Top 10 Tips on How to Choose the Right Sales Career Path

Choosing a sales career path that’s right for you can be daunting. It involves carefully considering several factors that align with your goals, personality, and preferences. While sales is an exciting career worth pursuing, it’s essential you take the time to think about what you want from your career in sales. If you’re at the stage where you’re considering graduate sales jobs, then this guide is for you. In this guide, we’ll present you with top 10 tips on how to choose the right sales career path for you.

1. Choose a Sales Role Aligned with Your Prefered Industry 

Our first tip on choosing the right sales career path is to ensure you have a genuine interest in the industry you’re working in. Whether it’s healthcare, tech, finance, marketing, or something completely different, finding work in an area you are passionate about is essential when searching for graduate sales jobs. Why? Well, you’re more likely to be motivated to progress and succeed in a sales role that aligns with your preferred industry. 

When searching for sales graduate jobs, be prepared for the chance that you may have to learn your craft in an industry that’s not your first choice. That’s fine; the important thing is that you’ve got your foot in the door. The key here is to have a plan for how you will eventually transition into an industry that is more aligned with your interests.

2. Have a Passion for What You Sell

Staying on the topic of choosing a sales role aligned with your preferred industry, you should also seek a sales career path that allows you to sell what you’re passionate about. Your success in your sales career will partly depend on your enthusiasm for what you’re selling. 

Whether it’s a particular product that resonates with your values or a service you genuinely enjoy using, your passion for what you sell will likely spread to the customers and prospects you’re pitching to. Your enthusiasm for what you’re selling will make it easier for you to make sales and could be the key reason why people buy from you.  

3. Match Your Personality with Your Sales Role Responsibilities 

As you pursue a career in sales, it’s essential that you enjoy carrying out your day-to-day responsibilities. If you don’t like what you’re doing, you’ll set yourself up for a potentially miserable sales career path. So, take your personality and traits into account when you start looking and applying for sales graduate jobs. 

Make sure to ask yourself what you’d like to be responsible for. These responsibilities could be anything from establishing customer relationships to building partnerships. Read job descriptions and research into sales roles to ensure you’re embarking on a position that embodies your personality. Whatever your personality traits are, use them to find a sales role that matches them.

4. Hone in on Your Sales Skills

Similar to matching your personality to the sales role, when choosing the right sales career path for you, ensure you pick a position that allows you to hone in on your strengths. 

Here are the sales skills you may want to specialise in:

• Networking

• Lead generation

• Deal closing

• Negotiating 

• Presenting and pitching

• Storytelling 

• Handling objections

• Active listening 

Learn more about the skills you could hone in on as you progress on your sales career path by reading our guide on the 5 Top sales techniques Every Sales Graduate Should Master.

5. Know the Industry and the Potential Sales Career Path  

We previously discussed choosing sales graduate jobs by industry involves embarking on a path that allows you to work in an industry in which you have a genuine interest. It’s also essential to know the industry you’re entering and the scope for your career progression in sales within this area. 

For example, the sales career path in finance could completely differ from a sales role in healthcare. You should do your research into the industry, including its latest trends and forecasts and find out what positions you could progress to.   

6. Evaluate Industry Growth

Following our previous top tip, you should also consider the direction in which your desired industry is going. Research whether the industry is forecasted to grow and what sales career progression looks like within the industry. You may need to consider upskilling or reskilling before entering a specific industry or choosing a different one entirely if your preferred one is declining. 

Evaluating the growth of your preferred industry is an essential step for choosing the right sales career path. Doing so can reassure you that you’re selecting an industry with greater job security and career progression in sales. 

7. Explore Compensation Options

Another piece of career advice is to explore the compensation options of sales roles. 

Of course, money isn’t everything, but it’s still something worth considering and will continue to be as you progress from graduate sales jobs to more senior and executive-level positions. So, when choosing the right sales career path for you, be sure to compare the salaries of different roles, from starting salaries to future potential earnings. 

You should also consider commission rates and how you balance your earning potential with job security. It may be that your preference is a sales role that comes with a fixed salary with added commission or a position where your earnings are based purely on commission. 

8. Consider Temporary Sales Roles

When choosing the right sales career path for you, another top tip you should consider is exploring temporary sales roles. It may be the case that you’re not 100% sure on which avenue of graduate sales jobs you want to embark on, whether you’re unsure of what industry to go into or know what you’re passionate about selling. If that’s the case, applying for temporary positions could be the route you take as you begin your career in sales.

Considering temporary sales graduate jobs allows you to explore various sales roles in different work environments and industries. These short-term contracts can give you a taste of the world of sales, allowing you to better understand whether committing to sales as a long-term career is right for you while helping you determine which sales career path is right for you.

9. Look into Your Future Employer

Our penultimate top tip on how to choose the right sales career path is to look into your potential future employer. As you embark on a career in sales, it’s essential for you to enjoy what you do and the company you work for. If this is not the case, especially if it’s your first role, then you’ll be setting yourself up for a potentially unhappy start to your sales career that could put you off pursuing roles within the market in the future. 

You should research the business you’ve applied for by scrolling through its website, social media, case studies, testimonials, and reviews. Doing so will give you a better understanding of whether the organisation you hope to get into is right for you. You should consider whether the company is the right cultural fit and if you’ll experience complete job satisfaction.

Make sure to look into how the company’s growth aligns with your goals and if the brand supports career progression in sales to help you advance within the role. You should also assess the benefits and compensation packages your potential future employer offers and whether they deliver training opportunities to help you grow your career in sales. 

10. Seek Advice

Our final tip on choosing the right sales career path is to seek advice. Of course, you have to be the person to make the final decision on the graduate sales jobs you pursue. However, seeking guidance is a smart step to assist you in making your decision. 

You could seek advice by reaching out to the following:

• Social media, by connecting with sales experts and sales groups

• Specialist online forums for sales professionals

• Networking events

• Career advisors  

• Sales recruitment agencies

Advice from others can provide different perspectives to help you decide on the right sales career path.   

Summarising Our 10 Tips on Choosing Your Sales Career Path

In summary, when choosing the right sales career, you should align your desired position with your interests, skills, and ambitions. Focus on sales roles that match your passion and personality, allowing you to excel in key sales skills. Research industry growth and compensation options to ensure you’re setting yourself up for long-term job satisfaction. 

You could also explore temporary sales roles to gain experience and carefully evaluate potential employers for cultural fit and sales career progression opportunities. Additionally, make sure you seek advice from sales experts to help you make an informed decision that allows you to pave the way for a successful career in sales.

If you found this guide useful, check out our insight on the 5 Top Tips to Ready Yourself for Graduate Sales Jobs.

Ready to Jump-Start Your Sales Career Path?

If you’re ready to take the next step on your sales career path, we’re here to help. With over 25 years of experience empowering top talent to realise their potential, we’re best placed to help you find your perfect fit with the latest graduate sales jobs.  

Contact us today to discover the sales graduate jobs and kickstart your journey on your sales career path.