Professionals working as field service engineers carry out installations and repairs on sites that are at the customer’s business place or home.

Duties

1. Design, develop, deploy and integrate systems and networks.

2. Install, configure and test equipment on specialized platforms.

3. Perform periodic testing of all networks and systems.

4. Analyze and evaluate performance and optimize.

5. Test and check performance of hardware and software programs.

6. Coordinate with other team engineers.

7. Maintain, manage and update databases regularly.

8. Review and analyze system data to identify escalations and problems.

9. Resolve and troubleshoot large complex problems

Skills and qualifications

To work as a field service engineer, you must have a bachelor’s degree in engineering from a university or a college. There is no additional training needed to specialize in this field—anyone with professional training in any branch of engineering can become one. All that is required is that you have the knowledge and skills to repair and install equipment at a work site.

Most employment opportunities for service engineers are found in the private sector. Private companies hire service engineers to provide consulting services to customers who are buying or installing equipment and do not have an in-house engineer to guide them through the process. Service engineers train such customers on how to use these equipments and carryout proper maintenance. For this reason, strong communication and people skills are essential in the field, especially the ability to communicate technical information to people who are not familiar with engineering terms and industry jargon.

Most service engineers work closely with repair technicians to get the work done fast. Engineers will typically identify the problem and supervise the installation technicians carrying out the repairs. This means that someone working in this engineering position must have leadership qualities and the ability to work under minimum supervision. They must also have good communication skills that can help them to train and interact well with customers. A field engineer must also have a valid driving license and tolerate travelling because their work can take them to different places and requires mobility. 

Service engineers must write reports on any work that is carried out on any machine and hand it over to the management, so strong writing skills are very important in this profession. 

Work

Other duties carried out by service engineers include designing and field-testing equipment and products. They may need to go through blueprints, point out possible flaws in a plan and come up with proper procedures for installation. Another duty is to install and operate machinery at test sites to make sure the product is working properly and poses no danger to the end users and other employees. Service engineers also carry out periodic inspection on the machine, diagnose faults, and rectify any fault that they find. They are expected to resolve any issues at the work site without interrupting the customer's business or daily activities. This must be done effectively and in the shortest time possible.