What The Hell Is A Sales Engineer?

[biscuitman357 0]

A few days ago. I was talking to a guy the seat over at a baseball game. General guy talk about sports. Then I asked him what he did for a living.

 

He said he was an 'Engineer'.

 

I said ok, like what kind? A Civil Engineer? A Mechanical Engineer? An Electrical Engineer?

 

He says a Sales Engineer.

 

And I said, ok thats not what you said ten minutes ago, you just said 'Engineer' Which to me denoted that you suffered through a crapload of physics and math and ugly painful tests so that if you were lost on a desert island, you would be the most useful guy there besides the doctor.

 

So I asked him, what did you go to school for?

 

And he said "Bachelors in Education" (Is that the same kind of weird non technical "Leisure Sports" degree that Emmitt Smith got?)

 

I looked it up, most 'Sales Engineers' are technicals who actually studied traditional engineering but some can actually get the job for just being a regular BSer with another non technical degree.

 

Ok , I could see a guy on a battleship and fixing steam pipes and big rockets an 'Engineer'. Maybe a guy on a big oil platform risking life and limb can be called an 'Engineer' without turning in his Man Card. Or a guy in a music studio slaving away with some technical gizmos and is a 'Sound Engineer' but has the term 'Engineer' been completely pussified?

 

Are people passing themselves off as technicals like this all the time now? I read that Janitors are called Maintenance Engineers sometimes. WTF? What is wrong with being called a Janitor or Custodian? Its not the best job in the world, but its an honest job. I almost think people would be harder on you for cleaning toilets if you tried to pass off 'Maintenance Engineer' on them.

 

I'm not an 'Engineer' But if I was I'd be pretty pissed if some non technical just called himself a plain 'Engineer' if hes never done the heavy lifting in school or work experience to actually be technical at anything.

 

Are there any other jobs now with cute ass BS names to make people feel warm and fuzzy?

[Giants Fan 85]

Ratsass Keeper

[nobody 2,582]

I'm not an 'Engineer' But if I was I'd be pretty pissed if some non technical just called himself a plain 'Engineer' if hes never done the heavy lifting in school or work experience to actually be technical at anything.

I'm an engineer, and I'm flattered that someone would pose as an engineer. That poor misguided soul.

[shovelheadt 68]

Wasn't there a point in time where you could not technically call yourself an engineer without the degree?

[redtodd 7]

People with Engineering Degrees are the cream on the crop.

[Bert 1,128]

Wasn't there a point in time where you could not technically call yourself an engineer without the degree?

 

I think you're right but as part of the pussification of America people with crappy jobs were allowed to attach "engineer" to their job title. Sanitation Engineer, Custodial Engineer, Domestic Engineer, etc, etc……

[Patriotsfatboy1 1,432]

Wasn't there a point in time where you could not technically call yourself an engineer without the degree?

 

Why? This is not like being a doctor and you are saying, "I have a PhD in Medicine". He says that he helps sales weasels engineer a solution that works. Could be as simple as making sure that the BOM is correct for an order.

 

We don't call them sales engineers, but the term, while outdated, is not completely out of line. People should not focus on titles. There are tons of them that mean nothing.

 

Now, calling a podiatrist a doctor. That is another story

[redtodd 7]

Why? This is not like being a doctor and you are saying, "I have a PhD in Medicine". He says that he helps sales weasels engineer a solution that works. Could be as simple as making sure that the BOM is correct for an order.

 

We don't call them sales engineers, but the term, while outdated, is not completely out of line. People should not focus on titles. There are tons of them that mean nothing.

 

Now, calling a podiatrist a doctor. That is another story

 

If you don't have the degree, you are not an engineer.

[edjr 6,578]

Frialator Engineer?

 

Don't they use engineer for most jobs now?

 

Janitorial Engineer?

[Artist Formerly Known as Big O 0]

If you don't have the degree, you are not an engineer.

 

 

So how do you justify calling yourself a "comedian"?

[Patriotsfatboy1 1,432]

If you don't have the degree, you are not an engineer.

 

Really, where exactly does it say that? What about the guy that runs the train. There is a conductor and an engineer. Does that guy have to have a degree?

[redtodd 7]

Really, where exactly does it say that? What about the guy that runs the train. There is a conductor and an engineer. Does that guy have to have a degree?

 

 

It's common sense. Don't pretend to be smart by changing your title to include "Engineer." I don't call myself a doctor because I once put a band-aid on myself.

 

So how do you justify calling yourself a "comedian"?

 

What college offers a 4 year degree in comedy?

[ManUtd 0]

At my place of employment, a Sales Engineer comes up with the design solution for a prospective client's network (hosting, colo, vpn, etc). They work with our company's capabilities and client's requirements and figure out how best we can accommidate them. In some rare instances they may come up with a new product in the course of there design that can be sold to other future clients.

