Six Things Sales Managers Look for in a New Recruit

If you’re ready to launch your sales career, there are a few things you should know about applying for the job. Educator and author Stephen B. Castleberry shares what he has learned from talking to hundreds of sales recruiters who visit college campuses. Here are some of his capsulized nuggets:

Be Clear About Your Career

Don’t list both Sales and Marketing as a career objective. Pick one and stick with it. You should know the difference, even if you’re still in school. Sales is selling one on one, whether you’re on the phone or face to face; marketing is selling to a group, be it demographic or psychographic.

Unless it’s B’s and A’s, Skip the GPA

Many sales managers these days want to know your GPA, especially if you lack any real sales experience. If your GPA is under 3.0, leave it off. If asked why you left it off, be ready with an answer—like you had to work your way through school to pay for most of your education. If you paid for more than half of your college expenses, you should indicate that on your resume.

Excess Schooling May Be Your Undoing

If you’re one of those students who went a bit overboard in the education department, you may want to trim down your academic credentials. Some older sales managers may ask you why you stayed in school for so long (if it took you 7 years to get your BA), or why you pursued a second major or two minors. Managers often see this as a fear of leaving the security of academia and facing the real world. Be ready with a plausible explanation to cover these questions.

Join Clubs to Participate

Every campus has sales and marketing organizations you can join. They impart valuable lessons in leadership, teamwork and sales skills. But don’t just join and never participate. If you list these campus organizations on your resume, be sure to indicate what you did in them, offices you held, etc.

Expound on Experience

You may not have direct sales experience. But even simple part time jobs that paid for your schooling can show some sales ability. If you worked on the sales floor at Walmart, detail what you learned about selling and dealing with customers. If you spent four hours a day in a “boiler room,” indicate what you learned about cold calling and dealing with dozens, maybe hundreds of potential customers every day. 

Be “Real” in Your Cover Letter

Don’t say you’re seeking a sales career because you’re a people person, you like to deal with people, or people tell you that you get along well with people. Instead, indicate that you like the independence that a sales job provides, or that you like the financial rewards of your direct contributions as a sales professional. “When people turned in a cover letter in the past, [recruiters] couldn’t look you up,” notes Howard Alexander III, a career adviser at HACC. “Now they can look you up, and there’s a picture to the name. They can see if what you’re saying connects.” So portray the real you in your cover letter.

Landing a sales job in these tough times won’t be easy, but if you follow a few simple steps, you can increase your chances immeasurably.

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