Why are consulting system engineers paid so well?

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.

Find more posts tagged with

Comments

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.