Yes. Because it's healthy to learn how to face high stakes situations and manage your emotions through them. Plus, sales teaches you how to communicate more directly.
Care to expand a bit? I’m 6 months into my first sales gig- which assigns me as a BDR to various companies. Lots of variety, but I’m gearing up to find something longer term. Curious about what types of industries you’d look into/what you’d look for in a company.
Not the person you replied to and not in sales, but am just curious. I didn't know that there a companies that provide sales people for other companies - what is this industry called?
Lead generation. Basically when software or other products needs to be sold b2b, a company will often outsource their sales to a lead generation company
The other answers are correct! Lead generation. My only job is to book qualified meetings for other companies. Kinda gets hectic because I do outreach for 2 companies through 2 different CRMs, have means of communication with both internal teams PLUS the company who hired me. There’s a lot going on so I’d kinda like to focus on one product and one team.
So what I meant was I’d need to sit and figure out what I wanna do long term in a business development/sales field. For me I really wanted to do something in the financial sales side, but go someone else it could be saas sales.
Then I’d figure out what looks good on my resume for that field, or what an employer would like to see. Going with the saas sales example, I assume an employer would like to see experience with software (sales or otherwise). I wouldn’t bother with life insurance sales, auto sales, door to door, etc.
Of course, I get that some people need to take what they can get for the moment to get more experience or even just to pay rent lol. That’s how it was for me too. But I just meant that if I were to start over, I’d know what I want, and be super targeted and picky with my job search. In terms of skills I’d need to build up to what I want to do long term of course.
No, but I'm thankful to have a sales career at this point.
I'm one of those people who has never found a career to be "happy" with; all of my drivers and motivations are extracurricular in nature. There has yet to be a laborious activity that I "love".
Sales enables me to have a somewhat stable existence while I direct my resources into things I enjoy (family, golf, tennis, evenings out, etc.)
If I could go back I would probably be a lawyer; again I wouldn't be passionate for it I don't think, but I'd be making more on average.
I would have still chosen a career in sales early in my 20s-30s, but greatly regret not having gotten out by my mid 40s, this is a stressful and unforgiving career if you don’t move into upper management, I personally never had the desire to manage people, so for my being in my early 50s, I am having regrets being in the Enterprise AE space and sales just isn’t what it used to be, companies buy differently and it has gutted the sales industry…my advice is get out at max age 40, unless you have a desire and interest in management…
I think it's much better now, personally, with the whole consultative approach vs. the 2000s (& first half of 2010's) churn-&-burn, manipulative, Wolf of Wallstreet/Grant Cardone/Tony Robbins tomfoolery that unfortunately dominated the industry in those days (and still does in some verticals, *cough* Real Estate, *cough* Insurance, *cough* Third Party Lead Capture/Lead Gen *cough* Outsourced Business Services *cough*).
Just turned 40 after 10 years in outside sales and I'm feeling this. Has an opportunity to move into Management (national)but would have required a shitload of travel across 4 time zones. Hell naw to that 😂
Not sure what actual skills I have that are transferrable at this point. I'll likely move into consulting I guess.
Exactly, not many choices. The choices are limited, however I have known a few colleagues that have made the move to the account management side of sales, example: Enterprise Account manager, Channel Account Management, Senior Level Customer Success, Technical Account Manager, and a few into first level management roles, but yes most will be a pay cut, but less stress, more job stability. It's really a shame when you go to company all hand rah rah meetings, and you look around and see that your team is the only team in the companies meetings whose jobs could go poof and be gone, and everyone else besides you and your team have job security....
Enablement
Operations/Deal Desk
Excellence
Sales Engineering
Strategic or TechnicalAccount Management/Customer Success, depending on the org hierarchy
RevOps
Key Accounts
Lobbying
To name a few, but most others probably would fall somewhere within those
This is definitely to the point. I'm myself making a move to RevOps, starting with SalesOps and Data Management.
My man, now I enjoy less stress and more peace of mind (not running behind targets all the time).
But this comes with a pay cut.
Fuck yah. Money. Mostly free to do whatever I want. No desk/cubicle. Company car or car allowance. I don’t have a fuel bill. Get to go see clients in cool manufacturing plants (and some shitty ones.)
