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Thoughts on going into sales

post #1 of 14
11/12/12 at 2:53am
Thread Starter 
In college, I messed up. I was on a great path to becoming an accountant for one of the big four companies and have a promising offer upon graduating and a steady income. But I picked the wrong school. In order to get an accounting degree at my university, I had to go through the ecnomics department. It was basically "Economics & Accounting" degree - and I was absolutely terrible at math. And while I did well in my accounting courses, the economics ones quickly dragged me down leaving very few options. On top of all this, I was a transfer student, with only two years at the school and I had already wasted one pursing a degree in a subject that I was horrible at. I decided I just had to finish school and get the next degree that matched the courses I already had - and it turned out to be political science.

I graduated in september after summer session, and job options are REALLY slim. My gpa is pretty bad because of my poor performances in economics courses (overall 3.14) and I don't have any real hard work or intern experience in the last two years. I've been applying to jobs, but I mostly only qualify for "general major" jobs. And a lot of those happen to be sales. I do have a reasonable amount of sales, customer service, and hospitality experience, but most of which occurred two years ago while I was in community college.

I don't mind sales at all, and in fact I'm very business oriented. But most of the sales associate positions I've been getting offers from are straight up cold sales, low salary, potential for commission jobs. The pay isn't horrible (between 30-40k plus commission) but that's only because I'm living at home and I'll be able to manage. But is it worth my time? I'm almost at the point where I just want a job. My school loans are going to kick in soon and it's just a horrible empty feeling sitting at home doing nothing most of the time. But I know that if I take a job in sales I'll have to be 100% committed and willing to work my ass off if I want to see a decent salary.

What do you guys think? Wait it out and keep looking for other offers? (In which case, what fields would you guys recommend? Because it seems like I only qualify for entry level positions). Or is the path of sales a solid experience worth my time?
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post #2 of 14
11/12/12 at 3:17am
so basically: you dont have functional math skills, you dont have good grades, you dont have experience, and you dont want to be commited or to have to work your ass off; and perhaps you even think you qualify for something more than entry level.




i think you should continue to wait it out for a dream job to fall on your lap in about never-months
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post #3 of 14
11/12/12 at 3:39am
Thread Starter 
Actually not exactly. I have functional math skill, not technical theory based skills. I do have some experience though some of it is old. Not all, since I have been doing some sales in the last two years. And I am willing to work my ass off, I'm just no sure it's worth my while and I wanted the opinion of people who are in sales and what that career path is like.

I'm not expecting a dream job or to make millions even though I failed in college... I'm looking for advice and trying to work with what I have.
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post #4 of 14
11/12/12 at 3:42am
sales can be very lucrative but it requires a lot of motivation. people are either made for it or they arent
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post #5 of 14
11/12/12 at 5:03am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ipractice View Post

In college, I messed up. I was on a great path to becoming an accountant for one of the big four companies and have a promising offer upon graduating and a steady income. But I picked the wrong school. In order to get an accounting degree at my university, I had to go through the ecnomics department. It was basically "Economics & Accounting" degree - and I was absolutely terrible at math. And while I did well in my accounting courses, the economics ones quickly dragged me down leaving very few options. On top of all this, I was a transfer student, with only two years at the school and I had already wasted one pursing a degree in a subject that I was horrible at. I decided I just had to finish school and get the next degree that matched the courses I already had - and it turned out to be political science.
I graduated in september after summer session, and job options are REALLY slim. My gpa is pretty bad because of my poor performances in economics courses (overall 3.14) and I don't have any real hard work or intern experience in the last two years. I've been applying to jobs, but I mostly only qualify for "general major" jobs. And a lot of those happen to be sales. I do have a reasonable amount of sales, customer service, and hospitality experience, but most of which occurred two years ago while I was in community college.

I don't mind sales at all, and in fact I'm very business oriented. But most of the sales associate positions I've been getting offers from are straight up cold sales, low salary, potential for commission jobs. The pay isn't horrible (between 30-40k plus commission) but that's only because I'm living at home and I'll be able to manage. But is it worth my time? I'm almost at the point where I just want a job. My school loans are going to kick in soon and it's just a horrible empty feeling sitting at home doing nothing most of the time. But I know that if I take a job in sales I'll have to be 100% committed and willing to work my ass off if I want to see a decent salary.
What do you guys think? Wait it out and keep looking for other offers? (In which case, what fields would you guys recommend? Because it seems like I only qualify for entry level positions). Or is the path of sales a solid experience worth my time?

Do it. Take the shitty job, prove you can sell, and then move on to a better sales job. Of all the careers out there sales is probably the most results oriented so if you can do it there, you can do it anywhere they figure.
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post #6 of 14
11/12/12 at 9:54am

Everyone should go into sales for a couple years at least. You learn a lot, and the skills you learn will help you for the rest of your life. Interviews, interactions with your boss etc. are all just times where you are selling yourself. 

 

Where do you live? considering being a mortgage loan officer. unless you live like in some desolate farm area. But the guys I know are making a lot of money 300k-3.5 mil/year. With the current rates, you can sell a refinance to anyone. Although in 3+ years times will get tough as rates rise, so refi's dry up but the economy doesn't recover enough that people are buying.

