Sales Engineers vs Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agents: $125K vs $79K Median Pay

Sales Engineers vs Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agents: what changes?

Consider Sales Engineers if you want to sell business goods or services, the selling of which requires a technical background equivalent to a baccalaureate degree in engineering. Consider Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agents if you would rather buy and sell securities or commodities in investment and trading firms, or provide financial services to businesses and individuals. Both list bachelor's degree; compare training and prior experience separately.

Try this next: Compare three local entry-level postings for Sales Engineers and Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agents. List the duties, credentials, prior experience, and paid training each employer actually asks for. Try a supervised class or sample project from each field before choosing a program.

BLS 2025 wages and 2025–2035 projections. National medians are not starting offers. Occupation size is not a count of vacancies. View the BLS data.

Compare the practical differences

Sales Engineers

National median pay (2025): $124,900
Route into the job: Bachelor's degree; More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.
Work to investigate: Develop, present, or respond to proposals for specific customer requirements, including request for proposal responses and industry-specific solutions.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 3,800

Know before you choose

Review the full career brief for day-to-day working conditions.

See the full Sales Engineers brief

Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agents

National median pay (2025): $78,660
Route into the job: Bachelor's degree; More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.
Work to investigate: Make bids or offers to buy or sell securities.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 35,100

Know before you choose

Review the full career brief for day-to-day working conditions.

See the full Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agents brief

How the national numbers differ

Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agents has the edge on annual openings

Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agents is at 35,100 annual openings, compared with 3,800 annual openings for Sales Engineers.

Sales Engineers has the edge on median pay

Sales Engineers is at $124,900, compared with $78,660 for Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agents.

Sales Engineers has the edge on projected growth

Sales Engineers is at 2.8% projected growth, compared with 1.4% projected growth for Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agents.

57.6/ 100

Sales Engineers

59.4/ 100

Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agents

Each available metric is ranked from 0 to 100 against the careers on ChooseField. The weighted average uses this profile: pay 30%, growth 25%, openings 30%, preparation level 15%. Missing values are not scored as zero; their weights are redistributed across available metrics. Occupation size has zero weight: employment is not accessible vacancies. Preparation categories do not measure admission difficulty or years without earnings. The score summarizes national measures; local opportunities and personal fit still need separate consideration.

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