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Sales managers direct organizations' sales teams. They set sales goals, analyze data, and develop training programs for the organization's sales representatives.

Sales managers typically do the following:

• Oversee regional and local sales managers and their staffs
• Resolve customer complaints regarding sales and service
• Prepare budgets and approve budget expenditures
• Monitor customer preferences to determine the focus of sales efforts
• Analyze sales statistics
• Project sales and determine the profitability of products and services
• Determine discount rates or special pricing plans
• Plan and coordinate training programs for sales staff

Sales managers' responsibilities vary with the size of the organization they work for. However, most sales managers direct the distribution of goods and services by assigning sales territories, setting sales goals, and establishing training programs for the organization's sales representatives.

In some cases, they recruit, hire, and train new members of the sales staff. For more information about sales workers, see the profiles on retail sales workers and wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives.

Sales managers advise sales representatives on ways to improve their sales performance. In large multiproduct organizations, they oversee regional and local sales managers and their staffs.

Sales managers also stay in contact with dealers and distributors. They analyze sales statistics that their staff gathers, both to determine the sales potential and inventory requirements of products and stores and to monitor customers' preferences.

Sales managers work closely with managers from other departments. For example, the marketing department identifies new customers that the sales department can target. The relationship between these two departments is critical to helping an organization expand its client base. Because sales managers monitor customers' preferences and stores' and organizations' inventory needs, they work closely with research and design departments and warehousing departments.

Cost estimators collect and analyze data to estimate the time, money, resources, and labor required for product manufacturing, construction projects, or services. Some specialize in a particular industry or product type.

Cost estimators typically do the following:

• Consult with industry experts to discuss estimates and resolve issues
• Identify and quantify cost factors, such as production time and raw material, equipment, and labor expenses
• Travel to job sites to gather information on materials needed, labor requirements, and other factors 
• Read blueprints and technical documents to prepare estimates
• Collaborate with engineers, architects, owners, and contractors on estimates
• Use sophisticated computer software to calculate estimates 
• Evaluate a product's cost effectiveness or profitability
• Recommend ways to make a product more cost effective or profitable
• Prepare estimates for clients and other business managers
• Develop project plans for the duration of the project

Accurately predicting the cost, size, and duration of future construction and manufacturing projects is vital to the survival of any business. Cost estimators' calculations give managers or investors this information.

When making calculations, estimators analyze many inputs to determine how much time, money, and labor a project needs, or how profitable it will be. These estimates have to take many factors into account, including allowances for wasted material, bad weather, shipping delays, and other factors that can increase costs and lower profitability.

Cost estimators use sophisticated computer software, including database, simulation, and complex mathematical programs. Cost estimators often use a computer database with information on the costs of other similar projects.

General contractors usually hire cost estimators for specific parts of a large construction project, such as estimating the electrical work or the excavation phase. In such cases, the estimator calculates the cost of the construction phase for which the contractor is responsible, rather than calculating the cost of the entire project. The general contractor usually also has a cost estimator who calculates the total project cost by analyzing the bids that the subcontractors' cost estimators prepared.

Some estimators are hired by manufacturers to analyze certain products or processes.

The following are the two primary types of cost estimators:

Construction cost estimators estimate construction work. More than half of all cost estimators work in the construction industry. They may, for example, estimate the total cost of building a bridge or a highway. They may identify direct costs, such as raw materials and labor requirements, and set a timeline for the project. Although many work directly for construction firms, some work for contractors, architects, and engineering firms.

Manufacturing cost estimators calculate the costs of developing, producing, or redesigning a company's goods and services. For example, a cost estimator working for a home appliance manufacturer may determine whether a new type of dishwasher will be profitable to manufacture.

Some manufacturing cost estimators work in software development. Many high-technology products require a considerable amount of computer programming, and the costs of software development are difficult to calculate.  

