How To Become A Sales Engineer: What It Is and Career Path

Q: Are sales engineers real engineers?

Yes, sales engineers are real engineers. Sales engineers typically need a bachelor's degree in engineering or a related field. However, a person who wants to be a sales engineer without an engineering degree can still become a sales engineer if they have previous experience in sales as well as technical experience or training.

Q: How do I become a technical sales engineer?

To become a technical sales engineer, a person typically needs a bachelor's degree in engineering and sales experience. Successful sales engineers combine technical knowledge of the products or services they are selling with strong interpersonal skills.

Q: How do sales engineers get paid?

Most sales engineers get paid through a combination of base salary and commission, and bonuses. Most employers offer a combination of salary and commission payments or salary plus a bonus. However, some sales engineers who work for independent sales companies may earn only commissions.

Q: How long does it take to become a sales engineer?

It takes about five years to become a sales engineer. This is because a person typically needs a bachelor's degree in engineering as well as sales experience. Successful sales engineers combine technical knowledge of the products or services they are selling with strong interpersonal skills.

Q: Is being a sales engineer a good career?

Yes, being a sales engineer is a good career option. This role is ideal for people who have studied engineering and are excited to work with customers to provide a solution to their problems.

Q: What is the career path for a sales engineer?

The career path for a sales engineer includes jobs as a sales engineer, a senior applications engineer, and in sales management. Most sales engineers before beginning work have completed at least a bachelor's degree program as well as done some internships.

What is a sales engineer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted Experts

Andrea Welker Ph.D.,

Ashley Strausser

A sales engineer combines technical knowledge and sales skills to provide clients with effective solutions. They work with customers to understand requirements and determine the best products or services to meet their needs. Sales engineers often work in technology, manufacturing, and construction, where they require knowledge about the products they sell. They may also provide support to customers after the initial sale. Overall, a sales engineer bridges the gap between technical experts and potential customers.

What general advice would you give to a Sales Engineer?

Andrea Welker Ph.D.

Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, College of Engineering Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Villanova University

Be open to new experiences. Find a good mentor. Become a valued employee. Always remember that you are designing something for someone.

ScoreSales EngineerUS Average

Salary

7.3

Avg. Salary $93,727

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

7.3

Growth Rate 6%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.33%

Asian 7.07%

Black or African American 1.66%

Hispanic or Latino 7.99%

Unknown 6.19%

White 76.77%

Gender

female 9.86%

male 90.14%

Age - 44

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 44

Stress Level

7.3

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

8.5

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

4.2

Work Life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

What are the pros and cons of being a Sales Engineer?

Pros

Competitive salary and commission
Opportunity for travel
Potential for career advancement
Ability to work independently and as part of a team
Possibility for flexible scheduling

Cons

High pressure to meet sales targets
Long hours, including evenings and weekends
Often requires extensive travel away from home and family
Sales cycles can be long, leading to uncertainty in income and job security
May require dealing with rejection and disappointment when deals fall through

Key steps to become a sales engineer

Explore sales engineer education requirements

Most common sales engineer degrees

Bachelor's

74.5 %

Associate

12.3 %

Master's

9.4 %

Start to develop specific sales engineer skills

Skills	Percentages
Pre Sales	6.12%
Customer Service	5.16%
Sales Process	4.73%
Technical Support	3.77%
Windows	3.31%

Complete relevant sales engineer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New sales engineers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a sales engineer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real sales engineer resumes.

Research sales engineer duties and responsibilities

Create and manage product/technical parts of responses to RFI and RFP requests.
Maintain and closely manage expenses, overall cost of sale, receivables, ROI.
Create tools to manage customer projects, such as standardized proposals, technical templates, and SQL tracking database.
Manage inbound domestic and international logistics and domestic shipping with respect to carrier selection, forwarding, brokering and expediting.

Prepare your sales engineer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your sales engineer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a sales engineer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Sales Engineer Resume templates

Build a professional Sales Engineer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Sales Engineer resume.

Apply for sales engineer jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a sales engineer job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How Did You Land Your First Sales Engineer Job

Damon Duncan

Sales Engineer, Altanora

My career journey is different than most. My IT career started by building industrial computers,
these were computers that were utilized in highly volatile environments where computers typically do
not go. By doing this I developed a solid understanding of the physical layer of the OSI model which no
matter what is something that you will always come back to. Think about it, if a family member calls you
for tech support and you ask if they have turned it off and on again, that is the physical layer. From there
I moved over to the call center and did this for a few years before I moved over to the deskside team
and interacted with customers in person. It was at this time that I began being involved in IT budget
committee meetings and helping influence how the customer spent their IT budget, this is where my
desire to be an SE was born.
I had learned as much as I could at my previous job, so I left and took a Systems Administration
role. In this role with my team we were the onsite deskside team, we were also the System Admins for
the site. My coworker managed all production systems with my assistance, I managed all the lab
environments for our Software Development Team with her assistance. This position challenged me and
taught me more as I was involved in more projects. This position also gave me experience that I could
use as a Sales Engineer, I learned the trials and tribulations of being a Systems Administrator and IT
maker. I bounced around a few more years as a Systems Administrator before landing at Citrix and this is
where I started my plan to become a Sales Engineer.
I started at Citrix as a Support Engineer; I was the one Citrix Admins called when they had issues
with their environments. I built relationships with Sales Engineers and Account Managers and asked
them to mentor me, they did in a ton of ways. The cardinal sin in Sales is saying “No”, well these
mentors taught me that no is not a cardinal sin as long as you follow it up with a why, why is the answer
no. After serving a few years on our support team and moving up, I moved over to Sales Enablement. I
was part of a team that developed technical training materials for the Global Sales Organization. This is
where I really developed my skills, I honed my presentation skills, learned more about relationship
building, learned more about account management, time management, project management, and all
the little bits and

How do sales engineers rate their job?

5/5

Based On 1 Ratings

5 Stars

4 Stars

3 Stars

2 Stars

1 Star

Sales Engineer reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Dec 2021

Pros

Dealing with other professional engineers and managers that show higher levels of integrity when discussing requirements or a problem to solve.

Cons

The constant program delays and slow manufactures in support of opportunities that could be won with quicker responses.

A zippia user wrote a review on Jun 2020

Cons

very little

A zippia user wrote a review on May 2020

Pros

I love to engage the public and meet new faces. I enjoy explaining all of the benefits of the product I am selling, and making the customer feel important and well informed.

Cons

I don't like feeling like I haven't did a great at job at making customers feel comfortable and confident about where and who they are purchasing from.

What is a sales engineer and how to become one

What general advice would you give to a Sales Engineer?

What are the pros and cons of being a Sales Engineer?

Sales Engineer career paths

Key steps to become a sales engineer

Explore sales engineer education requirements

Most common sales engineer degrees

Start to develop specific sales engineer skills

Complete relevant sales engineer training and internships

Research sales engineer duties and responsibilities

Prepare your sales engineer resume

Choose From 10+ Customizable Sales Engineer Resume templates

Apply for sales engineer jobs

How Did You Land Your First Sales Engineer Job

Average sales engineer salary

How do sales engineers rate their job?

Sales Engineer reviews

Sales Engineer FAQs

Are sales engineers real engineers?

How do I become a technical sales engineer?

How do sales engineers get paid?

How long does it take to become a sales engineer?

Is being a sales engineer a good career?

What is the career path for a sales engineer?

Search for sales engineer jobs

Sales Engineer jobs by state