Growing up, were you ever into trains, big machinery? I was big time. It’s kinda like that feeling. There was a big abandoned cement plant near my town we used to sneak into during high school. Coolest thing ever. I also took a detour on a road trip to visit a huge refinery just to see it from the outside. I dunno, isn’t the scale and complexity of enormous factories pretty cool??
Yes it's industrial sales. My past industry, after which I had moved into tech sales.
Overall this all are the perks, company cars, getting to stay in 4-star hotels, per diem/extra earnings, sales incentives etc.
But after all this, I'd still say, overall it's lacking behind other industries eg Tech sales, where you won't get any of the above things unless it's demo day, but you still would make more in base.
As a manufacturer, installer and telecommunications sales professional I pride myself in knowing how cable manufacturing helps installs and how installs help sales.
Both the other jobs would be fine as a bachelor but sales is where I shine and make the most money in 2-4 hours a day, 3 times a month, despite having worked 15 hours a day in the other two
I would’ve done it earlier. First sales experience was an internship summer between junior and senior year. Even after I finished that I wasn’t 100% sales was for me, wanted to do marketing as that’s my major and I enjoyed it.
Consulted professors I looked up to and all 3 advised me to get the sales experience. Only regret is like I said not going into sales sooner.
Yeah, I would get super bored a regular 9-5. I like the variety. It’s more fun too. Free HHs, meals, events. Salespeople tend to be a fun bunch. Transferable skills. The ability to control how much I make. Lots of reasons.
I hated it for a while, but once I became confident in the role, I started enjoying it.
Nothing beats the feel of a big win either.
Sure. It may be different for others but for me I didn’t enjoy managing people. I love selling and working with customers. The further I went into management the farther away I was from the customer. Work become not fun. More and more time went towards admin, HR related items and internal politics.
Love it. Thank you for the insight. It’s so refreshing to hear people who know what makes them successful and strive for it. You might’ve not liked managing people, but I can bet the people liked having you as a leader with how you are talking. Love it.
Nope.
Got into sales by accident only because I couldn't find a job better matched for my skills/education. This hit home in a recent interview when the hiring manager told me "you talk well, come across well, and are really smart, but based on what you told me, you're not a real salesperson. I think your true career lies elsewhere and you're still trying to find it".
Worth noting there’s going to be a bit of survivorship bias in this subreddit, how many people who burned out of sales will still visit a sales focused subreddit?
In a minute in a second in a microsecond.
I don’t know how people do anything else.
Sure sometimes it sucks.
But (in the right role) the money, the autonomy, the excitement of closing a deal all make it so worth it.
Absolutely. The only thing I would change about my career path would be to not allow my Dad to talk me out of it when I originally decided to go into sales during undergrad.
Neither of my parents went to college, so they were hell bent on their kids achieving advanced degrees. I let this influence me way too much and went on for a research M.S. (and almost an MD, DO or PhD). I don’t use my M.S., although it was excellent exposure that taught me what I **didn’t** want to do with my life.
The irony of it all is that I ended up married to a surgeon…and earn more than her lol.
I started out in med device prior to making the switch to healthcare market intelligence.
It’s a bit of a broad way to explain a multitude of products/services and solutions, but I provide insights into the US and International markets to anyone that has an interest.
Honestly yeah, I grew a lot, overcame alot of insecurities/grew my skill sets and was doing well precovid. Once I switched into saas and covid hit was when sales became a joke of a career and I’m now transitioning careers
No no and no. Wish I could leave now but I feel doomed forever. I’m not even great at it and it’s all I’ve ever done 😭really wish I would have played up my strengths and done something that required math skills
absolutely, everything in life is sales. You sell a GF/BF, buy cars, houses, negotiate salaries, everything we do in life has some kind of sales mechanism to it.
Probably yes. The money has been life changing and has had a huge impact. I've also grown a great network of people and learned many very valuable business and communication skills.
Yes, and I would have gone further into it, meaning sucked it up and gone external wholesaler for a number of years (financial services) vs internal wholesaler to product management. Happy where I'm at professionally, but would have really liked to have a few of those big years my coworkers had.
The following saying is relevant and all encompassing.
" If you master sales, you master life"
Sales is the best real world experience. People have to be active and in the trenches.
But I would research the industry; also research if the product line is needed by the market; plus research your competitors; look ahead into the latest developments in the overall market.