Two other groups also sometimes do cost estimating in their jobs. Operations research, production control, cost, and price analysts who work for government agencies may do significant amounts of cost estimating in the course of their usual duties. Construction managers also may spend considerable time estimating costs. For more information, see the profiles on operations research analysts and construction managers.

Sheet metal workers fabricate or install products that are made from thin metal sheets, such as ducts used for heating and air-conditioning.

Sheet metal workers typically do the following:

• Select types of sheet metal or nonmetallic material
• Measure and mark dimensions and reference lines on metal sheets
• Drill holes in metal, for screws, bolts, and rivets
• Install metal sheets with supportive frameworks
• Fabricate or alter parts at construction sites
• Maneuver large parts to be installed, and anchor the parts
• Fasten seams or joints by welding, bolting, riveting, or soldering

Sheet metal workers make, install, and maintain thin sheet metal products. Although sheet metal is used to make many products, such as rain gutters, outdoor signs, and siding, it is most commonly used to make ducts for heating and air-conditioning.

Sheet metal workers study plans and specifications to determine the kind and quantity of materials they will need. Using computer-controlled saws, lasers, shears, and presses, they measure, cut, bend, and fasten pieces of sheet metal.

In shops without computerized equipment, sheet metal workers make the required calculations and use tapes and rulers to lay out the work. Then, they cut or stamp the parts with machine tools.

In manufacturing plants, sheet metal workers program and operate computerized metalworking equipment. For example, they may make sheet metal parts for aircraft or industrial equipment. Sheet metal workers in those jobs may be responsible for programming the computer control systems of the equipment they operate.

Before assembling pieces, sheet metal workers check each part for accuracy. If necessary, they use hand, rotary, or squaring shears and hacksaws to finish pieces.

After inspecting the metal pieces, workers fasten seams and joints with welds, bolts, rivets, solder, or other connecting devices. Then they take the parts constructed in the shop and assemble the pieces further as they install them.

Most fabrication work is done in shops with some final assembly done on the job. Some jobs are done completely at the jobsite. When installing a metal roof, for example, sheet metal workers usually measure and cut the roofing panels onsite.

In addition to installing sheet metal, some workers install fiberglass and plastic board. 

In some shops and factories, sheet metal workers care for and maintain the equipment they use. 

Sheet metal workers do both construction-related work and the mass production of sheet metal products in manufacturing. Sheet metal workers are often separated into four specialties: fabrication, installation, maintenance, and testing and balancing. The following describes these types of sheet metal workers:

Fabrication sheet metal workers, sometimes called precision sheet metal workers, make ducts, gutters, and other metal products. Most work in shops and factories, operating tools and equipment. Although some of the fabrication techniques used in large-scale manufacturing are similar to those used in smaller shops, the work may be highly automated and repetitive. Many fabrication shops have automated machinery, and workers use computer-aided drafting (CAD) and building information modeling (BIM) systems to make products.

Installation sheet metal workers install heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) ducts. They also install other sheet metal products, such as metal roofs, siding, or gutters. They work on new construction and on renovation projects. 

Maintenance sheet metal workers repair and clean ventilation systems so the systems use less energy. Workers remove dust and moisture and fix leaks or breaks in the sheet metal that makes up the ductwork.

Testing and balancing sheet metal specialists ensure that HVAC systems heat and cool rooms properly. They ensure that hot and cold air is transferred through sheet metal ducts efficiently. For more information on workers who install or repair HVAC systems, see the profile on heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers.

Construction laborers and helpers do many basic tasks that require physical labor on construction sites.

Construction laborers and helpers typically do the following:

• Clean and prepare construction sites by removing debris and possible hazards
• Load or unload building materials to be used in construction
• Build or take apart bracing, barricades, forms (molds that determine the shape of concrete), scaffolding, and temporary structures
• Dig trenches, backfill holes, or compact earth to prepare for construction
• Operate or tend equipment and machines used in construction, such as concrete mixers
• Help other craftworkers with their duties
• Follow construction plans and instructions from the people they are working for

Construction laborers and helpers work on almost all construction sites, doing a wide range of tasks from the very easy to the extremely difficult and hazardous. Although many of the tasks they do require some training and experience, most jobs usually require little skill and can be learned quickly. 

