Sales
Sales Engineers
Also called: Business Development Engineer, Inside Sales Engineer, Product Sales Engineer, Sales Applications Engineer
US median pay
$124,900
per year, 2025
Job growth 2025–35
+2.8%
about average or slower
Openings a year (US)
3,800
51,600 employed
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree
Preparation 4/5 · Considerable preparation
What this job is
Sell business goods or services, the selling of which requires a technical background equivalent to a baccalaureate degree in engineering.
What they do day to day
- Develop, present, or respond to proposals for specific customer requirements, including request for proposal responses and industry-specific solutions.
- Collaborate with sales teams to understand customer requirements, to promote the sale of company products, and to provide sales support.
- Create sales or service contracts for products or services.
- Visit prospective buyers at commercial, industrial, or other establishments to show samples or catalogs, and to inform them about product pricing, availability, and advantages.
- Keep informed on industry news and trends, products, services, competitors, relevant information about legacy, existing, and emerging technologies, and the latest product-line developments.
- Identify resale opportunities and support them to achieve sales plans.
- Confer with customers and engineers to assess equipment needs and to determine system requirements.
- Plan and modify product configurations to meet customer needs.
- Prepare and deliver technical presentations that explain products or services to customers and prospective customers.
- Recommend improved materials or machinery to customers, documenting how such changes will lower costs or increase production.
Skills and knowledge that matter most
Skills
- Persuasion4.1/5
- Social Perceptiveness4.0/5
- Judgment and Decision Making4.0/5
- Negotiation3.9/5
- Complex Problem Solving3.9/5
- Service Orientation3.8/5
- Systems Analysis3.6/5
- Time Management3.5/5
Knowledge
- Customer and Personal Service4.5/5
- Sales and Marketing4.3/5
- Engineering and Technology4.3/5
- English Language4.3/5
- Mathematics3.8/5
- Administration and Management3.7/5
Importance rated by people working in the job (1 = not important, 5 = extremely important).
Education and preparation
Preparation level 4 of 5 — Considerable preparation. Usually a bachelor's degree and several years of related experience.
Typical entry education (BLS): Bachelor's degree.
Highest education of people in this job:
- Bachelor's degree57%
- Master's degree25%
- Associate's degree12%
Who this job suits
Mostly Enterprising
Leading, persuading and starting things
Conventional
Organising data, details and procedures
Investigative
Ideas, research and solving problems
Based on the Holland (RIASEC) interest profile for this occupation.