Sales Engineers
What Sales Engineers Do
Sell business goods or services, the selling of which requires a technical background equivalent to a baccalaureate degree in engineering.
See full salary breakdown & percentiles →
Career Outlook
National employment outlook, 2024–2034.
- Related work experience
- None
- On-the-job training
- Moderate-term on-the-job training
- Self-employed
- Not available
Source: BLS Employment Projections — 2024-2034.
How Much Preparation Does This Take?
Job Zone 4 of 5Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
- Experience
- A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations.
- Education
- Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
- Job training
- Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Source: O*NET Job Zones.
Key Knowledge Areas
Subject-matter areas this occupation draws on most, per O*NET.
- Customer and Personal Serviceimportance 4.5/5
- Sales and Marketingimportance 4.3/5
- Engineering and Technologyimportance 4.3/5
- English Languageimportance 4.3/5
- Mathematicsimportance 3.8/5
- Administration and Managementimportance 3.7/5
- Designimportance 3.4/5
- Administrativeimportance 3.2/5
Work Environment
What the day-to-day work setting is like, per O*NET.
- E-Mail5.0/5
- Telephone Conversations4.9/5
- Indoors, Environmentally Controlled4.7/5
- Deal With External Customers or the Public in General4.6/5
- Contact With Others4.6/5
- Frequency of Decision Making4.6/5
Careers With Similar Skills
Occupations whose Transferable Skills profile most closely matches this one — a mathematical comparison, not observed data about people actually moving between these careers.
- Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products94% skill match
- Graphic Designers94% skill match
- Farm and Home Management Educators94% skill match
- Dermatologists94% skill match
- Coaches and Scouts93% skill match
- Management Analysts93% skill match
- Architectural and Civil Drafters93% skill match
- Public Relations Specialists93% skill match
Transferable Skills
Cross-functional skills this occupation draws on most, per O*NET — the kind that carry over to other careers.
- Persuasionimportance 4.1/5
- Social Perceptivenessimportance 4.0/5
- Judgment and Decision Makingimportance 4.0/5
- Negotiationimportance 3.9/5
- Complex Problem Solvingimportance 3.9/5
- Service Orientationimportance 3.8/5
- Systems Analysisimportance 3.6/5
- Systems Evaluationimportance 3.5/5
Software & Technologies
Tools and software used in this occupation, per O*NET.
Hot Technologies
Other Software Used
Work Style
Personal work characteristics that matter most for this occupation, per O*NET.
- Dependability
- Social Orientation
- Perseverance
- Achievement Orientation
- Self-Confidence
- Intellectual Curiosity
- Innovation
Career Interests
This occupation’s RIASEC interest profile, per O*NET — how strongly it fits each of the six Holland interest types.
- EnterprisingHigh
- ConventionalMedium
- InvestigativeMedium
- RealisticMedium
- SocialLow
- ArtisticLow
This page includes information from the O*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Where This Career Is Most Concentrated
Metro areas where sales engineers make up the largest share of local employment, relative to the national average (BLS location quotient).
- 1Boulder, CO5.45× national avg
- 2Chambersburg, PA4.28× national avg
- 3San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA4.24× national avg
- 4Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO3.75× national avg
- 5Durham-Chapel Hill, NC2.88× national avg
Possible Career Moves
A computed starting point, not observed job-change data — see the full list for why each one might fit.
- Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific ProductsLateral Move
- Management AnalystsCareer Change
- Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales AgentsLateral Move
- Public Relations SpecialistsCareer Change