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Power Generation Application Engineer

Generac · Sussex, WI · Full time

Posted Sep 9, 2026 · We last checked this listing on Oct 6, 2026

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Likely interview questions for this role

Written from this job description, not a generic list. Each one notes what the interviewer is really checking.

About your past

Tell me about your engineering degree and coursework. Why did you choose engineering if you're now looking at a sales-focused career?

What they are checking: whether the candidate has genuinely thought through moving from a technical degree into a customer-facing sales path, rather than defaulting to it

Tell me about a time you had to learn a technical system or process quickly on the job. How did you get up to speed?

What they are checking: ability to absorb the heavy front-loaded training in this role, including SAP, Windchill, and Generac's product lines

Describe a situation where you had to build trust with someone who didn't report to you and wasn't obligated to work with you.

What they are checking: capacity to develop and retain distributor relationships without formal authority

Tell me about a negotiation you were part of, even a small one. What was your role and how did it end?

What they are checking: real exposure to negotiation dynamics versus rehearsed theory, given the job requires negotiating and closing contracts

Tell me about a time you worked on a process improvement, even informally. What did you change and what happened?

What they are checking: fit with the continuous improvement component of the role and whether the candidate looks for structural fixes, not just workarounds

You'll rotate through several business models here, Lead Gas, Telecom and GES, EPC. How do you personally approach being a beginner over and over in a short period of time?

What they are checking: resilience and humility needed for a rotational training structure where mastery keeps resetting

What would you do

This role asks you to relocate outside Wisconsin once training is complete and travel about 75 percent of the time. Walk me through how you're thinking about that.

What they are checking: whether the candidate has actually weighed the lifestyle demands or is just saying yes to get the job

Say a distributor is quoting a project on diesel and you believe natural gas is the better fit. How would you approach that conversation with them?

What they are checking: comfort with the core selling motion of this job, converting diesel quotes to gas, and ability to make a technical case persuasively

A distributor's customer wants a special design option that isn't standard. Walk me through how you'd coordinate that between the distributor and our engineering team.

What they are checking: ability to translate between technical and commercial stakeholders, which is central to the coordinate-design-options duty

If you were handed a sales territory with flat growth for two years, how would you start figuring out what's going wrong?

What they are checking: analytical approach to market expansion and whether the candidate can think in terms of forecasting, budgeting, and P&L rather than just relationships

About the work

Explain how a transfer switch works and why it matters in a standby generator system.

What they are checking: baseline technical grounding needed before this person can credibly support distributors and coordinate design options with engineering

What does contribution margin mean to you, and why would a company track it separately from revenue?

What they are checking: basic financial literacy needed to hit the contribution margin targets called out in the job

How do you usually present technical information to someone who isn't an engineer?

What they are checking: communication skill for translating engineering detail into terms a distributor or customer can act on

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The full job description

As published by Generac.

We believe power is a promise - a shared commitment to be there for others when it matters most. For more than 65 years, we've turned big ideas into solutions that help protect homes, strengthen businesses and build a more resilient, efficient, sustainable energy future. Ready to Power a Smarter World with us? The Power Generation Application Engineer is a developmental position, which will be used to train and develop individuals in various aspects of industrial sales roles. Ultimately, this career path will be responsible for sales growth and market expansion for assigned regional territory. While in training, someone in this position will learn how to actively develop sales and regional distribution strategies along with marketing communication tactics to ensure execution of programs and market share growth. Minimum Qualifications: • Engineering Degree • Valid driver’s license Preferred Qualifications: • Electrical, Mechanical or Industrial Engineering Degree • Willing to travel 75% of the time and relocate outside of WI upon program completion • Engineer with one to two years of design experience Essential Duties: 40% Learn • Participate in corporate on boarding classes & LMS courses • Complete facility tours and sales department onboarding process • Generator 101 course work • Complete training on how to develop and implement strategic sales plans focused on growing sales and learning to identify opportunities and threats • Learn to develop accurate and detailed metrics to facilitate effective business forecasting and resource allocation, including budgeting • Learn to manage and grow P&L 20% Develop • Work with CI team to develop and drive CI process improvements within the sales function • Work with Marketing to develop initiatives/merchandising/packaging that drive sales efforts • Develop and retain relationships with industrial distributors by offering various levels of support throughout the sales process during six months of training with current Inside Sales Rep team 40% Execute • Provide customer service and technical sales support to distribution and their customers. • Coordinate special design options between distribution and engineering. • Support Generac’s natural gas market position by helping convert diesel quotes/projects into gas • Rotate through Lead Gas, Telecom/GES and EPC structure models • Rotate through ATS Vertical, Transfer Switches, SAP, Winchill and Genconnect • Negotiate and close contracts • Develop broad and deep account relationships • Achieve contribution margin targets Other Duties as assigned and the following: • Special projects as assigned. • Participation in sales process training programs. • Act as SAP Super User within functional area as assigned. Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities: • Strong written and verbal communication skills • Excellent presentation and social skills • Excellent negotiation skills • Strong organizational skills • Ability to work independently in an entrepreneurial culture • Ability to analyze financials • Ability to relocate outside of Wisconsin upon program completion Physical Demands: While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk and hear; and use hands to manipulate objects or controls. The employee is regularly required to stand and walk. On occasion the incumbent may be required to stoop, bend or reach above the shoulders. The employee must occasionally lift up to 25 pounds. Specific conditions of this job are typical of frequent and continuous computer-based work requiring periods of sitting; close vision and ability to adjust focus. Occasional travel. “We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.”

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