There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an area sales representative. For example, did you know that they make an average of $21.75 an hour? That's $45,242 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 2% and produce 35,400 job opportunities across the U.S.
There are certain skills that many area sales representatives have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed customer-service skills, interpersonal skills and physical stamina.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be an area sales representative, we found that a lot of resumes listed 15.8% of area sales representatives included customer service, while 15.5% of resumes included sales goals, and 12.2% of resumes included business development. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the area sales representative job title. But what industry to start with? Most area sales representatives actually find jobs in the manufacturing and retail industries.
If you're interested in becoming an area sales representative, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 55.1% of area sales representatives have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 13.6% of area sales representatives have master's degrees. Even though most area sales representatives have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become an area sales representative. When we researched the most common majors for an area sales representative, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or master's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on area sales representative resumes include associate degree degrees or high school diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become an area sales representative. In fact, many area sales representative jobs require experience in a role such as sales representative. Meanwhile, many area sales representatives also have previous career experience in roles such as sales manager or account executive.
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the right jobs to get there.
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of account executive you might progress to a role such as sales manager eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title senior sales manager.
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there.
Use Zippia's Salary Calculator to see how your pay matches up.
Designing and figuring out what to include on your resume can be tough, not to mention time-consuming. That's why we put together a guide that is designed to help you craft the perfect resume for becoming an Area Sales Representative. If you're needing extra inspiration, take a look through our selection of templates that are specific to your job.
Learn How To Write an Area Sales Representative Resume
At Zippia, we went through countless Area Sales Representative resumes and compiled some information about how best to optimize them. Here are some suggestions based on what we found, divided by the individual sections of the resume itself.
View Detailed InformationAlfred, NY • Public
Philadelphia, PA • Private
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Stanford, CA • Private
Bakersfield, CA • Public
Waco, TX • Private
Muncie, IN • Public
Madison, WI • Public
Delhi, NY • Public
Waltham, MA • Private
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 15.8% of area sales representatives listed customer service on their resume, but soft skills such as customer-service skills and interpersonal skills are important as well.
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as an area sales representative. The best states for people in this position are Delaware, New York, Colorado, and Minnesota. Area sales representatives make the most in Delaware with an average salary of $51,076. Whereas in New York and Colorado, they would average $50,888 and $49,571, respectively. While area sales representatives would only make an average of $49,389 in Minnesota, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Minnesota
$49,390
Avg. Salary
2. South Dakota
$48,016
Avg. Salary
3. North Dakota
$48,436
Avg. Salary