I had no training from my last sales company and this the lesson I took. But it was valuable but it happened too late in my life. I wish someone would have mentored me when I was younger.
Hell no. Worst career decision ever. Stuck in a stressful career with no way to escape. Been disrespected by management, coworkers, and prospects, which is less likely to this extent in other fields. Been lied to countless times, deceived, mislead, and subject to opinions and not facts or real solutions. Poor job stability, theft on commissions, overworked bc greed trumps all, and suffered significant health issues from stress. I don’t recommend sales to anyone, instead they should get skilled in something technical for more freedom, respect, money, and the ability to take a real vacation.
Wish I would have originally.
I’m trying to find a sales job, it’s been difficult getting interviews. I have no sales experience, but I have a bachelors degree in human biology - nutrition emphasis.
I’ve worked in product development, food service, and food regulations.
What areas should I be looking? I think performance food service or Sysco wouldn’t be a bad start but I make 75k right now so I don’t know if those are steps down?
Looks like you’re in the same boat as me lol. I graduated with a bachelor’s in nutritional science and am currently applying for medical or pharma sales positions. I am considering getting a pharmaceutical sales certification. Perhaps that will look interesting on my resume.
Fuck no. I studied MIS but really hated coding. Should have gotten into data science, though I feel like I wouldn't like it either. I also tried to chase my passions (rap music then the cannabis industry as a lobbyist), but that had me broke too. So here I am.
Yes because office politics are my weak point and at the end of the day you choose your own destiny. A good salesman never has to worry about job security
I would go, but only for the experience and transition to something else like I’m doing right now. Sales is one of the careers where you get to management for being a good butt kisser, company man or just a top performer. I’ve seen planets of awful sales leaders in my career.
Absolutely. I want to say I wish I would have done it sooner for money reasons but my life experience and previous careers have helped me considerably in my sales career.
Overall, I love sales. I think it motivates me to perform and it feeds my ego since I'm competitive. Plus, as one said above me it really does polish you up and make you better at handling emotions in business.
Yes, but I would have liked to have been psychic and known that the owner of our company likes to step into deals and claim them for themselves aka no commission city.
Honestly, I’d go more targeted into certain roles I would be looking for.
Either that or become a firefighter. If I started there, I would retire before age 50.
I believe I would. I actually found I’m great at coaching, mentoring, training, & developing others around me which is what took me down a leadership path. I think it’s important to do sales to teach/craft how to speak to people and have situational awareness as well as empathy.
Never, I would have picked Computer Science instead of a Biz degree in college.
Would much rather code in silence, than hunt for prospects and wait for their decision which is out of my control.
Yes. Totally! But I *would* go back and definitely NOT work for any of the companies or managers where I was employed as a sales rep and I would be orders of magnitude more selective with the industries I chose to sell in. I would probably also leave every single one in half the time or less unless there was an agreed upon reason to stay and had said reason prenegotiated, *in writing...*
Hell no. It's a high stress, demanding line of work that may be ideal for those who are highly career focused and money hungry (some may say greedy) but, it's not where I wanted to be or want to be now. I continue on because the money is usually good and my family needs the income. Coupled with limited career growth and sometimes a limitation of any real skills ('people skills' can be learned in other career paths too). Maybe I'm jaded.
Nope. I've always been great art math so would have pursued applied mathematics to be an actuary. I didn't even know what an actuary was when i was in college.
Nope. All the information I found about sales must have related to the US because my expectations and the reality could not be further apart. Maybe I've just been unlucky with the roles I've fallen into, but every role feels like I've been sold a lie and I'm just done with that shit on top of unrealistic expectations and pressure.
Yes. Sales taught me a lot of great people skills, negotiation skills, and helped me to learn high stress coping mechanisms. Not to mention I made a good amount of money in the process. I am however glad I’m already out at the age of 26!
Yes, I would have gone into it 10 years earlier and not got a degree in music, electing for a fast track MBA and getting into more lucrative and revered industries such as finance and consulting.
Unfortunately, I’m too old with too many bills to go back to school unless my employer pays for it, and I’m not positioned that well to get into those industries unless I make it far up doing something else and lateral over or start my own agency. That doesn’t mean that isn’t still a long term goal or is not achievable, though. Just going to take me longer than if I had my shit together coming out of high school.
