How do graduates get a job in sales?

Sales professionals link the potential consumer with the producer of the good or service. In the case of graduate roles, the customer will usually be another business and the product may be anything from advertising space in a magazine to a jet engine.

Who qualifications do you need for a job in sales?

For most sales roles, candidates are accepted from any degree subject. The right mix of skills (see below) is typically prioritised, although you may be expected to have secured a 2.1, particularly for graduate programmes with large employers.

For certain employers, however, evidence of your understanding of the field may be beneficial – and so they may specify a set of degree subjects. In particular, companies specialising in pharmaceuticals (such as those seeking a medical representative ), technology or engineering may look for STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) graduates for its sales roles or graduate schemes.

However, this won’t be the case across the board; you may, for instance, be able to secure a sales position with a technology company with an unrelated degree, along with a clear interest in technology and the products/services offered by the employer.

There are various professional qualifications available in sales offered by the Chartered Institute of Marketing and the Association of Professional Sales. These are not necessary to begin your career but they may help you to progress more quickly and build the required skills to advance your position.

What skills do you need for a sales role?

The exact mix of skills and qualities differs across different jobs in sales, so you should check the job description, recruitment literature and website of the employer to discover those to emphasise in your application and CV. No matter what position you’re applying for, however, the skills below will be needed. Find out exactly what each of these entails in our article on the skills required for jobs in sales .

• Communication
• Customer service
• Teamwork
• Resilience
• Commercial awareness.

Starting your career in sales

Sales roles can be split into two basic groups: business-to-business (B2B) sales, where the business sells to another business, and business-to-consumer (B2C) sales, where the business sells to the consumer. The majority of graduate roles will be in the B2B market, though retailers will often seek graduates for management roles, with many offering fast-track graduate programmes. More details of these can be found in our retail careers advice. Find out more about the different types of sales roles by reading our article on what’s involved for a sales career .

Large employers in a variety of sectors offer sales graduate schemes. Alternatively, you might decide to search for a graduate-level or entry-level sales position. To begin your search, take a look at the sales vacancies on targetjobs.

What does the application process involve?

The application process for sales jobs is fairly standard. The first stage is usually an online application form and/or the submission of a covering letter and CV. Interviews are likely to play an important part in the recruitment process as a test of your communication and interpersonal skills, alongside your understanding of what would be expected of you in the role. Discover our four top tips for producing a CV and application that impresses sales recruiters .

Larger employers may also set you online aptitude tests – for which you could practise for aptitude tests – and invite you to attend an assessment centre or undertake role play exercises in order to gauge your ability.

You should research your prospective employer fully, using their own sources, such as the company website, as well as any mentions in the relevant trade publications and the news in order to tailor your application to the specific role and organisation.