Why Sales Is The Best First Job

Many college or university graduates don’t know what job to get when they finish school. That’s okay, it happens to the best of us! That dream job might want people with experience in the field, so where should you begin Ideally, the best first job will accomplish a few things:

• Train a person on how to be successful (i.e. hard-working, resilient, and possessing a growth mindset)
• Build a network
• Learn how to communicate
• Increase your confidence

Many inexperienced professionals, while bright and capable, need to learn how to work. A great first job that will accomplish all the above and more is sales. This is for a number of reasons, but the biggest reason is that the only person ever responsible for your results would always be you!

Unlike school, there are no rewards for participating or grades for effort. Being productive every day is a difficult skill that is very important. It is not only difficult to have - but to learn, and it comes with many nuances.

Sales Pay

According to CNBC, PayScale estimates that the average graduate that has 0-5 years of experience will make $48,400.

Monster data shows that the national average sales rep has a salary of $54,279 per year, but depending on what type of sales job a person pursues, this number can go way, way up. For a software sales representative, for example, Monster data have their median annual salary at $73,079, and top earners rake in $104,810.

The great thing about sales is that no matter what a person’s passion is, be it tech, cosmetics, or houses, there will be a job in sales for them. Without further ado, let’s get into the top 3 reasons that sales is the best first job.

1 - Communication

Most people think they know how to communicate, but getting a job in sales can change that perception quickly! In the world of sales, there are two things that a worker needs to do in order to be successful at their job:

• To capture and maintain a person’s attention
• To convince others of the value of the offered service

Mastering this is a lot harder than most people think, but once mastered, the value will never be lost. Being engaging, interesting, and well-spoken are evergreen qualities that anyone in any industry can make use of. Best of all, they are qualities that often help open a lot of doors in the future.

Whatever job comes for a graduate after their sales job, their communication skills will be invaluable.This is because good communication helps keep an organization running well. It avoids, unnecessary misinformation, keeps tensions low and helps avoid disagreements (or heaven forbid arguments!) in their tracks. What’s more, is that any leader would appreciate and recognize someone with such excellent communication skills.

Aside from this, when communicating in sales, the worker is selling something. They must convince customers to purchase a good or service, and that skill is incredibly useful when looking for the next step in a career.

When in an interview, job hunting, or even creating a resume, it’s important to be able to do exactly what a salesperson does: capture and keep attention, and convince of value. This means that being able to sell can open many new doors of opportunity in any industry or sector.

There are other situations in which that knowledge would come in handy. If a person who had worked in sales wanted to become an entrepreneur, then they would need those skills to gain finance partners/investors. If they went on to become the CEO of a company that was publicly traded, they’d need to be able to sell their vision so that shareholders would be interested.

A survey of Harvard Business School graduates actually said that a lack of sales experience” was the biggest skill gap they had before founding their company! [3]

2 - Networking Opportunities

The basis of sales is in selling to as many people as possible, so it goes without saying that someone in sales is going to meet a lot of people. Networking is a necessary skill in sales because new clients and centers of influence need to be found as well as building a strong referral pipeline.

Networking isn’t about immediate results either, because it can take years to cultivate connections. It all depends, but networking builds alliances that are critical because they come with a feeling of trust, reliability, and credibility within your field. It can teach you patience and integrity, helpful traits to have in any job because there will always be someone to deal with that isn’t exactly on the same wavelength as you.

There’s also the obvious, which is that networking creates powerful relationships that can open doors that would otherwise be closed. But this can only happen if you focus on quality over quantity. Overall, it is a valuable skill to have in any job because it could mean the difference between moving forward and stagnating. The right connections often mean a new job or racing ahead in your career.

3 - Confidence

Starting out in sales can also be terrifying with chilling first calls. But the only way out is through, so you would learn quickly to just keep going. Once the first deal is closed, there’s a serious sense of pride and accomplishment that’s easily addictive!

Closing deals can help boost your confidence in your abilities, and that would benefit you in all aspects of your life. Even manifesting in a positive growth mindset.

With confidence comes the ability to seek help, self-assess, and continuously improve because there is no fear of not being good enough; there is only the opportunity for more.

Go further with Uvaro

Here at Uvaro, we know that the skills people pick up in a sales career are indispensable and highly translatable into any career path. For people who are ambitious and motivated, sales is the best way to gain the skills needed for any job they’ll ever have, and applicable throughout life. Becoming empathetic, persuasive, and captivating will get anyone ahead of the game.

Contact us today to find out more about how our courses can help you get started in sales - kickstarting your life career!