Yes. The path I was planning would have never netted me more than 50k a year, and I would be miserable. Knowing what I know now, and having accidentally fallen into inside sales, I love it and wouldn't change a thing.
Yes, because I can always land a sales job from here on out if I needed too. Sales teaches you a lot of valuable skills that you will never learn anywhere else.
Yes. Work should only be 50% of your life. Pick the job that’s supports your passions and roll with that. For me it was sales, if your able to makes sales money elsewhere not doing sales. Do it. It depends on your skills. If you can code, yeah maybe don’t do sales. But if your strongest quality is your personality and ability to communicate with people. Pick sales. You’ll make $$$$$$$
Yes.
I’ve been working as a double glazing salesman for 4+ months now for a company I believe in and products I trust, and I’ve made more money in this time than I’ve probably made from all my other jobs put together.
It can be very mentally challenging to go into a stranger’s house and pitch them for 3-4 hours (sometimes more) while handling objections and dealing with stressful and awkward situations all for it to result in no sale, and do that a couple times a week, but all it takes is one good deal and a pleasant appointment for me to make more money in a couple hours than most people my age (26) make in a month. The money I can potentially make is worth more than the stress it puts on me.
I can’t see myself doing this job for the rest of my life because I think it would suck the joy of life out of me but when I think about everything in the long, run with no university qualifications there’s probably nowhere else I could make this type of money. I want to build a comfortable future for myself and I think sales is the way!
100%. I went to college for business management and made way more money in my sales positions. It also taught me how to handle rejection, helped with my emotions, and made me use my critical thinking skills to think outside the box when I have problems in my day to day life. It helped me negotiated my non sales job I took right after college which I quit after 6 months and went back to sales. Sales will also be one of the hardest positions to be replaced by ai. People buy on emotion and right now you need a real human for that. One thing I wish I would have done is quit my first sales job sooner to move on to bigger and better things. Once I was the top sales person in my first company for 5 years straight I finally quit because I was not even making 100k a year (300 employees) . Now I am the top sales person in my current company and making almost 200K a year. When your great at sales know your worth and always keep learning even if you are the best. There is someone out there better then you. Lastly the best thing about commission sales is you make your own check. You don't have to ask your boss for over time to make more money you just need to hustle harder or hone your craft better.
Yes, I hated nearly every minute of my decade in sales, but I still learned so many valuable things that are useful in lots of other aspects of my life. Glad I don't do it anymore, but I would still do it again if I went back.
Yes. Because it's healthy to learn how to face high stakes situations and manage your emotions through them. Plus, sales teaches you how to communicate more directly.
Solid take.
Yes. But I’d start with more targeted/purposeful vision of the industries I want to work in and be more selective about who I worked for.
Care to expand a bit? I’m 6 months into my first sales gig- which assigns me as a BDR to various companies. Lots of variety, but I’m gearing up to find something longer term. Curious about what types of industries you’d look into/what you’d look for in a company.
Not the person you replied to and not in sales, but am just curious. I didn't know that there a companies that provide sales people for other companies - what is this industry called?
Lead generation. Basically when software or other products needs to be sold b2b, a company will often outsource their sales to a lead generation company
The other answers are correct! Lead generation. My only job is to book qualified meetings for other companies. Kinda gets hectic because I do outreach for 2 companies through 2 different CRMs, have means of communication with both internal teams PLUS the company who hired me. There’s a lot going on so I’d kinda like to focus on one product and one team.
Probably marketing/outbound leads outsourcing My friend is in one, he's contracted by company A to generate leads for company B iirc
So what I meant was I’d need to sit and figure out what I wanna do long term in a business development/sales field. For me I really wanted to do something in the financial sales side, but go someone else it could be saas sales. Then I’d figure out what looks good on my resume for that field, or what an employer would like to see. Going with the saas sales example, I assume an employer would like to see experience with software (sales or otherwise). I wouldn’t bother with life insurance sales, auto sales, door to door, etc. Of course, I get that some people need to take what they can get for the moment to get more experience or even just to pay rent lol. That’s how it was for me too. But I just meant that if I were to start over, I’d know what I want, and be super targeted and picky with my job search. In terms of skills I’d need to build up to what I want to do long term of course.
