What do graduates do when they leave the student union behind and finally turn their backs on daytime television?
The Higher Education Careers Services Unit (HECSU) ran a leavers survey and presented findings in October 2012 that give a brief statistical insight. Some 244,680 graduates responded to the survey, with 61.8% indicating they were currently working, 8.6% were unemployed and 13% had carried on with further study.
At the same time, it became clear that graduate destinations themselves had begun to shift. Most notable was the fact that banking, insurance and financial services careers were no longer part of the top 5 destinations for new graduates in 2012. Within those sectors, a popular route to employment for graduates has often been via a sales job. However, with sales careers seemingly slipping down the list of graduate career choices, we asked whether UK businesses are doing enough to ‘sell’ sales as a career option to the graduates flooding out of our universities?
Paul Drew, Marketing Director of sales training gurus Pareto, certainly thinks more needs to be done: “There are real issues with perception when it comes to getting graduates to consider sales as a possible career. Whilst popular televisions shows like The Apprentice often positively showcase young, talented sales people, there has been a constant negative media narrative that characterises sales as reckless practice, an intrinsic part of the broader banking crisis of late 2008.”
Paul continued “So graduates gravitate away from sales, but do so without having the full picture to hand. University students need to be given a broader understanding of why, for example, large multinational corporations run graduate sales schemes; simply put it is because they value the knowledge and potential that graduates offer“.
“Not many graduates like to think that they went through university to ‘just’ land a sales role. To combat this, businesses need to hammer home just how varied a sales person’s skillset becomes. Research skills, people skills, communication skills and of course, the ability to sell are just some of the formidable assets young professionals gain from graduate sales careers and they can offer a real competitive edge in a crowded job market.”
Pareto Law is the UK’s biggest and most successful sales enhancement company: the authority on sales, no less, since 1995. Pareto brings companies the 20% of the sales team that makes 80% of the difference.
The Pareto Effect can be experienced in many ways and it can have a remarkable, measurable effect on your business. Pareto delivers this effect through four key elements – Sales Recruitment, Sales Training, Executive Recruitment and Sales Development, bringing your business sales assessment and accreditation solutions to deliver sales excellence.
For further information please contact Jonathan Beagles, Marketing Development Executive, on 01625 415 765, or at jbeagles@Pareto.co.uk.
The Power of Potential
Is experience the be-all, end-all to ensure success in the world of sales? Many employers are quick to jump to the ‘work experience’ section of the CV when vetoing potential sales superstars, but a look at the underlying numbers brings the real value of previous knowledge and know-how into question. In fact, investing in the potential of up-and-coming entry-level sales people could see businesses generate a return of £5.32 for every £1 invested, compared to just £3.82 from a seasoned sales professional. What is the real power of potential over experience in the world of sales?
To download your white paper – The Power of Potential, please complete the form below. You will then receive an e-mail with a link to your free pdf guide.
