutions Engineer | Technical Support Engineer | |
| Average age | 44 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 85.1% Female, 14.9% | Male, 83.3% Female, 16.7% |
| 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, 9.8% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.1% Asian, 15.0% White, 54.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 11% |