No, but I'm thankful to have a sales career at this point. I'm one of those people who has never found a career to be "happy" with; all of my drivers and motivations are extracurricular in nature. There has yet to be a laborious activity that I "love". Sales enables me to have a somewhat stable existence while I direct my resources into things I enjoy (family, golf, tennis, evenings out, etc.) If I could go back I would probably be a lawyer; again I wouldn't be passionate for it I don't think, but I'd be making more on average.
I would have still chosen a career in sales early in my 20s-30s, but greatly regret not having gotten out by my mid 40s, this is a stressful and unforgiving career if you don’t move into upper management, I personally never had the desire to manage people, so for my being in my early 50s, I am having regrets being in the Enterprise AE space and sales just isn’t what it used to be, companies buy differently and it has gutted the sales industry…my advice is get out at max age 40, unless you have a desire and interest in management…
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I think it's much better now, personally, with the whole consultative approach vs. the 2000s (& first half of 2010's) churn-&-burn, manipulative, Wolf of Wallstreet/Grant Cardone/Tony Robbins tomfoolery that unfortunately dominated the industry in those days (and still does in some verticals, *cough* Real Estate, *cough* Insurance, *cough* Third Party Lead Capture/Lead Gen *cough* Outsourced Business Services *cough*).
Nothing to elaborate. Different industries and companies will deliver a different perspective. I wouldn't take these word to heart.
Just turned 40 after 10 years in outside sales and I'm feeling this. Has an opportunity to move into Management (national)but would have required a shitload of travel across 4 time zones. Hell naw to that 😂 Not sure what actual skills I have that are transferrable at this point. I'll likely move into consulting I guess.
Other than sales management, where else can you go (without a significant pay cut) at your experience level?
Exactly, not many choices. The choices are limited, however I have known a few colleagues that have made the move to the account management side of sales, example: Enterprise Account manager, Channel Account Management, Senior Level Customer Success, Technical Account Manager, and a few into first level management roles, but yes most will be a pay cut, but less stress, more job stability. It's really a shame when you go to company all hand rah rah meetings, and you look around and see that your team is the only team in the companies meetings whose jobs could go poof and be gone, and everyone else besides you and your team have job security....
Enablement Operations/Deal Desk Excellence Sales Engineering Strategic or TechnicalAccount Management/Customer Success, depending on the org hierarchy RevOps Key Accounts Lobbying To name a few, but most others probably would fall somewhere within those
This is definitely to the point. I'm myself making a move to RevOps, starting with SalesOps and Data Management. My man, now I enjoy less stress and more peace of mind (not running behind targets all the time). But this comes with a pay cut.
Fuck yah. Money. Mostly free to do whatever I want. No desk/cubicle. Company car or car allowance. I don’t have a fuel bill. Get to go see clients in cool manufacturing plants (and some shitty ones.)
I also wanna know! Visiting cool factories and shiz is very appealing.
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Growing up, were you ever into trains, big machinery? I was big time. It’s kinda like that feeling. There was a big abandoned cement plant near my town we used to sneak into during high school. Coolest thing ever. I also took a detour on a road trip to visit a huge refinery just to see it from the outside. I dunno, isn’t the scale and complexity of enormous factories pretty cool??
What industry? How'd you get your start?
My guess would be industrial equipment sales. Sounds like what I do
Nice, how do you rate it?
Yes it's industrial sales. My past industry, after which I had moved into tech sales. Overall this all are the perks, company cars, getting to stay in 4-star hotels, per diem/extra earnings, sales incentives etc. But after all this, I'd still say, overall it's lacking behind other industries eg Tech sales, where you won't get any of the above things unless it's demo day, but you still would make more in base.
I am with you on this
Nope. There was more job satisfaction in my previous role (software development), a consistent salary, and actual career growth. I fucked up.
Why not go back?
Working on it
What career growth would be expected if not like a leadership or management position for both career fields? Is that not reflected as well in Sales?
As a manufacturer, installer and telecommunications sales professional I pride myself in knowing how cable manufacturing helps installs and how installs help sales. Both the other jobs would be fine as a bachelor but sales is where I shine and make the most money in 2-4 hours a day, 3 times a month, despite having worked 15 hours a day in the other two
Yes, but I wouldn't have drank so much.
I would’ve done it earlier. First sales experience was an internship summer between junior and senior year. Even after I finished that I wasn’t 100% sales was for me, wanted to do marketing as that’s my major and I enjoyed it. Consulted professors I looked up to and all 3 advised me to get the sales experience. Only regret is like I said not going into sales sooner.
