The landscape of jobs inside the sales industry is vast. There are salespersons in nearly every business, whether it’s a sales representative for a large pharmaceutical company or a salesperson hawking used cars. But every sales job has some critical features in common. For example, all salespeople have to learn the costs and benefits of specific aspects of a product base, and competition over buyers’ hard-earned dollars is always challenging. The sales industry is also at the whim of changing marketplaces: ad salespeople for newspapers used to be plentiful — now there are few, and most sales work in media is in digital placement advertising on Facebook or Google.
Choosing a career in this field can also be challenging. The U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics says employment in sales and other occupations is likely to decline by 2% over the next decade. But if you are a born salesperson, you can still have a promising career in sales in most industries.
If you’re thinking about refreshing your resume to apply to a new sales job, the following guide has been customized to help you improve it through a few essential tips.
Let’s start by learning more about the main three resume formats.
Sales job titles
- of Hotel Group Sales Manager
- Advertising Sales Representative
- Area Sales Manager
- B2B Corporate Sales Representative
- B2B Corporate Sales Representative
- Car Salesman
- Channel Partner Sales Executive
- Corporate Sales Manager
- Customer Service Account Manager
- Direct Sales Manager
- Director Of Hotel Sales
- Director of Sales
- Distribution Sales Representative
- District Sales Manager
- Enterprise Sales Representative
- Equipment Sales Specialist
- Financial Sales Assistant
- Franchise Development Manager
- Group Sales Manager
- Healthcare Sales Representative
- Hotel Group Sales Manager
- Industrial Sales Representative
- Inside Sales Manager
- Inside Sales Representative
- Key Account Manager
- Major Accounts Manager
- Medical Account Manager
- Medical Equipment Leasing And Finance
- Medical Regional Sales Manager
- Merchandising Manager
- National Account Manager
- National Sales Manager
- Outside Sales Representative
- Pharma-ceutical Sales
- Pharmaceutical Sales Rep
- Real Estate Appraiser
- Regional Account Manager
- Regional Sales Manager
- Retail Buyer
- SAP Project Manager and Business Analyst
- Sales Account Executive
- Sales Administrator
- Sales Associate
- Sales Associate
- Sales Director
- Sales Manager
- Sales Operation Coordinator
- Sales Planner
- Sales Representative
- Sales Representative
- Senior Sales Representative
- Strategic Account Manager
- Technical Sales Rep
- Territory Manager
- Territory Sales Manager
- Wholesale Sales Manager
Current trends impacting sales jobs
The global free-market economy has led to significant changes in sales in the U.S. and abroad. For example, according to sales giant Salesforce, outsourcing end-to-end sales processes to third-party vendors, aligning sales (B2B) and marketing (B2C) domains, and selling products on social media have created new revenues and exploded market opportunities for big and small companies alike.
Because of these changes in the industry, the demand for quality salespeople has risen. From the IT industry to the manufacturing sector, global sales trends have boosted abundant opportunities for sales jobs. In addition, companies such as SAP America provide employees a chance to earn high sales commissions, whereas IT firms like CA Technologies have sales representatives making an excellent base salary and bonus through commission.
The COVID pandemic did put a bit of a brake on global trade, falling by 9.2% in 2020 alone, and full recovery to pre-pandemic sales will likely take years. Employment in every sector was impacted, but sales jobs, according to financial experts, are among the least affected due to the rise of the e-commerce sector — jobs in sales declined only by 2% during the pandemic, a much lower rate compared to other industries.
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Average salaries and employment outlook for sales workers
The sales industry has many different jobs, and there is always tough competition for the best ones. However, people with the best skills and most relevant work experience in new technologies are the most likely to succeed in the next few years.
Check out the types of jobs available in sales below, from high-level leadership to newbies:
Leadership-level sales: Sales Managers and Engineers
People in sales leadership positions, such as presidents of companies, managers, and engineers, are compensated handsomely. Why? Because senior sales personnel increase gross revenue, usually the most critical business metric, signifying growth and business health. Managers and engineers in sales consulting, sales alignment, and sales process improvisation develop and enforce market strategies for businesses and also bring in and develop great talent.
Sales managers’ and engineers’ growth in the job sector tends to improve as they can figure out the best way to sell complex products in crowded marketplaces.
Job Outlook 2020–2028
Sales Manager
The employment of sales managers is projected to grow by 4% from 2019 to 2029, faster than the average American job.
Sales Engineer
Sales engineers’ jobs are projected to grow 6% between 2019 to 2029.
Source: Sales Manager: Occupational Outlook Handbook (the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Source: Sales Engineer: Occupational Outlook Handbook (the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Sales Representatives and Associates:
With more products and services in the market than ever before, and tremendous pressure to come out on top, the burden on sales departments has also risen. One fundamental way sales reps try to find small advantages is by optimizing new software and online platforms facilitating older sales techniques. For example, car salespeople used to create inventory sheets of the best strategies to sell cars for different segments of the population: families, single men, or professional women, for instance. But most of those strategies have been replaced with data analytics from advertising platforms, such as Google Ads, that help match their product to the people most likely to want to buy it, often automatically through AI algorithms.
