A versatile and lucrative specialty
For most people, sales is a career like almost any other. For me, it was a very big opportunity. Years ago, outside of the trades, there were very few lucrative jobs available to someone who did not have a college degree. Everyone talks about a glass ceiling and I definitely found this to be the case in my situation.
No matter how hard I worked, I had limited upward mobility within any company. Getting past the resume phase when applying for a job was all but impossible for the positions I wanted to interview for even though I had the experience. HR departments are less than likely to take a chance on passing along a resume without a degree, as opposed to a person with a college diploma even though they may have little to no experience.
The job market has changed a bit in this way, but sales is still an outlier. Never have I been turned away form a sales role based upon that piece of paper.
I had worked in Massachusetts for years in the printing industry doing everything from running machinery to handling film in darkrooms. On the side I would do remodeling and work outside in the bitter cold and work long nights in a roomful of loud bindery equipment.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with this type of work. I just had aspirations of finding a better income under better working conditions. While most other careers seemed to have roadblocks, sales did not and the real appeal was being able to develop an income with nearly unlimited potential.
What I am trying to say is that no matter what your background or work experience, this is a career that is accessible and can change a person’s life if you have drive and hustle.