how college students feel about sales
TRANSCRIPT
HOW DO COLLEGE STUDENTS FEEL ABOUT SALES?
a research report by
We asked college students several questions about how they feel about sales. Here is what our research
discovered…
But, first, here’s the class-year breakdown of the survey takers.Over 50% were graduating seniors.
FreshmanSophmoreJuniorSeniorGraduate
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
Most landed somewhere in the middle and felt that they knew at least a few things 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%
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
College students had a lot of ways to describe salespeople, but a good majority of them weren’t very
positive.
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%
Most college students believe they would make between $30k-$59k at their first sales job.
Question: Could you ever see yourself taking a job in sales?
YES39%
NO61%
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.”
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
Only about 1/3 of college students could envision themselves accepting a job in sales right out of
college.
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
Again, the perception that college students have of salespeople is generally negative.
Question: Do you think a job in sales requires a college degree?
YES24%
NO76%
Most college students believe the majority of sales jobs are for those without a college education.
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
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
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.
If you would like to learn how we are helping employers hire the best entry-level sales
talent, visit:
www.willreedjobs.com