Sales Engineers

Also Called:

Business Development Engineer,

Product Sales Engineer,

Sales Engineer,

Technical Marketing Engineer

What they do: Sell business goods or services, the selling of which requires a technical background equivalent to a baccalaureate degree in engineering.

What do they typically do on the job?

  • 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.

Personality

People interested in this work like activities that include leading, making decisions, and business.

Interests

Career interests describe the perspectives and interests of people who enjoy the type of work involved in this career.

Discover what your interests are by taking the Interest Profiler Quiz

Knowledge

People who want to pursue this career have knowledge in these areas.

Business
  • Customer service

  • Sales and marketing

Engineering and Technology
  • Product and service development

  • Design

Arts and Humanities
  • English language

Math and Science
  • Arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, or statistics

Abilities

Whether you have received formal training or not, these types of abilities are helpful in this career.

Verbal
  • Communicate by speaking

  • Listen and understand what people say

Ideas and Logic
  • Make general rules or come up with answers from lots of detailed information

  • Use rules to solve problems

Math
  • Add, subtract, multiply, or divide

  • Choose the right type of math to solve a problem

Memory
  • Remember words, numbers, pictures, or steps

Skills

People who want to pursue this career have skills in these areas.

Basic Skills
  • Talking to others

  • Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions

Problem Solving
  • Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it

Social
  • Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior

  • Understanding people's reactions

Work Values

Work values describe how your core beliefs align with those commonly needed for this career.

Achievement

Occupations that satisfy this work value are results oriented and allow employees to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment. Corresponding needs are Ability Utilization and Achievement.

Relationships

Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment. Corresponding needs are Co-workers, Moral Values and Social Service.

Working Conditions

Occupations that satisfy this work value offer job security and good working conditions. Corresponding needs are Activity, Compensation, Independence, Security, Variety and Working Conditions.

Does this sound like something you'd like to do?

1. Do some research
  • Identify how your interests, values, and strengths match this occupation
  • Talk to someone who works in this field or spend a day job shadowing
  • Use the colleges and training directory to explore programs related to this career
2. Plan your next move
  • Talk to your college and career counselor or school admissions staff
  • Visit Idaho Launch
  • Search for available Sales Engineers jobs on Idaho Works

Data for NSI career cards comes from the following: Idaho Department of Labor, US Bureau of Labor Statistics, O*NET, MyNextMove, and Career OneStop