Sales engineers held about 69,900 jobs in 2014. The industries that employed the most sales engineers were as follows:
Merchant wholesalers, durable goods
24%
Manufacturing
21
Computer systems design and related services
18
Wholesale electronic markets and agents and brokers
10
Telecommunications
7
Some sales engineers have large territories and travel extensively. Because sales regions may cover several states, sales engineers may be away from home for several days or even weeks at a time. Other sales engineers cover a smaller region and spend only a few nights away from home. International travel to secure contracts with foreign clients is becoming more common.
Sales engineers may encounter stress because their income and job security often depend directly on their success in sales and customer service.
Work Schedules
Most sales engineers work full time, and about 1 in 3 worked more than 40 hours per week in 2014. Some may work additional and irregular hours to meet sales goals and client needs. However, many sales engineers can decide their own schedules.