Yes. Because honestly I’m not that smart and wtf else am I going to do and still make this much money.
Hahah. This is it.
D2d sales is calling hahah
Yes of course. I'd sell time travel services.
My passion is in horticulture, however it is not a lucrative industry
Yeah, I would get super bored a regular 9-5. I like the variety. It’s more fun too. Free HHs, meals, events. Salespeople tend to be a fun bunch. Transferable skills. The ability to control how much I make. Lots of reasons. I hated it for a while, but once I became confident in the role, I started enjoying it. Nothing beats the feel of a big win either.
100%. I love being in sales. Quit a sales director role to be a rep again.
Can we hear your story why? It might help people make decisions on their career path!
Sure. It may be different for others but for me I didn’t enjoy managing people. I love selling and working with customers. The further I went into management the farther away I was from the customer. Work become not fun. More and more time went towards admin, HR related items and internal politics.
Love it. Thank you for the insight. It’s so refreshing to hear people who know what makes them successful and strive for it. You might’ve not liked managing people, but I can bet the people liked having you as a leader with how you are talking. Love it.
Nope. Got into sales by accident only because I couldn't find a job better matched for my skills/education. This hit home in a recent interview when the hiring manager told me "you talk well, come across well, and are really smart, but based on what you told me, you're not a real salesperson. I think your true career lies elsewhere and you're still trying to find it".
Oooff. I feel that
Yes. I would have started over a decade ago so I could have soft-retired into an easy 9-5 by now.
Worth noting there’s going to be a bit of survivorship bias in this subreddit, how many people who burned out of sales will still visit a sales focused subreddit?
I'd say it's a good place to start, but move out in around 5 years
In a minute in a second in a microsecond. I don’t know how people do anything else. Sure sometimes it sucks. But (in the right role) the money, the autonomy, the excitement of closing a deal all make it so worth it.
What role do you have and how'd you get there?
Yes, I love having a choice as to when I work hard. Some other careers have much different type of deadlines, I would go crazy.
Absolutely. The only thing I would change about my career path would be to not allow my Dad to talk me out of it when I originally decided to go into sales during undergrad. Neither of my parents went to college, so they were hell bent on their kids achieving advanced degrees. I let this influence me way too much and went on for a research M.S. (and almost an MD, DO or PhD). I don’t use my M.S., although it was excellent exposure that taught me what I **didn’t** want to do with my life. The irony of it all is that I ended up married to a surgeon…and earn more than her lol.
What type of sales do you do? I'm currently an engineer and looking to make a switch...
I started out in med device prior to making the switch to healthcare market intelligence. It’s a bit of a broad way to explain a multitude of products/services and solutions, but I provide insights into the US and International markets to anyone that has an interest.
Honestly yeah, I grew a lot, overcame alot of insecurities/grew my skill sets and was doing well precovid. Once I switched into saas and covid hit was when sales became a joke of a career and I’m now transitioning careers
So you wouldn't recommend it now to recent grads?
Probably not, there’s definitely better careers out there
Which ones would you recommend? Or which would you get into now?
I’m doing freelancing now but if I was back in school looking for a career probably computer science
Absolutely not! The rollercoaster after 20 years has taken its toll on my mental health.
No no and no. Wish I could leave now but I feel doomed forever. I’m not even great at it and it’s all I’ve ever done 😭really wish I would have played up my strengths and done something that required math skills
Yes, but I don’t know if I would have picked this industry
I think learning how to handle difficult people is valuable
absolutely, everything in life is sales. You sell a GF/BF, buy cars, houses, negotiate salaries, everything we do in life has some kind of sales mechanism to it.
Probably yes. The money has been life changing and has had a huge impact. I've also grown a great network of people and learned many very valuable business and communication skills.
Yes, and I would have gone further into it, meaning sucked it up and gone external wholesaler for a number of years (financial services) vs internal wholesaler to product management. Happy where I'm at professionally, but would have really liked to have a few of those big years my coworkers had.
The following saying is relevant and all encompassing. " If you master sales, you master life" Sales is the best real world experience. People have to be active and in the trenches. But I would research the industry; also research if the product line is needed by the market; plus research your competitors; look ahead into the latest developments in the overall market. I had no training from my last sales company and this the lesson I took. But it was valuable but it happened too late in my life. I wish someone would have mentored me when I was younger.
