It used to be considered a sought-after first graduate job but now it seems young people are turning their back on careers in sales.
According to new research from graduate recruitment company, Pareto Law, only one in eight students would even consider a role that involved selling and one in three university students have already ruled it out completely. Outdated perceptions of the industry are partially to blame, with a third (33 per cent) of young candidates claiming sales staff are always a ‘certain type’. Despite strong starting salaries, a further quarter (23 per cent) of the 1,009 people quizzed wrongly believe that all sales jobs are the same – always involving cold calling and hard sell tactics – something they aren’t keen to get involved with.
Speaking about the findings, Johnathan Fitchew, CEO of Pareto Law, said: “One in four people admit they have a negative perception of sales jobs, and it puts them off the sector in terms of employment: “It seems like that stereotype is compounded by those in higher education not classing sales as a ‘profession,’ insinuating it’s not of a sufficient level for a graduate. But in our experience this is simply not true, as many business-to-business sales roles will insist on a degree level education. Sadly, this mis-information means graduates are being discouraged from what could be a fulfilling and rewarding career. The majority of the graduates placed by Pareto receive a basic salary of £24,500 with on target earnings of more than £30,000 in their first year. “This compares very favourably to the national average graduate salary of £26,000. In addition, sales graduates experience a faster progression rate than many other graduate opportunities and management positions can be attainable within the first two years of employment with salaries of more than £60,000. A sales role can help to develop an excellent range of skills and experience to help boost prospects in a diverse range of careers. Graduates should be very wary of ruling out certain career choices based on stereotypes and myths.”