Job Outlook 2020–2029
Inside or Outside Sales Representative
Overall employment of sales representatives is projected to grow by less than 2% between 2019 to 2029.
Sales Associate
Overall employment of sales associates is projected to be stagnant between 2019 to 2029.
Source: Sales Representative: Occupational Outlook Handbook (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Source: Sales Associate: Occupational Outlook Handbook (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Seven of the top soft skills needed for sales jobs
Selling is a skill! And salesmanship, the combination of a discrete set of soft and hard skills that are ethically and thoughtfully administered, can be your tool to a long and lucrative career. While salesmanship requires different types of skills, they are also usually determined by job specifications. So if you’re a newly recruited salesperson, know you will most likely learn how to do your job in many different ways. However, there are some skills all people in the industry should obtain.
Below are seven desired skills required that are simple, pragmatic, and practical:
Listen to your customer:
It might be the most overlooked sales skill. Studies say that a salesperson with good listening skills retains more than 50% of customers. This makes sense, right? Better customer interactions — and a real connection to a human being that acknowledges your needs and wants — ultimately leads to more sales. Good listening also generates a sense of respect from the customer.Flexible speaking skills:
Good salespeople change how they structure their message depending on their target customer, whether in person, in writing, over a video call, or on the phone. An efficient salesman makes sure the person on the other side understands them clearly. And remember, communication skills include both verbal and non-verbal conversation, such as keeping intense eye contact. Mirroring facial expressions and not slouching.Sharp organizational and product intelligence:
If you choose sales as a career path, you should know the structure of the business. For example, you should know as much as possible about the product, the company’s services, its business clients, and its competitors. Moreover, you should understand the people in the company and what they do — this will help you learn the information you can use in your sales strategy, for example. For example, suppose you are an Apple sales representative trying to get more hospitals to buy iPads for diagnostic use. In that case, you should know about the top apps and security features available in the devices to make sure patient information is airtight secure — a huge concern for hospitals. And knowing how Apple manufactures its iPad devices could probably help you determine how many hospitals could buy in bulk order, for instance.Self-motivation:
Being in sales can be challenging. Salespeople are vulnerable to getting frustrated and depressed if they don’t hit a sales benchmark. Therefore, self-motivation is required to help you work during tough times. Self-motivation is a weapon that supports you in your sales career. Of course, being self-motivated doesn’t mean you can’t use tools to help you improve, such as mental health apps or even talking with personal coaches.Critical thinking and problem-solving:
Today, many companies are worried about new graduates lacking essential skills like critical thinking and problem-solving abilities. These soft skills are often missing from class curriculums. Companies believe these qualities should be innate in a salesman and prefer a candidate to avoid putting extra money into training.Prospecting:
Prospecting is one of the leading sets of tasks required by salespeople, and one needs a great skill set to do it well. Knowing how to prospect allows you to maintain a pipeline of potential customers and presents you as the trusted advisor for the product or service. If you are an excellent client prospector, you can quickly turn potential customers into buyers and prevent you from wasting hours chasing unresponsive messages or emails. This skill can’t be gained overnight. You will achieve it with experience working in an environment with solid sales expectations.Tech-savvy:
The sales game is constantly changing. With every new month or week, a new product or service comes into the market to take over the business. Think of how the iPhone blew out all other cellphones in 2007. Being tech-savvy will increase your productivity and efficiency in carrying out any task. Through social media blogs, articles, trade shows, referrals, and advertising, you can easily connect with your customer and boost customer acquisition. You can also easily leverage sales mobility. To become tech-savvy, enhance your technical skills and make use of content conversion tools such as Vutura.io.
Educational requirements for sales jobs
Companies believe in formal education. No matter how many skills you have mastered while at work, you should have a proper educational background to hone your skills and enhance your experience.
You need to carry a degree in sales and marketing for a sales manager job. Similarly, a bachelor’s degree in engineering is required to start as a sales engineer with a business degree (BBA/MBA). To get started in this particular job, a diploma or certificate in sales or engineering also works. However, growing competition in the market also raises the bar of educational requirements. Therefore, companies prefer qualified candidates with a formal degree in math and commerce background for senior positions in sales jobs.
Individuals considering sales representative or associate jobs should know they require a high-school diploma. However, the sales job for technical and scientific products (such as pharmaceutical goods) often requires a bachelor’s degree relevant to the sales area. Certificates in sales are also acceptable by many companies for technical and non-technical sales jobs.
Sales resume examples by experience level
Before applying for a sales position, using the correct resume format is necessary. The below guidelines will help you in deciding the best template suitable for your background.