Sales Engineers
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Overview
Sell business goods or services, the selling of which requires a technical background equivalent to a baccalaureate degree in engineering.
Highlights
Undergraduate program resulting in the highest median salary ($128K): Computer Science
Largest undergraduate program (15.1% of workers): Mechanical Engineering
Titles for this career often contain these words
EngineerSalesProductsEquipmentRepresentativeSystemsFieldCommercialSalespersonInsideProductAeronauticalAerospaceAgriculturalApplicationsBusinessDevelopmentCeramicChemicalElectricalElectronicsMarketingServiceHVACHeatingVentilationAirConditioningMarineMechanicalMiningOilWellServicesMissileNavigationNuclearOutsideSupportAccountManagerEngineeredSpecialistSeniorTechnical
SOURCES:
2018 SOC codes
2020 CareerOneStop
25.2 O*NET
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Responsibilities and activities

Sales engineers typically do the following:

  • Prepare and deliver technical presentations explaining products or services to existing and prospective customers
  • Talk with customers and engineers to assess equipment needs and to determine system requirements
  • Collaborate with sales teams to understand customer requirements and provide sales support
  • Secure and renew orders and arrange delivery
  • Plan and modify products to meet customer needs
  • Help clients solve problems with installed equipment
  • Recommend improved materials or machinery to customers, showing how changes will lower costs or increase production
  • Help in researching and developing new products

Sales engineers specialize in technologically and scientifically advanced products. They use their technical skills to explain the benefits of their products or services to potential customers and to show how their products or services are better than their competitors’. Some sales engineers work for the companies that design and build technical products. Others work for independent sales firms.

Many of the duties of sales engineers are similar to those of other salespersons. They must interest the client in buying their products or services, negotiate a price, and complete the sale. To do this, sales engineers give technical presentations during which they explain the technical aspects of the product and how it will solve a specific customer problem.

Some sales engineers team with other salespersons, such as wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives, who concentrate on marketing and selling the product, which lets the sales engineer concentrate on the technical aspects of the job. By working as part of a sales team, each member is able to focus on his or her strengths and expertise.

In addition to giving technical presentations, sales engineers are increasingly doing other tasks related to sales, such as market research. They also may ask for technical requirements from customers and modify and adjust products to meet customers’ specific needs. Some sales engineers work with research and development (R&D) departments to help identify and develop new products.

SOURCES:
2020 Occupational Outlook Handbook
Salary
Median salary: $108,830 annually
Half of those employed in this career earn between $79,670 and $148,040.
$109K$0$50K$100K$150K$200K
SOURCES:
2019 BLS Occupational Employment
Context: Median Salary
How do salaries for this career compare to other jobs' salaries?
SOURCES:
2019 BLS Occupational Employment
Fewer details
Salary growth for sales engineers
Is this job likely to reward you for sticking with it through pay raises and promotions? The higher a job’s “experience quotient,” the more you are likely to get as you stay there.
Experience quotient percentile
Take a minute to look at how much you might expect your salary to increase with each five years' experience, as well as how the numbers working at each age change. Does this seem to be a job for the young or the old, or could it be a career offering steady salary growth for many years?
Salary distribution
$78K$121K$112K$104K$85K$102K$116K$102K$0$50K$100K$150K$200K20-2425-2930-3435-3940-4445-4950-5455-5960-64
Number employed
02K4K6K20-2425-2930-3435-3940-4445-4950-5455-5960-64
SOURCES:
2019 ACS microdata
About Sales Engineers
How do benefits for this career compare to other jobs? The availability of health care, especially employer provided health care, and pension plans can add significantly to the value of compensation you receive in a career. These charts compare how this career compares to other careers with regard to health care and pension plans.
Employee has health insurance
Employer is providing health insurance
Employer-provided pension plan is available
SOURCES:
2018-2020 CPS
2019 ACS microdata
Worker concerns
Some jobs are more stressful than others, and some are just plain dangerous. The following list gives the percentages of sales engineers who report hazardous or difficult situations typically occurring at least once a week.
  • Time Pressure (51%)
  • High Conflict Frequency (45%)
  • Unpleasant or Angry People (40%)
SOURCES:
25.2 O*NET
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Personality and skills
Can you see yourself in the ranks of Sales Engineers? Here are the skills and traits that could lead to success.
Interpersonal skills
Strong interpersonal skills are a valuable characteristic for sales engineers, both for building relationships with clients and effectively communicating with other members of the sales team.
Problem-solving skills
Sales engineers must be able to listen to the customer’s desires and concerns, and then recommend solutions, such as customizing a product for the customer.
Self-confidence
Sales engineers should be confident and persuasive when making sales presentations.
Technological skills
Sales engineers must have extensive knowledge of the technologically sophisticated products they sell in order to explain their advantages and answer questions.
SOURCES:
2020 Occupational Outlook Handbook
Injury and Illness
About 7 sales engineers become injured or ill for every 10,000 workers, which reflects fewer events than in 56% of other careers. The most common specific concerns detailed following.
Sprains, strains, tears
SOURCES:
2019 BLS Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities
Education pathways to this career
Education attained by sales engineers
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), sales engineers typically hold a bachelor's degree.
Sometimes the typical education identified by the BLS differs a bit from the reality of the how much education current workers actually have. The donut shows the education level held by people currently working as sales engineers as reported in responses to the American Community Survey.
Details: Education and training recommended for sales engineers