The following are occupational specialties:

Construction laborers do a variety of construction-related activities during all phases of construction. Although most laborers are generalists--such as those who install barricades, cones, and markers to control traffic patterns--many others specialize. For example, those who operate the machines and equipment that lay concrete or asphalt on roads are more likely to specialize in those areas.

Most construction laborers work in the following areas:

• Building homes and businesses
• Tearing down buildings
• Removing hazardous materials
• Building highways and roads
• Digging tunnels and mine shafts

Construction laborers use a variety of tools and equipment. Some tools are simple, such as brooms and shovels; other equipment is more sophisticated, such as pavement breakers, jackhammers, earth tampers, and surveying equipment.

With special training, laborers may help transport and use explosives or run hydraulic boring machines to dig out tunnels. They may learn to use laser beam equipment to place pipes and use computers to control robotic pipe cutters. They may become certified to remove asbestos, lead, or chemicals.

Helpers assist construction craftworkers, such as electricians and carpenters, with a variety of basic tasks. They may carry tools and materials or help set up equipment. For example, many helpers work with cement masons to move and set forms. Many other helpers assist with taking apart equipment, cleaning up sites, and disposing of waste, as well as helping with any other needs of craftworkers.

Many construction trades have helpers who assist craftworkers. The following are examples of trades that have associated helpers:

• Brickmasons, blockmasons, stonemasons, and tile and marble setters
• Carpenters
• Electricians
• Painters, paperhangers, plasterers, and stucco masons
• Pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters
• Roofers

Roofers repair and install the roofs of buildings using a variety of materials, including shingles, asphalt, and metal.

Roofers typically do the following:

• Inspect problem roofs to determine the best way to repair them
• Measure roof to calculate the quantities of materials needed
• Replace damaged or rotting joists or plywood
• Install vapor barriers or layers of insulation
• Install shingles, asphalt, metal, or other materials to make the roof watertight
• Align roofing materials with edges of the roof
• Cut roofing materials to fit angles formed by walls, vents, or intersecting roof surfaces
• Cover exposed nail or screw heads with roofing cement or caulk to prevent leakage

Properly installed roofs keep water from leaking into buildings and damaging the interior, equipment, or furnishings.

There are two basic types of roofs, low-slope and steep-slope:

• Low-slope: About two-thirds of all roofs are low-slope. Most commercial, industrial, and apartment buildings have low-slope roofs. Low-slope roofs rise 4 inches or less per horizontal foot and are installed in layers.
  
  For low-slope roofs, roofers typically use several layers of roofing materials or felt membranes stuck together with hot bitumen (a tar-like substance). They glaze the top layer to make a smooth surface or embed gravel in the hot bitumen to make a rough surface.
  
  An increasing number of low-slope roofs are covered with a single-ply membrane of waterproof rubber or thermoplastic compounds.

• Steep-slope: Most of the remaining roofs are steep-slope. Most single-family houses have steep-slope roofs. Steep-slope roofs rise more than 4 inches per horizontal foot.
  
  For steep-slope roofs, roofers typically use asphalt shingles, which often cost less than other coverings. On steep-slope roofs, some roofers also install tile, solar shingles, fiberglass shingles, metal shingles, or shakes (rough wooden shingles).
  
  To apply shingles, roofers first lay, cut, and tack 3-foot strips of roofing over the entire roof. Then, starting from the bottom edge, they nail overlapping rows of shingles to the roof.

A small but increasing number of buildings now have “green” roofs that incorporate landscape roofing systems. A landscape roofing system typically begins with a single or multiple waterproof layers. After that layer is proven to be leak free, roofers put a root barrier over it, and, finally, layers of soil, in which vegetation is planted. Roofers must ensure that the roof is watertight and can endure the weight and water needs of the plants.