Michigan Job Series: Sales engineers desperately needed
Michigan has been entrenched in the automotive industry since the explosion of demand for mass-produced cars, employing more workers than any other state in the nation.
However, as technology advances at a rapid pace, Michigan workers are finding themselves unprepared for the switch from automotive jobs to others that are more promising.
It was once possible to get a well-paying job right out of high school at a car factory, but that is no longer the case.
Having a college education is becoming increasingly important in Michigan’s evolving job market, and there are many new jobs available for workers to explore.
This article is the first part of a four-part series on the top 10 hottest jobs in Michigan. The series aims to inform students about fields that have high-employment potential and would be good choices as future careers.
The Detroit Free Press put together this list “after interviews with business executives, analysts and recruiters and a review of employment data and economic projections,” according to its Jan. 4 article written by Mr. Nathan Bomey.
The list is in no particular order.
One field that students may be interested in researching is sales engineering.
Sales engineering involves selling and marketing products and services that are technologically advanced.
Workers in this field must be well-versed in the details of the products and services they are selling because potential consumers want to know highly technical information about what they are buying.
Mr. Dan Scarbrough, service sales director at Microsoft, said that sales engineers need to know both how to sell and what to sell.
“Although knowing how to sell is what typically differentiates a good marketer versus a great one,” Scarbrough said, “knowing what to sell is an absolute necessity.”
According to Scarbrough, customers now have more access to product information than they had before.
“Customers expect sellers to position their offerings as the best solution, but they also expect open, honest discussions about trade-offs, how to distinguish offerings between competitors,” he said.
The job of a sales engineer is a challenging one.
Mr. Harvey Bass, CEO of Stascom Technologies, said on monster.com that “sales engineers need to be technical, but talk the layman’s talk.”
Talking the layman’s talk is an integral part of the job. Most consumers will not understand jargon like “back-end XML application” and “SCSI bus,” so sales engineers must be able to communicate the more technical details of their products in simple English.
Mr. Brian Clark, BMA and accounting teacher, believes that sales engineers need to be able to simplify technological jargon.
You say RAM, and people think it’s some type of animal.
— Mr. Brian Clark, BMA and accounting teacher
“There are a lot of uneducated people, so they need to dumb it down,” Clark said. “You say RAM, and people think it’s some type of animal.”
Students interested in sales engineering can find job opportunities at businesses like Best Buy, Apple, T-Mobile, and Microsoft.
Starting salaries for these jobs in 2012 hovered around $55,000 a year, and the median salary was $91,830 a year.
According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook, sales engineers are distributed throughout three main industries: 24 percent of sales engineers are found with merchant wholesalers and durable goods, 23 percent are in manufacturing, and 17 percent are in computer systems design and related services.
Senior Brandon Richard likes the idea of becoming a sales engineer.
“I find it interesting because I always find myself looking at all of the new gadgets that people are coming up with,” Richard said.
Richard is passionate about technology and sales engineering appeals to that passion.
“I like that I can let other people know how excited I feel about the technology that comes out when they get it in their hands,” Richard said.
Sales engineers can cover both small and large sales regions, marketing their products in different areas to different demographics.
Scarbrough said, “A typical day for a sales engineer is a healthy blend of travel, research, meeting, and administrative tasks.”
International travel is becoming more popular for sales engineers as globalization continues to grow.
According to Scarbrough, sales engineers are usually “tethered to their phone.”
“Customers are always a priority and you never know when something will go wrong,” Scarbrough said.
Sales engineering requires a bachelor’s degree in engineering or a related field.
The University of Michigan is ranked seventh in the nation for engineering by U.S. News and World Report
According U.S. News and World Report, the best colleges for undergraduate programs include the following:
· Massachusetts Institute of Technology
· Stanford University
· University of California-Berkeley,
· California Institute of Technology
· Georgia Institute of Technology
Looking at places closer to home, the University of Michigan is ranked seventh in the nation for undergraduate engineering programs, tied with Carnegie Mellon University.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, sales engineers should have strong interpersonal skills in order to market their products well. They should also have high self-confidence.
Mrs. Kim Guest, marketing teacher, said that she teaches her classes useful skills for careers like this.
“We learn about communication, sales promotion, and the selling process,” Guest said.
High-tech sales and engineering is a fast-growing industry in Michigan. However, it isn’t alone; many other industries offer massive growth potential for the future.
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