Applying for Sales? Here’s a short introduction.
You’re probably scrolling through Reed.co.uk or other job sites wondering what on earth is going to be the right career for you. As you’re sifting through the adverts, you’ll find that the majority of roles are bound to be in either sales or recruitment. If you’ve researched the sales industry and you’re now wondering what things you should look out for, then this article is for you.
Firstly, let’s not forget that your role in sales will be to sell a product. Tangible or not, this product has to spark your interest in some way. This isn’t to say that you’ll be terrible at selling a product you don’t like, but research has shown that you’re more likely to be more successful selling a product that you share an interest for. So whilst looking into roles, be prepared to come across 4 main industries. IT/Tech sales, Financial Sales, Research/Intelligence Sales as well as Media Sales. If you’re interests lie in any of those, make those your first approach.
Your roles in sales might not differ too much at entry level, just so that you know. A lot of your work will involve lead generation. This means that you’re going to be on the phones trying to pick up as many leads as possible, potentially booking meetings for your seniors. It’s not uncommon in sales and it’ll builds up your knowledge on the process as well as giving you the much needed experience to progress onward and upwards.
Because of this process, be prepared to cold call. Now, I know what you’re thinking, there is a lot of bad press about cold calling but bear with me. You won’t be cold calling on a low end scale. Your calls will be directed at senior members of large businesses, mostly CEO’s, board members as well as directors at most levels. As you can imagine, creating relationships with these kinds of people can give you a fantastic network for future development. So now you know the role, what can you expect once you’ve submitted your application?
After applying for role, you’re mostly likely to hear from a graduate agency. These agencies will work on behalf of several companies, one of which will have been the advert you applied for. If you haven’t researched or shown interest in the job role, you’ll most likely fail the phone interview. If you do pass the phone interview, you should be prepared to be sold into other roles. This is not a negative by any means. There are plenty of opportunities out there that you WILL NOT have a clue about. If you focus on the opportunity available instead of your ‘dream job’, you might find that you enter into something better for your long term development. Your advert would have been fairly ambiguous so make sure you ask plenty of questions to these agencies. Remember, this is your job search, not theirs!
Finally, make sure that all your content is aimed towards sales. Telling people that you’re looking into marketing and advertising whilst looking at sales is extremely contradictory. You’re not going to be making money for a while in marketing, whereas short term you’re more likely to earn far more in sales. Telling people you’re looking at lower salaries just confirms that you might not be money motivated and therefore not a perfect candidate for the role.
If you’re graduating this year, looking into sales and recruitment and looking for a bit more expert advice, please do get in touch and I’ll be happy to help!
Good luck grads!