 

As for certain degrees for this position......some have techinical degrees (BS/BA in Computer Science), some have Technical School degrees, etc. However, there are a lot of people with English, History, etc degrees that jumped into the tech field right out of college because they had a great understanding of it. Hell I have a BS in Psychology and I'm in charge of redesigning and building out our COLOs, POPs, and datacenters.

[Patriotsfatboy1 1,432]

It's common sense. Don't pretend to be smart by changing your title to include "Engineer." I don't call myself a doctor because I once put a band-aid on myself.

 

You are confusing a "Professional Engineer" with an engineer. Completely different. The guy that drives the fire truck is called an Engineer. Does he need to go to WPI to have that? Of course not.

 

Even many engineering fields that require a certification will allow you to bypass school if you have equivalent work experience. The term engineer merely states that you are using certain scientific principles to solve a particular problem. As long as you are following solid principles you are acting as an enginneer.

 

Now, if you want to discuss being a PE, then it is different and this is where the laws come into play. Many states require people to be certified as PE's in their field before they can call themselves a PE or stamp design docs.

[hoffdaddy 1]

At my place of employment, a Sales Engineer comes up with the design solution for a prospective client's network (hosting, colo, vpn, etc). They work with our company's capabilities and client's requirements and figure out how best we can accommidate them. In some rare instances they may come up with a new product in the course of there design that can be sold to other future clients.

 

As for certain degrees for this position......some have techinical degrees (BS/BA in Computer Science), some have Technical School degrees, etc. However, there are a lot of people with English, History, etc degrees that jumped into the tech field right out of college because they had a great understanding of it. Hell I have a BS in Psychology and I'm in charge of redesigning and building out our COLOs, POPs, and datacenters.

 

Bingo. They may not be engineers in a true educational sense, but they have to know enough to gather requirements, help with an initial solution design, and steer them to the right products. We do Cisco, MSFT, IBM, Data Center work, some App Dev. Sales Engineers are pretty common.

[edjr 6,578]

<---- jr Systems Engineer (no degree, 9+ years of exp = my degree)

 

HTH

[The Elevator Killer 521]

I read that Janitors are called Maintenance Engineers sometimes.

 

The guys that hand out stuff in the restrooms are Directors of Seating.

[MTSkiBum 1,620]

Sales engineers are what real engineers look down upon.

[jerryskids 6,597]

24 minutes ago, MTSkiBum said:

Sales engineers are what real engineers look down upon.

I'm not sure what the title means as our industry doesn't use it, but I equate it with something similar to ManUtd's description.  We call them Application Engineers (AEs), and they are the coveted technical arm of our sales force.  There are no education graduates on that team; all have engineering degrees and most have designed the complex semiconductors that we sell into.  They also need to have personality to interact with customers.  Most engineers can't do that job, and the "real" engineers in our industry recognize that while buried in their cubicles. 

[frank 2,278]

Well-well look. I already told you: I deal with the god damn customers so the engineers don't have to. I have people skills; I am good at dealing with people. Can't you understand that? What the hell is wrong with you people?

[Reality 3,118]

12 minutes ago, jerryskids said:

I'm not sure what the title means as our industry doesn't use it, but I equate it with something similar to ManUtd's description.  We call them Application Engineers (AEs), and they are the coveted technical arm of our sales force.  There are no education graduates on that team; all have engineering degrees and most have designed the complex semiconductors that we sell into.  They also need to have personality to interact with customers.  Most engineers can't do that job, and the "real" engineers in our industry recognize that while buried in their cubicles. 

 

12 minutes ago, frank said:

Well-well look. I already told you: I deal with the god damn customers so the engineers don't have to. I have people skills; I am good at dealing with people. Can't you understand that? What the hell is wrong with you people?

Nailed it.

[MTSkiBum 1,620]

13 minutes ago, jerryskids said:

I'm not sure what the title means as our industry doesn't use it, but I equate it with something similar to ManUtd's description.  We call them Application Engineers (AEs), and they are the coveted technical arm of our sales force.  There are no education graduates on that team; all have engineering degrees and most have designed the complex semiconductors that we sell into.  They also need to have personality to interact with customers.  Most engineers can't do that job, and the "real" engineers in our industry recognize that while buried in their cubicles. 

 

I was just throwing a random comment to bump a thread, i did not expect a serious reply.

[jerryskids 6,597]

1 minute ago, Reality said:

 

Nailed it.

Frank's quote sounds like my role; I'm somewhere between the AEs and the account managers.  Which is to say, mostly useless.  

[drobeski 3,061]

My official job title is Electrical and Instrumentation Engineer

I do not have a degree but was obviously through experience...more qualified than some that do since I did get the job. 

[Hardcore troubadour 15,015]

Was Digby an engineer too? 

[drobeski 3,061]

3 minutes ago, Hardcore troubadour said:

Was Digby an engineer too? 

A doctor of medical engineering