Solutions Engineer
Career Area: Information Technology
Occupation Group: Software Development
Salary
Percentile wages tell how much a certain percentage of an overall population in a geographic area or within a given industry or field makes. The percentile wage estimate is the value of a wage below which a certain percent of workers fall.
An example would be the 25th percentile, 25 percent of workers employed in that occupation earn less and 75 percent earn more than the estimated wage value. At the 75th percentile, 75 percent of workers employed in that occupation earn less and 25 percent earn more than the estimated wage value.
A typical Solutions Engineer earns the following wages (national and state):
State
The average salary in North Carolina for those pursuing this career is $103,087
National
The average salary in the United States for those pursuing this career is $106,824
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
Develops network technology solutions to address software or hardware problems and address the needs of users and customers. Consults with customers to identify business and technical needs; works with software engineers to develop structural solutions; assists with solving technical issues that arise in implementing technology tools or solutions developed for customers.
Employment Trends
The job demand and job growth statistics shown here were derived from job posts over the past year. Expected job growth projections are extrapolated from year-over-year job post listing history.
Job demand and job growth is expected at the following rates:
| Location | Growth | |
|---|---|---|
| North Carolina | 413 | +29.1% |
| Nationwide | 14835 | +25.6% |
Skills
A professional in this position typically utilizes the following skills in the course of everyday work in this exciting and challenging field:
Baseline Skills
The following are baseline skills every Solutions Engineer is expected to have in order to experience success in this field:
- Communication Skills: The ability to convey information to another effectively and efficiently.
- Teamwork / Collaboration: Experience working in collaborative efforts with a team to achieve a common goal or to complete a task in the most effective and efficient way.
- Problem Solving: Problem solving consists of using generic or ad hoc methods, in an orderly manner, for finding solutions to problems.
- Presentation Skills: Presentation skills are the skills you need in delivering effective and engaging presentations to a variety of audiences. These skills cover a variety of areas such as the structure of your presentation, the design of your slides, the tone of your voice and the body language you convey.
- Troubleshooting: Troubleshooting or dpanneuring is a form of problem solving, often applied to repair failed products or processes on a machine or a system.
Specialized Skills
These skills are specific to working in this career:
- Sales: Experience selling products or services to consumers.
- Python: Python is a widely used high-level programming language for general-purpose programming, created by Guido van Rossum and first released in 1991.
- SQL: SQL ( ESS-kew-EL or SEE-kwl, Structured Query Language) is a domain-specific language used in programming and designed for managing data held in a relational database management system (RDBMS), or for stream processing in a relational data stream management system (RDSMS).
- Java: Java is a set of computer software and specifications developed by Sun Microsystems, which was later acquired by the Oracle Corporation, that provides a system for developing application software and deploying it in a cross-platform computing environment.
- Software Engineering: Working experience with the application of engineering to the development of software in a systematic method.
Distinguishing Skills
Any Solutions Engineer that possesses the following skills will stand out against the competition:
- Virtualization: Working experience of Virtualization. Virtualization is the process of creating a software-based, or virtual, representation of something, such as virtual applications, servers, storage and networks.
- Tableau: Tableau Software ( tab-LOH) is a software company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States which produces interactive data visualization products focused on business intelligence.
- Big Data: Big data is a term for data sets that are so large or complex that traditional data processing application software is inadequate to deal with them.
- NoSQL: A NoSQL (originally referring to non SQL, non relational or not only SQL) database provides a mechanism for storage and retrieval of data that is modeled in means other than the tabular relations used in relational databases.
- Cloud Computing: Working experience of Cloud Computing, which is an information technology (IT) paradigm that enables ubiquitous access to shared pools of configurable system resources and higher-level services that can be rapidly provisioned with minimal management effort, often over the Internet.
Experience
This position typically requires the following level of experience. The numbers presented in the pie charts below were derived from actual job posts over the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.
| Experience Required | % |
| 0 to 2 years | 19% |
| 3 to 5 years | 54% |
| 6 to 8 years | 17% |
Many of the programs offered through NC State are designed for working professionals who need additional credentials to enhance existing work experience.
Students who do not have the expected level of experience may wish to look into internship and employment opportunities.
Common Job Titles
It is possible to find work in this field in positions commonly listed as the following job titles:
- Solutions Engineer
- Senior Solutions Engineer
- Solutions Engineer Executive Advisor
- Solutions Engineer Advisor Senior
- Cloud Solutions Engineer
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