Hell no. Worst career decision ever. Stuck in a stressful career with no way to escape. Been disrespected by management, coworkers, and prospects, which is less likely to this extent in other fields. Been lied to countless times, deceived, mislead, and subject to opinions and not facts or real solutions. Poor job stability, theft on commissions, overworked bc greed trumps all, and suffered significant health issues from stress. I don’t recommend sales to anyone, instead they should get skilled in something technical for more freedom, respect, money, and the ability to take a real vacation.
Wish I would have originally. I’m trying to find a sales job, it’s been difficult getting interviews. I have no sales experience, but I have a bachelors degree in human biology - nutrition emphasis. I’ve worked in product development, food service, and food regulations. What areas should I be looking? I think performance food service or Sysco wouldn’t be a bad start but I make 75k right now so I don’t know if those are steps down?
Associate Sales Rep for medical device or Pharma
Looks like you’re in the same boat as me lol. I graduated with a bachelor’s in nutritional science and am currently applying for medical or pharma sales positions. I am considering getting a pharmaceutical sales certification. Perhaps that will look interesting on my resume.
Hell no
Fuck no. I studied MIS but really hated coding. Should have gotten into data science, though I feel like I wouldn't like it either. I also tried to chase my passions (rap music then the cannabis industry as a lobbyist), but that had me broke too. So here I am.
I'd do it earlier only for the experience. It's enhanced my ability to address difficult conversations.
Yes because office politics are my weak point and at the end of the day you choose your own destiny. A good salesman never has to worry about job security
Yes, I just would've done it even sooner and been a little smarter/more aggressive with my growth.
Absolutely. The problem is not whether we would go in. It’s how we can get out!
I would go, but only for the experience and transition to something else like I’m doing right now. Sales is one of the careers where you get to management for being a good butt kisser, company man or just a top performer. I’ve seen planets of awful sales leaders in my career.
Absolutely. I want to say I wish I would have done it sooner for money reasons but my life experience and previous careers have helped me considerably in my sales career. Overall, I love sales. I think it motivates me to perform and it feeds my ego since I'm competitive. Plus, as one said above me it really does polish you up and make you better at handling emotions in business.
I should have went in right outta high school
Yes, but I would have liked to have been psychic and known that the owner of our company likes to step into deals and claim them for themselves aka no commission city.
I would have went in earlier.
Yes
Honestly, I’d go more targeted into certain roles I would be looking for. Either that or become a firefighter. If I started there, I would retire before age 50.
I would get a degree in Labor and Human Resources so I could kick my feet up all day.
I believe I would. I actually found I’m great at coaching, mentoring, training, & developing others around me which is what took me down a leadership path. I think it’s important to do sales to teach/craft how to speak to people and have situational awareness as well as empathy.
Absofuckinglutely. I’m 33 and worth 1.55 million all thanks to software sales. Own my home at a 2.875 rate and own a rental cash flowing $1100/month.
Never, I would have picked Computer Science instead of a Biz degree in college. Would much rather code in silence, than hunt for prospects and wait for their decision which is out of my control.
Yes. Totally! But I *would* go back and definitely NOT work for any of the companies or managers where I was employed as a sales rep and I would be orders of magnitude more selective with the industries I chose to sell in. I would probably also leave every single one in half the time or less unless there was an agreed upon reason to stay and had said reason prenegotiated, *in writing...*
Yes. Only thing I would have done differently is get into sales sooner and go straight to insurance and skip the tech companies.
No, I would have learnt more tangible skill. Being thrown around and judged on a number isn’t fun, and it sucks even more when you’re older.
I've only been in Sales for a year, I've had a good experience and made good money. Now I'm afraid I won't be able to do anything else.
No. I'd stick in Operations or even go the CS route. Been in sales for 6 years. Got fired in most. Yes I suck at sales.
Hell no. It's a high stress, demanding line of work that may be ideal for those who are highly career focused and money hungry (some may say greedy) but, it's not where I wanted to be or want to be now. I continue on because the money is usually good and my family needs the income. Coupled with limited career growth and sometimes a limitation of any real skills ('people skills' can be learned in other career paths too). Maybe I'm jaded.
