how college students feel about sales

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HOW DO COLLEGE STUDENTS FEEL ABOUT SALES? a research report by

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Page 1: How College Students Feel About Sales

HOW DO COLLEGE STUDENTS FEEL ABOUT SALES?

a research report by

Page 2: How College Students Feel About Sales

We asked college students several questions about how they feel about sales. Here is what our research

discovered…

Page 3: How College Students Feel About Sales

But, first, here’s the class-year breakdown of the survey takers.Over 50% were graduating seniors.

FreshmanSophmoreJuniorSeniorGraduate

Page 4: How College Students Feel About Sales

Question: How knowledgeable are you about sales careers?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Mean

0% 11% 27% 27% 24% 9% 1% 3.97

On a scale of 1 to 7, participants selected how knowledgeable they thought they were about sales.

1 = very knowledgeable 7 = no clue

Page 5: How College Students Feel About Sales

Most landed somewhere in the middle and felt that they knew at least a few things about sales.

Page 6: How College Students Feel About Sales

Question: What are the first three words that come to mind when you think of a salesperson?

+ Total # of Words: 96+ # of Negative Responses:

38.5%+ # of Positive Responses: 28.5%+ # of Neutral Responses: 33.0%

Page 7: How College Students Feel About Sales

Top 10 Mentioned Words

1. pushy - 252. annoying - 133. commission - 104. outgoing - 85. persuasive - 86. knowledgeable -

77. money - 68. persistent - 69. car (dealership)

- 510. convincing - 4

extrovertedfriendlytalkativecharismaticdeceptivedrivengreedyliarloudmanipulativeaggressiveboldbusycallcharmingcheapcompetitive confidentdishonestguy / maleinformed

slicksmartsmilesmooth talkersocialsolicitingvultureassertiveattractiveballsybig personalityboredbubblycheatcheesyclevercreativedaddeal maker dedicateddetermined

fast talkerfearlessflamboyantfollow upgenericgreat dealhardworkinghelpfulhonesthopelessimportantinsistentintenselikeablemeetingsmobilemotivatednosyoverbearingsale / sellingfailurefake

not trustworthyobnoxiouspassionatepatientpersonalityphone-callspridefulpuffingquickquotaselfishslimysneakystealstressedtelemarketertenacitytravelwell-dressedyoungentergetic

All Words Mentioned

Page 8: How College Students Feel About Sales

College students had a lot of ways to describe salespeople, but a good majority of them weren’t very

positive.

Page 9: How College Students Feel About Sales

Question: If you were to get a sales job right out of college, what would you expect to make?

$20k-$29k

$30k-$39k

$40k-$49k

$50k-$59k

$60k-$69k

$70k-$79k

$80k-$89k

$90k+0%5%

10%15%20%25%30%

Page 10: How College Students Feel About Sales

Most college students believe they would make between $30k-$59k at their first sales job.

Page 11: How College Students Feel About Sales

Question: Could you ever see yourself taking a job in sales?

YES39%

NO61%

Page 12: How College Students Feel About Sales

Question: Why or why not?Following up the “Could you ever see yourself taking a job in sales?” question.

This was a free response question.

Most common reasons for YES:+ 40% said “I'm personable and enjoy working with people, so I would be good

at it.”+ 25% said “Because I am passionate about people and/or the product.”+ 20% said “I'm open to it because it does not seem difficult.”+ 15% said “I am currently working in sales and/or have experience.”

Page 13: How College Students Feel About Sales

Most common reasons for NO:+ 30% said “It doesn't fit my personality because I'm too introverted.”+ 26% said “I have other interests.”+ 20% said “I don't want an unstable salary (because of commission). It's too

stressful.”+ 11% said “It doesn't fit my skill set.”+ 9% said “I don't want to sell something I don't think people need. It would feel

dishonest.”+ 4% said “I don't find it fulfilling or meaningful.”

Question: Why or why not?Continued

Page 14: How College Students Feel About Sales

Only about 1/3 of college students could envision themselves accepting a job in sales right out of

college.

Page 15: How College Students Feel About Sales

Question: What is your opinion of salespeople in general?Participants selected one of the three circles on each row that most accurately represented their opinion.

Charming Neutral Annoying16% 43% 40%

Genuine Neutral Scammy 8% 49% 43%

People-Oriented Neutral Money-Oriented28% 33% 39%

1

2

3

Page 16: How College Students Feel About Sales

Again, the perception that college students have of salespeople is generally negative.

Page 17: How College Students Feel About Sales

Question: Do you think a job in sales requires a college degree?

YES24%

NO76%

Page 18: How College Students Feel About Sales

Most college students believe the majority of sales jobs are for those without a college education.

Page 19: How College Students Feel About Sales

Question: Rank these college majors in order of likelihood of getting a job in sales?

Answer 1 (virtually certain)

2 (very likely) 3 (likely) 4 (medium likelihood)

5 (unlikely) 6 (very unlikely)

7 (extremely unlikely)

MKTG 47 14 4 3 1 1 4

COMM 14 28 21 2 3 2 4

SCMT 8 6 13 21 14 7 5

MIS 3 9 6 12 16 11 17

MGMT 2 9 22 23 12 3 3

ACCT 0 1 3 4 4 30 32

FINC 0 7 5 9 24 20 9

Page 20: How College Students Feel About Sales

Takeaways:

+ most common major to go into sales: marketing+ least common major to go into sales: accounting+ majors that are math-heavy were ranked as least likely to go into

sales+ majors that are people-oriented were ranked more likely to go into

sales

Page 21: How College Students Feel About Sales

The survey provides strong evidence that college students have several misconceptions about

salespeople and are generally negative toward the thought of a sales career.

Given that statistics show 1 in 9 people end up working in sales, all would benefit from helping to

educate and inform the college talent pool of what a sales career is actually like in order to attract young,

capable talent.

Page 22: How College Students Feel About Sales

If you would like to learn how we are helping employers hire the best entry-level sales

talent, visit:

www.willreedjobs.com