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post #7 of 14
11/12/12 at 10:06am
Thread Starter 
Mortgage is something I've considered as well. I have a very good friend whose dad makes about 750k a year, and also an aunt who had been making close to 200-300k before getting laid off around the 08 crisis.

I'm in the Bay Area. Salaries are generally higher in the area just due to cost of living so a 32k starting seems pretty low... Averages online seem to more consistent with 40-50k, although its hard to tell if that's after bonuses and commission.
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post #8 of 14
11/12/12 at 10:26am
just another voice in your ear: grab a job as soon as you can. you've been without a "career job" since your graduation and from experience, it only becomes more difficult finding one as the months pass.

Im currently at a big 4 but worked at a government taxing agency right after college. I was hesitant to work a gov job but the work experience and knowledge I gained are invaluable to what I do now. Plus, i dont know about you but I was starting to go insane staying at home, waking up day after day without any job or purpose.
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post #9 of 14
11/12/12 at 10:46am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by NAMOR View Post

just another voice in your ear: grab a job as soon as you can. you've been without a "career job" since your graduation and from experience, it only becomes more difficult finding one as the months pass.
Im currently at a big 4 but worked at a government taxing agency right after college. I was hesitant to work a gov job but the work experience and knowledge I gained are invaluable to what I do now. Plus, i dont know about you but I was starting to go insane staying at home, waking up day after day without any job or purpose.

That's exactly one of the reasons I'm asking for advice actually. I'm at home with nothing to do and its driving me crazy, and for that reason it seemed like taking the job was more of a desperation move. But it seems like it's a decent first job given my circumstances from what I'm hearing so far.

How long would you guys say is "too" long before my unemployment affects my hiring potential? I've been out of college for almost two months now. I took a three week break travelling (never go much of an opportunity before while working in community college or catching up after transferring) so I've only started the major job hunt for a little over a month now. I've gotten quite a few offers this last week but at the same time I do want to poke around and get an idea of salaries to find the best offers and company before I make a decision.
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post #10 of 14
11/12/12 at 10:56am
I found a job 3 months after I graduated. That was 3 months longer than I wanted to wait so I was ready for any "career" type job. Don't rest on your laurels, I recommend you find something worth while and just run with. From that point, the quantity and quality of your opportunities will only increase. GL man, you got this ish
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post #11 of 14
11/12/12 at 11:06am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ipractice View Post


That's exactly one of the reasons I'm asking for advice actually. I'm at home with nothing to do and its driving me crazy, and for that reason it seemed like taking the job was more of a desperation move. But it seems like it's a decent first job given my circumstances from what I'm hearing so far.
How long would you guys say is "too" long before my unemployment affects my hiring potential? I've been out of college for almost two months now. I took a three week break travelling (never go much of an opportunity before while working in community college or catching up after transferring) so I've only started the major job hunt for a little over a month now. I've gotten quite a few offers this last week but at the same time I do want to poke around and get an idea of salaries to find the best offers and company before I make a decision.

 

With holidays coming up, hiring is gonna slow down big time for real work until next year. There's gonna be a lot of people that do summer internships -> then secure a place for themselves when they graduate , or they apply for programs that hire people out of college pretty much 1 year in advance. Those people are gonna be getting the higher paid better entry level jobs. 

 

But your mindset without a job is much different than when you have one, which will influence how you interview and also affect your decisions when applying for jobs. Without a job, you are gonna be a little more desperate plus even when getting offers you are gonna be low-balled as you have no leverage. 

 

 

Also don't worry too much about your first job. I know there's pressure graduating, and your classmates and friends from highschool/college and family members you'll see esp during the holidays will always be asking what you are doing, and brag about what they are doing. Do a good job, you might get a quick promotion to an entry level management job in 2-3 years, then use that and hop to a bigger better job

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post #12 of 14
11/12/12 at 4:14pm
Thread Starter 
This is a lot of good info guys, I really appreciate it. I completely forgot to factor in the hiring cycle so I'm really glad you brought that up Tiberias.

I managed to make it to a third round interview today. Hopefully that's the offer interview? Because they said we would be discussing the next step in the process. It's pretty exciting to think that things are going to finally start picking up again in life.
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post #13 of 14
11/22/12 at 9:13pm
there are a couple of other threads on this, you should look into them.


If I were you -

1. get a basic sales job
2. go to a community college or school for a medical tech or a repiritory tech job
3. see if you can get a job in medical sales

medical sales is a great field. good luck
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post #14 of 14
11/26/12 at 3:54pm
Thread Starter 
I definitely plan on going back to school for some courses, I actually started looking that up recently for next semester at my community college. That's a piece of advice I've been hearing over and over for recent graduates and something I'm interested in as well.

I just had my phone interview with yelp and I made it out. The interviewer commented that I had the best mock sales pitch she's heard so far for this round of interviewing. It could be total BS but it still feels good knowing I made a good first impression. In person interview next week, and position starts early January... would be a huge break if I scored this job. If I'm going to be working in sales anyway, it'd be nice to work for a big and known company like yelp. Plus its more inside sales which I'm more comfortable with.
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