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Job outlook for inside sales account executives in the United States
Inside sales account executive job growth summary. After extensive research, interviews, and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
The projected inside sales account executive job growth rate is 4% from 2018-2028.
About 63,300 new jobs for inside sales account executives are projected over the next decade.
Inside sales account executive salaries have increased 9% for inside sales account executives in the last 5 years.
There are over 832,325 inside sales account executives currently employed in the United States.
There are 262,582 active inside sales account executive job openings in the US.
The average inside sales account executive salary is $63,049.
Are inside sales account executive jobs in demand?
Inside sales account executive job and salary trends over time
Inside sales account executive jobs over time
Inside sales account executive job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 832,325 | 0.25% |
| 2020 | 807,080 | 0.24% |
| 2019 | 859,532 | 0.26% |
| 2018 | 856,994 | 0.26% |
| 2017 | 843,154 | 0.26% |
Average inside sales account executive salary over time
Inside sales account executive salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $63,049 | $30.31 | +3.6% |
| 2024 | $60,876 | $29.27 | +2.4% |
| 2023 | $59,433 | $28.57 | +2.7% |
| 2022 | $57,869 | $27.82 | --0.3% |
| 2021 | $58,042 | $27.90 | +2.5% |
Inside sales account executive jobs by state
Most common states for inside sales account executives
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 577 | 83% |
| 2 | Massachusetts | 6,859,819 | 3,357 | 49% |
| 3 | Montana | 1,050,493 | 496 | 47% |
| 4 | New Hampshire | 1,342,795 | 598 | 45% |
| 5 | Vermont | 623,657 | 281 | 45% |
| 6 | Minnesota | 5,576,606 | 2,469 | 44% |
| 7 | Delaware | 961,939 | 427 | 44% |
| 8 | Oregon | 4,142,776 | 1,717 | 41% |
| 9 | New Jersey | 9,005,644 | 3,499 | 39% |
| 10 | Nebraska | 1,920,076 | 747 | 39% |
| 11 | Rhode Island | 1,059,639 | 412 | 39% |
| 12 | Pennsylvania | 12,805,537 | 4,700 | 37% |
| 13 | Connecticut | 3,588,184 | 1,310 | 37% |
| 14 | Iowa | 3,145,711 | 1,153 | 37% |
| 15 | Maryland | 6,052,177 | 2,158 | 36% |
| 16 | North Dakota | 755,393 | 273 | 36% |
| 17 | Ohio | 11,658,609 | 4,030 | 35% |
| 18 | North Carolina | 10,273,419 | 3,614 | 35% |
| 19 | Washington | 7,405,743 | 2,600 | 35% |
| 20 | Utah | 3,101,833 | 1,101 | 35% |
Most common cities for inside sales account executives
| Rank | City | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl | Avg. salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Frankfort | 1 | 4% | $63,394 |
| 2 | Annapolis | 1 | 3% | $73,328 |
| 3 | Dover | 1 | 3% | $72,760 |
| 4 | Conway | 1 | 2% | $56,620 |
| 5 | Fort Lauderdale | 1 | 1% | $47,330 |
| 6 | Hartford | 1 | 1% | $65,743 |
| 7 | Denver | 2 | 0% | $58,878 |
| 8 | Atlanta | 1 | 0% | $51,871 |
| 9 | Baton Rouge | 1 | 0% | $58,963 |
| 10 | Boston | 1 | 0% | $73,357 |
| 11 | Des Moines | 1 | 0% | $60,943 |
| 12 | El Paso | 1 | 0% | $69,165 |
| 13 | Indianapolis | 1 | 0% | $62,127 |
Inside Sales Account Executive job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of inside sales account executive experts
University of Maryland - College Park
University of Southern Mississippi
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
University of Maryland - College Park
North Dakota State University
University of Akron
Texas Christian University
University of Akron
Portland State University
Washington College
University of San Francisco
Baylor University
Clarion University of Pennsylvania
Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota
Florida International University
State University of New York (SUNY) at Geneseo
Montclair State University
Denison University
Lloyd Wilson
Professor and Center DirectorWhat general advice would you give to an Inside Sales Account Executive?
Lloyd Wilson: Be a strong communicator. Make yourself so valuable that the company will lose business if you decide to accept a position with another company. Show your value by being able to improve the company’s bottom line. Earn the company’s respect by earning the respect of the crop consultants, growers, extension agents, and specialists. Be willing to ask for pay increases once you have reached the point that you believe your knowledge separates you from the pack, so-to-speak. Be wiling to change jobs is necessary, but never burn bridges. Be willing to accept leadership roles, even if it means you have to relocate.
What Inside Sales Account Executive skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Lloyd Wilson: If the graduate is just starting his/her career with a chemical company then the best advice I can give is to learn all you can about major factors that impact herbicide, fungicide, and insecticide efficacy. Reach beyond the products that the company sale and learn how the crop responds to the array of management inputs. Don’t be hesitant to say I don’t know about something but will get back to you on it. Do get back to them. Learn that when you don’t know something, ask the opinion of the consultants, growers, and researchers you work with.
