Why are consulting system engineers paid so well?

RHEL

I’m looking at two jobs at a single company in a low COL area. A sysadmin seems to make around 100K. A consulting systems engineer is WAY above that. Something like 135K base plus 20% bonus =~ 160K. Both are FTE with full benefits.

Just trying to figure out why the huge difference in pay. The engineer role requires 50% travel but is full remote. Wondering if that plays into it? Or is a consulting engineer one of those widow maker roles requiring 90 hour work weeks?

Thanks in advance.

joelsfood

In my experience, sys admin is an operations role while CSE is a technical sales role. Sales always has room for more pay than oprations roles, as they can make part of the pay contingent on hitting your quotas.

DatabaseHead

joelsfood wrote: »

In my experience, sys admin is an operations role while CSE is a technical sales role. Sales always has room for more pay than oprations roles, as they can make part of the pay contingent on hitting your quotas.

100%

In regards to the OP's offer, that base is what I am used to seeing, however the bonus is a little low.... The remote / travel arrangement is on par.

Your widow maker comments can come into play. A very close friend of mine holds a similar position and can work 75 hours a week during critical cycles.... With that said (and I am not trying to discourage you) you can get a lot of down time as well and for extended periods.... (Can is the operative word).

RHEL

Thanks for the insight! I have an excellent job right now -- ~100K, engineering on the strategic (non-ops) side, no on-call, flexible hours, great benefits, etc.

However, it's just really not that stimulating. I end up jumping through a lot of political hoops more than dealing with the actual technology. Looking for a change of pace and also looking for a way to move out of this area.

I've never worked on the customer-facing side before, but CSE certainly sounds interesting. I wouldn't mind the travel either. Or the pay bump.

UnixGuy

Consulting engineer is a revenue stream, System Admin/Engineer is a cost

If you can get into CSE, do it!

paul78

It could also be a band level used at that company. I've seen "Consulting" used as an engineering level in some companies. Usually it's a level above "senior" and "staff". And it could somewhere similar to "Principal" but maybe below "Distinguished' or "Fellow" bands.