“A sale is not something you pursue, it’s what happens to you while you are immersed in serving your customer.” – Anonymous
You know the old saying, a good salesperson can sell anything. I’m sure there is some truth to it, but to be a successful salesperson takes a certain personality and skill-set that (in my opinion) can’t be easily be taught. It is one of the few careers where you know fairly quickly how you are doing (and if you are not doing well you will not last long). It is also one of the few careers where there are (generally) plenty of jobs (more than most) but they are the most difficult to find. “Where” you may ask are these jobs that are so difficult to find – read on.
Retail:
- Home Depot – Home Depot is know as the Do It Yourself store. They have an established business model. Their careers page is clean and crisp. There are links at the top left hand side of the page for 5 different functional areas of employment, plus one for new store openings (where they will obviously need help). Below this on the left hand side is a search function, followed by a number of additional links to related information. Click the job search box and you will have a number of choices. Of course, you are looking for Sales Associates, but there are also click boxes for Store Managers, Customer Service and Supply Chain. Also, at the bottom of the page they have a link for their career fair calendar. Unfortunately, you must register on the site and check each job type individually.
- Nordstom – What? Hardware is not your thing? What about the soft side, upscale department stores. They have a great careers page. Center page there are three choices: Store openings (they will need salespeople), Career paths (look for sales) and create a profile (sales!). Create your search using the key words “Retail Sales”. There were over 1,000 Retail Sales opportunities when I checked the site.
Other Sales:
- Google – No, you did not read this wrong. Google has an amazing number of sales jobs. Rather than go through their main careers page, the link to the left leads directly to their sales jobs. Center page is the long list of jobs, left hand side are links to Life at Google, locations, student jobs and more. The right hand side of the page has related links.
Resources and Leads:
- Sales, Advertising, & Marketing – This is a listing of leads and resources that will keep you busy for a very long time. Riley Guide’s list of Sales related jobs is an amazing collection of job search sites, executive recruiters, trade shows and the list goes on.
- Salesjobs.com – This is the “World’s largest Sales Employment Site” according their tag line. And, according to the stats on their main page, there are over 200,000 job opportunities on their site. The main page has tabs at the top, but Candidates seems to be the only one that would be of interest. Below this (middle of the page) is a quick search box (using industry and area code). Bottom left hand side is the candidates section where you can upload your resume, login or get advice. Clicking the Candidates tab at the top leads to a page with dedicated resources such as Search, post resume, advice, sales links and more.
- National Association of Sales Professionals – This is an example of a professional organization (this one focusing on sales). In addition to other services, this association also has a career center (one of the tabs at the top of the page). Click on career center and the left hand side of the page is dedicated to Job Seekers where you can post a resume, View jobs, create personal alerts and more. When I clicked on the view jobs link, there were over 2,900 opportunities.
Good luck in your search.
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