Sales engineers typically need a bachelor’s degree in engineering or a related field. However, a worker without a degree, but with previous sales experience as well as technical experience or training, may become a sales engineer. Workers who have a degree in a science, such as chemistry, or in business with little or no previous sales experience, also may become sales engineers.

University engineering programs generally require 4 years of study. They vary in content, but all programs include courses in math and the physical sciences. In addition, most programs require developing strong computer skills.

Most engineering programs require students to choose an area of specialization. The most common majors are electrical, mechanical, or civil engineering, but some engineering departments offer additional majors, such as chemical, biomedical, or computer hardware engineering. However, some undergraduate programs offer a general engineering curriculum; students then specialize in a particular area either on the job or in graduate school.

SOURCES:
2019 ACS microdata
Education level of Sales Engineers
About 72% of sales engineers have at least a bachelor's degree.
Education attained by sales engineers
None
High School
Some College
Associate's Degree
Bachelor's Degree
Master's Degree
Professional Degree
Doctorate
SOURCES:
2021 Ididio: Award levels
2019 ACS microdata
Top college degrees
Here are the top college degrees held by the 72% of people in this job who have at least a bachelor's degree. Some of degrees may link to multiple programs due to the way Census classifies college majors. Click on a program to learn more about career opportunities for people who major in that field.
  1. Mechanical Engineering
  2. Electrical Engineering
  3. Engineering
  4. Computer Science
  5. Business/Commerce
SOURCES:
2019 ACS microdata
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The link between degrees and this career
With the following sankey diagram, you can follow the top ten bachelor's degrees held by people working as sales engineers, and then, in turn, you can see the 10 occupations that hire the most of each degree's graduates. We hope this provides ideas for similar jobs and similar fields of study.
Expand degrees
Mechanical Engineeri...Electrical Engineeri...General EngineeringComputer ScienceGeneral BusinessBusiness Management ...Chemical EngineeringIndustrial and Manuf...EconomicsPsychologyAll other degreesThis jobTop 10 majors
SOURCES:
2019 ACS microdata
Where are the jobs
State-by-state employment numbers
Some careers tend to be centered in specific parts of the country. For example, most jobs in fashion are in New York or California. Let's see if your dream job is easy to find in your dream location! We have a few choices for viewing the data that can help you get a full employment picture.
Select a state to see local area details
Number of Sales Engineers per 1,000 workers (ACS)
AKMEWIVTNHWAIDMTNDMNILMINYMAORUTWYSDIAINOHPANJCTRICANVCONEMOKYWVVAMDDEAZNMKSARTNNCSCDCOKLAMSALGAHITXFLPR
SOURCES:
2019 ACS microdata
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Job density versus job count
Which states hire the most sales engineers? We wonder if that's a fair question since states come in all sizes, so instead let's start with the question of which states have the highest density of people working as sales engineers. You can choose to view the number of jobs per state if you prefer.
Salaries by state
Let's get a feel for where sales engineers earn the highest salaries. There are several choices for which data we consider and how we view that data, and each can lead to different conclusions, so please read on...
Median salary versus state ratio
We use two methods to compare salaries across states:
  • In-state comparisons: the ratio of median (middle) salaries for sales engineers compared to the median salary for all people working in each state, or
  • Median salary: the unaltered median salaries for sales engineers.
We hope the ratio allows perspective about how salaries may compare to the regional cost-of-living.
The darkest shading corresponds to states in which sales engineers earn the highest salary when compared to other jobs in the state. We think this figure might be a better indicator than the actual salary for your buying power as a state resident.
Select a state to see local area details
Location-adjusted median salary for Sales Engineers (ACS)
AKMEWIVTNHWAIDMTNDMNILMINYMAORUTWYSDIAINOHPANJCTRICANVCONEMOKYWVVAMDDEAZNMKSARTNNCSCDCOKLAMSALGAHITXFLPR
SOURCES:
2019 BLS Occupational Employment
2019 BEA Regional Price Parities
Employment
1% of Sales engineers are working part time.
We’ve found that some jobs have a huge number of part-time workers, and typically that is because they are unable to find full-time work or the job itself can’t provide full-time hours. With 1% part-time workers, this occupation has a lower percentage of part-time workers than 99% of careers.
1%0%20%40%60%80%100%
SOURCES:
2019 ACS microdata
Employer types
This donut shares the break-down of workers by employer type, giving us a picture of what employers most typically hire for this career.
Employers of undefined (ACS)
Private for-profit
Private not-for-profit
Local government
State government
Federal government
Self-employed incorporated
Self-employed not incorporated
Working without pay
SOURCES:
2021 Ididio: Comparing employment
2019 ACS microdata
Fewer details
Distribution: Salaries of sales engineers by type of employer
Here are the salary distributions based on employer type.
$101K$101K$0$50,000$100,000$150,000$200,000Private for-profitAll
SOURCES:
2021 Ididio: Comparing employment
2019 ACS microdata
Gender
Sales engineers and gender
With 8% women, this occupation has a lower percentage of women than 83% of careers.
Gender of Sales engineers
Men (92%)
Women (8%)
SOURCES:
2019 ACS microdata
Distribution: salaries by gender
Does gender greatly influence your salary in this career? The closer the bars are, the less discrepancy there is.
$82K$102K$0$100K$200K$300KWomenMen
We only include salary data when the survey error is less than 20%, so you may see only partial information for some categories.
SOURCES:
2019 ACS microdata
Fewer details
Context: Women in the workforce
How does this career compare to other careers with regard to the percentage of women in the career.
8%0%20%40%60%80%100%
SOURCES:
2019 ACS microdata
Context: Salary inequity
The median (middle) salary for all full-time male workers in the US exceeds the full-time median salary for women by 19%, and the difference for sales engineers tops that, with the median salary for men 24% higher than the median salary for women.
24%0%20%40%60%80%100%
SOURCES:
2019 ACS microdata
Race/Origin
Race and origin of Sales engineers
This donut shows the distribution of race and origin among those employed as Sales engineers.
Race/origin of sales engineers
White (86% )
Asian (7% )
Multiracial (3% )
Black (2% )
Other (1% )
Hispanic (0% )
American Indian (0% )
SOURCES:
2019 ACS microdata
Distribution: salaries by race/origin
Some careers might have a pay disparity based on race or origin, the closer the below bars are the less of a discrepancy is present.
$85K$92K$94K$101K$0$50K$100K$150K$200KOtherAsianBlackWhite
We only include salary data when the survey error is less than 20%, so you may see only partial information for some categories.
SOURCES:
2019 ACS microdata
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