Dilemma regarding career path in Engineering?

Question

I am a fresh graduate with no real experience I have been offered two job positions that are completely different and I am kind of confused. The first is as a Sales Electrical engineer, the company has existed for 86 years,they deal in cars,construction,electrical trading and construction,medical installation & trading,industrial construction & trading,etc...You get it the company is huge,they want me to be a Sales Electrical engineer on their product SIEMENS and they are willing to also send me to Germany for training.The other company in ranked 8th in the world in Electrical Design & Consulting. So here is my dilemma the two companies are really big and huge,but the problem is the big gap in salary the one of Sales Electrical Engineer is lower by like 30%,but everybody keeps on telling me that all the money is in Sales Electrical Engineering and the company told me that eventually i will be making more money as a Sales Electrical Engineer rather than an Electrical design engineer,so from the people in the field can you please tell me on the long run where the money is,i mean i find myself equally liking both job descriptions so I want to make my decision based on which path generates more money in the long run...

Thank you

Answer 1

If your decision is solely money......I can't help you....money is the least important factor in beginning a job........you have to like what you do.......

Answer 2

The most fundamental question that you need to answer yourself is "do you want to be a salesman?" A sales engineer is a salesman that sells technical products so having an engineering degree, while being of questionable necessity gives credibility. Your career path downstream of either of these jobs will dictate which is better financially.  You are not going to make big money at either position but in the positions you take after them. The difference is the path that they start you on. The sales path is through sales and marketing. The engineering path is technical. Both can be lucrative but they are based on different skill sets. Take a long-term perspective in this decision.