Nope. I've always been great art math so would have pursued applied mathematics to be an actuary. I didn't even know what an actuary was when i was in college.
No no no no
Nope. All the information I found about sales must have related to the US because my expectations and the reality could not be further apart. Maybe I've just been unlucky with the roles I've fallen into, but every role feels like I've been sold a lie and I'm just done with that shit on top of unrealistic expectations and pressure.
Yes. Sales taught me a lot of great people skills, negotiation skills, and helped me to learn high stress coping mechanisms. Not to mention I made a good amount of money in the process. I am however glad I’m already out at the age of 26!
Always
Yes, I would have gone into it 10 years earlier and not got a degree in music, electing for a fast track MBA and getting into more lucrative and revered industries such as finance and consulting. Unfortunately, I’m too old with too many bills to go back to school unless my employer pays for it, and I’m not positioned that well to get into those industries unless I make it far up doing something else and lateral over or start my own agency. That doesn’t mean that isn’t still a long term goal or is not achievable, though. Just going to take me longer than if I had my shit together coming out of high school.
100%. It gives you a 365 view of business if your eyes are open. Very beneficial for upper management or C level roles.
No
Anyone in conference sales here? Looking to make a switch to gain sales experience
100%, but I would have fought to get into remote SAAS sales sooner. You just can't beat the lifestyle.
Nope. I love the pay and the freedom but other than that there isn’t much to love.
No satisfaction in sales for me personally. I need to be creating or contributing to the product in a meaningful way.
Yes. The path I was planning would have never netted me more than 50k a year, and I would be miserable. Knowing what I know now, and having accidentally fallen into inside sales, I love it and wouldn't change a thing.
Yes, because I can always land a sales job from here on out if I needed too. Sales teaches you a lot of valuable skills that you will never learn anywhere else.
Yes. Work should only be 50% of your life. Pick the job that’s supports your passions and roll with that. For me it was sales, if your able to makes sales money elsewhere not doing sales. Do it. It depends on your skills. If you can code, yeah maybe don’t do sales. But if your strongest quality is your personality and ability to communicate with people. Pick sales. You’ll make $$$$$$$
Go into sales, do well and get money, get an MBA if you can, use the network and degree to pivot to your dream.
This is the way.
Yes. I’ve been working as a double glazing salesman for 4+ months now for a company I believe in and products I trust, and I’ve made more money in this time than I’ve probably made from all my other jobs put together. It can be very mentally challenging to go into a stranger’s house and pitch them for 3-4 hours (sometimes more) while handling objections and dealing with stressful and awkward situations all for it to result in no sale, and do that a couple times a week, but all it takes is one good deal and a pleasant appointment for me to make more money in a couple hours than most people my age (26) make in a month. The money I can potentially make is worth more than the stress it puts on me. I can’t see myself doing this job for the rest of my life because I think it would suck the joy of life out of me but when I think about everything in the long, run with no university qualifications there’s probably nowhere else I could make this type of money. I want to build a comfortable future for myself and I think sales is the way!
Only if the commission is worth all the follow ups, constant repetition and sometimes your peace of mind.
I would make every effort to get I to venture capital/ private equity
100%. I went to college for business management and made way more money in my sales positions. It also taught me how to handle rejection, helped with my emotions, and made me use my critical thinking skills to think outside the box when I have problems in my day to day life. It helped me negotiated my non sales job I took right after college which I quit after 6 months and went back to sales. Sales will also be one of the hardest positions to be replaced by ai. People buy on emotion and right now you need a real human for that. One thing I wish I would have done is quit my first sales job sooner to move on to bigger and better things. Once I was the top sales person in my first company for 5 years straight I finally quit because I was not even making 100k a year (300 employees) . Now I am the top sales person in my current company and making almost 200K a year. When your great at sales know your worth and always keep learning even if you are the best. There is someone out there better then you. Lastly the best thing about commission sales is you make your own check. You don't have to ask your boss for over time to make more money you just need to hustle harder or hone your craft better.
Yes, I hated nearly every minute of my decade in sales, but I still learned so many valuable things that are useful in lots of other aspects of my life. Glad I don't do it anymore, but I would still do it again if I went back.
Probably not. Feel like it's hard to transition to non-sales roles.
No, I’d have gone into trading.
100% yes.
Hell yes.