Recent Graduates Are Most Likely to Work in Sales, Making around $40K • Hacker News Board

Re: Recent Graduates Are Most Likely to Work in Sales, Making around $40K

#11

Post by sonabinu » Thu, May 18, 2017, 5:58 PM UTC

simonsarris wrote: post #9

I'm not sure we should expect anything differently, if recent graduates are less intelligent (as a cohort) than ever. [Difficult degree] enrollment is relatively flat because aptitude is flat, and grad jobs will reflect this. I wrote a little about this framing it as a CS degree problem, but it seems true for a lot more than just CS. > Can we prove aptitude is flat? Kinda. In 1970s 1-in-2 college grads aced Wordsum t…

I don't know if it is intelligence alone - I would call it 'grit' as well. If you are willing to slog through a tough class and use good learning strategies, you don't have to be super intelligent to enter into a career in engineering. Are we setting a bar that is high, where college is expected to be a lot of hard work? If we do, we will see those in all careers that require a college degree brining in something new to the work place. Maybe it is my midday coffee speaking but we need to stop diluting college courses

Re: Recent Graduates Are Most Likely to Work in Sales, Making around $40K

#12

Post by richardbatty » Thu, May 18, 2017, 6:01 PM UTC

brandonmenc wrote: post #10

kcorbitt wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious about this. What does it take to make a "good" salesperson by this definition? Just grit and experience, or some innate and uncommon skill? I know there are people who make millions working in sales, but I guess I'm just wondering how common that actually is. Should a reasonably motivated and intelligent salesperson early in their career expect to be making $200k+ a few years in, or does that take a very…

Every great salesperson I know is fearless in any social situation. They can strike up a conversation with anyone, anywhere, anytime - effortlessly. You can't teach that. There are a host of other qualities, but this strikes me the most "inborn" one.

You can teach that, or at least learn it, with cognitive behavioural therapy for social anxiety and practice in progressively more difficult situations.

Re: Recent Graduates Are Most Likely to Work in Sales, Making around $40K

#13

Post by EternalData » Thu, May 18, 2017, 6:01 PM UTC

I feel like an apt title for a book about late-stage capitalism would be "A Society of Salespeople".

With that said, I'm not exactly sure what type of career path somebody studying, say, political science could embark on -- it seems to me that there's a lot more demand for accreditation in certain fields than there is demand for actual practitioners.

Re: Recent Graduates Are Most Likely to Work in Sales, Making around $40K

#14

Post by YCode » Thu, May 18, 2017, 6:01 PM UTC

brandonmenc wrote: post #10

kcorbitt wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious about this. What does it take to make a "good" salesperson by this definition? Just grit and experience, or some innate and uncommon skill? I know there are people who make millions working in sales, but I guess I'm just wondering how common that actually is. Should a reasonably motivated and intelligent salesperson early in their career expect to be making $200k+ a few years in, or does that take a very…

Every great salesperson I know is fearless in any social situation. They can strike up a conversation with anyone, anywhere, anytime - effortlessly. You can't teach that. There are a host of other qualities, but this strikes me the most "inborn" one.

Social skills can be learned.

It might take a while to catch up to someone who has been practicing a skill like that all their life, but that's true of anything.

Re: Recent Graduates Are Most Likely to Work in Sales, Making around $40K

#15

Post by josephjrobison » Thu, May 18, 2017, 6:03 PM UTC

Is it just me or does it seem like $40k has been the default for far too long. I believe (anecdotally) that it's been the average white-collar entry-level salary since the late 90s/early 2000's.

Seems that the number isn't adjusted for inflation and should be closer to $45 or $50k in 2017+

Re: Recent Graduates Are Most Likely to Work in Sales, Making around $40K

#16

Post by inuhj » Thu, May 18, 2017, 6:04 PM UTC

kcorbitt wrote: post #8

seibelj wrote: post #2

Good salesmen in high-commission industries like software, pharma, high-end real estate, etc. will make much more than a good engineer will over their career. I had a buddy in sales who closed an enterprise software deal and made $80k from that alone. He had a lot of deals cooking.

I'm curious about this. What does it take to make a "good" salesperson by this definition? Just grit and experience, or some innate and uncommon skill? I know there are people who make millions working in sales, but I guess I'm just wondering how common that actually is. Should a reasonably motivated and intelligent salesperson early in their career expect to be making $200k+ a few years in, or does that take a very…

Great sales people are just the right amount of annoying. They're masters of follow up.

Re: Recent Graduates Are Most Likely to Work in Sales, Making around $40K

#17

Post by jabv » Thu, May 18, 2017, 6:10 PM UTC

brandonmenc wrote: post #10

kcorbitt wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious about this. What does it take to make a "good" salesperson by this definition? Just grit and experience, or some innate and uncommon skill? I know there are people who make millions working in sales, but I guess I'm just wondering how common that actually is. Should a reasonably motivated and intelligent salesperson early in their career expect to be making $200k+ a few years in, or does that take a very…

Every great salesperson I know is fearless in any social situation. They can strike up a conversation with anyone, anywhere, anytime - effortlessly. You can't teach that. There are a host of other qualities, but this strikes me the most "inborn" one.

What a great observation! I can teach you that skill. For $80/hour.

:)

Re: Recent Graduates Are Most Likely to Work in Sales, Making around $40K

#18

Post by encoderer » Thu, May 18, 2017, 6:20 PM UTC

seibelj wrote: post #2

Good salesmen in high-commission industries like software, pharma, high-end real estate, etc. will make much more than a good engineer will over their career. I had a buddy in sales who closed an enterprise software deal and made $80k from that alone. He had a lot of deals cooking.

I think in any job where you can get a piece of the gross proceeds you can make more money than in a job where you make salary plus profit sharing or equity.

That would include talent agents, advertising, etc. (You could argue these are all just salesmen)

Re: Recent Graduates Are Most Likely to Work in Sales, Making around $40K

#19

Post by greedo » Thu, May 18, 2017, 6:22 PM UTC

kcorbitt wrote: post #8

seibelj wrote: post #2

Good salesmen in high-commission industries like software, pharma, high-end real estate, etc. will make much more than a good engineer will over their career. I had a buddy in sales who closed an enterprise software deal and made $80k from that alone. He had a lot of deals cooking.

I'm curious about this. What does it take to make a "good" salesperson by this definition? Just grit and experience, or some innate and uncommon skill? I know there are people who make millions working in sales, but I guess I'm just wondering how common that actually is. Should a reasonably motivated and intelligent salesperson early in their career expect to be making $200k+ a few years in, or does that take a very…

I had a friend in high school who ended up going into sales and retiring at 40. He was comfortable talking to anyone in almost any situation. We called him "Silk." He got into selling enterprise software and made a killing. It didn't hurt that he grew up the son of someone quite wealthy in investment circles, so his risk tolerance was pretty high.

Re: Recent Graduates Are Most Likely to Work in Sales, Making around $40K

#20

Post by Animats » Thu, May 18, 2017, 6:22 PM UTC

EternalData wrote: post #13

I feel like an apt title for a book about late-stage capitalism would be "A Society of Salespeople". With that said, I'm not exactly sure what type of career path somebody studying, say, political science could embark on -- it seems to me that there's a lot more demand for accreditation in certain fields than there is demand for actual practitioners.

Napoleon once referred to England as an "island of shopkeepers".

Computers are getting better at sales. Amazon doesn't have salespeople. Retailers barely have salespeople any more. Outside of real estate, cars, and financial products, what B2C companies do?