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

#1

Post by pdog » Thu, May 18, 2017, 2:56 PM UTC

Recent Graduates Are Most Likely to Work in Sales, Making around $40K
bloomberg.com

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

#2

Post by seibelj » Thu, May 18, 2017, 5:12 PM UTC

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.

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

#3

Post by fnbr » Thu, May 18, 2017, 5:12 PM UTC

It's crazy how accurate that is. I'm lucky enough to be working as a data scientist, but almost all of my friends are either working in sales or in grad school.

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

#4

Post by willvarfar » Thu, May 18, 2017, 5:24 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 thought that the kind of "retail sales" the article is referring to is what us Brits call "shop assistant"?

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

#5

Post by merpnderp » Thu, May 18, 2017, 5:26 PM UTC

fnbr wrote: post #3

It's crazy how accurate that is. I'm lucky enough to be working as a data scientist, but almost all of my friends are either working in sales or in grad school.

What is your degree in and what are their degrees in?

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

#6

Post by walshemj » Thu, May 18, 2017, 5:27 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.

Anecdotally when Oracle signed a deal with BT for oracle anywhere the salesman "retired" on the proceeds.

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

#7

Post by shubb » Thu, May 18, 2017, 5:40 PM UTC

willvarfar wrote: post #4

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 thought that the kind of "retail sales" the article is referring to is what us Brits call "shop assistant"?

Hackernews - it's another world

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

#8

Post by kcorbitt » Thu, May 18, 2017, 5:42 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'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 unusual level of luck/skill/dedication to turn it into a lucrative career?

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

#9

Post by simonsarris » Thu, May 18, 2017, 5:45 PM UTC

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 test. Today 1-in-6 do.[2] Using that as a proxy for IQ of the median college grad, in the 70’s it was ~112, now its ~100.

> In other words we have more people going to college than ever, but the “average grad” is less intelligent than ever. Degrees are increasingly diluted yet expensive. You can pay more money than ever to show that you are of average intelligence.

From: https://medium.com/@simon.sarris/why-is-computer-science-enr...

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

#10

Post by brandonmenc » Thu, May 18, 2017, 5:53 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…

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.