What will help Inside Sales Account Executives increase their earning potential?
Lloyd Wilson: Communication. A person who is willing to learn by doing. A person who learns the ins and out of all aspect of production of each crop you work with from varietal selection to planting, fertilizing, irrigating, pest management and harvesting will be highly prized. Growers and consultants respect chemical reps who have a strong understanding of all aspects of production and management. Growers and consultants are certainly interested in knowing how to maximize the cost-effectiveness of their chemical options. But don’t b.s. about what you do and don’t know. Nothing wrong with saying I don’t know and will get back to you. Working for a chemical company means you need to know how to calibrate spray equipment, evaluate efficacy, determine cost-efficacy of the array of management options, and know how to work safely with potentially dangerous chemicals. Drone technology is quickly taking off. Obtain a license to operate drones with attachments that allow liquid, granular, and powder payloads application. Know the ins and outs of labels. Know the flexibility that your company provides you in terms of chemical pricing, assume there is a sales side to the position. At times, you will have to recommend other company’s chemistries. But if that happens too often, find a better company to work for. Learn how to work closely with your crop consultants, growers, university researchers, extension specialists, and local extension agents.
What general advice would you give to an Inside Sales Account Executive?
Dr. Kathleen Kelly: Starting a career in sales will be both exciting and challenging. Below are six tips for those entering this amazing field for the first time.
What Inside Sales Account Executive skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Dr. Kathleen Kelly: Maximizing your salary potential requires research, flexibility, and being your best advocate.
What will help Inside Sales Account Executives increase their earning potential?
Dr. Kathleen Kelly: The world is changing rapidly and the Sales field is no exception.
What will help Inside Sales Account Executives increase their earning potential?
Kevin Buckley: My top advice is to be a continuous learner, both about your company/products and about the sales profession itself. Sales is a skill that requires ongoing development through practice, coaching, and studying new techniques. Don't rest on what you learned in school - seek out mentors, training opportunities, and ways to keep enhancing your sales capabilities. I would also advise resilience and to view every 'no' as a step closer to 'yes.' Sales has its share of rejection. Have a positive attitude, persist through obstacles, and be a student of why buyers say no so that you can improve.
E. Duff Wrobbel Ph.D.
ChairSouthern Illinois University Edwardsville
Communication And Media Studies
What general advice would you give to an Inside Sales Account Executive?
E. Duff Wrobbel Ph.D.: Network, get an internship, do action research etc - anything to add practical experience to the classroom knowledge base.
What Inside Sales Account Executive skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
E. Duff Wrobbel Ph.D.: All things social media are important, and so writing skills still matter.
What will help Inside Sales Account Executives increase their earning potential?
E. Duff Wrobbel Ph.D.: With this major, probably the best salaries are from sales jobs, which many people shy away from because they think only of hustling used cars, but sales can be very good work.
What general advice would you give to an Inside Sales Account Executive?
Hank Boyd: Demonstrated proficiency in sales represents a feather in your cap. For many
CEOs, they started their illustrious career in sales. Nowadays, it is a common
launchpad for scores of successful business executives in consumer package goods.
Why is this so? Savvy companies know that it is paramount that new hires
quickly learn who the real target consumers are. Spending time on the front lines will
enhance your later contributions to the firm. For example, after obtaining my MBA from
Berkeley, I had the good fortune to land a sales position at Merck. I served as a Hospital
Representative specializing in broad spectrum antibiotics. My territory consisted of
Stanford University Medical Center, Palo Alto VA Medical Center, and the Santa Clara
Valley Medical Center.
After 18 months of working diligently in territory, I was offered a promotion to
work inside at Merck's headquarters in Rahway, New Jersey. Once I truly knew the
needs and concerns of my clients - general surgeons, urologists, gastroenterologists,
urologists, and infectious disease specialists - Merck was confident I could craft
relevant literature pieces and design compelling ad campaigns to reach target
physicians.
Mastery of general sales is a highly coveted asset. Once you conquer a given
product domain, the artform of sales is entirely transferrable. Case in point, it is not
unusual for you to begin in pharmaceuticals and then effortlessly segue into medical
equipment sales after a couple of years.
What Inside Sales Account Executive skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Hank Boyd: With the looming prospects of AI, soft skills will reign supreme in sales. While at
first blush it might seem counterintuitive in that product knowledge used to be cardinal
skill, today's salesforce relies heavily on networking. Numerous academic papers lend
credence to this idea. Great people skills often trump wonkish knowledge about the
product line.
As we wade further into the 21st Century, environmental scanning (or better yet
the innate ability to read prospects) will remain pivotal. Exceptional salespeople
instinctively scan a prospective client's office noticing all the trappings. They are trying to find something they can comment upon, by doing so they can establish common
ground. Once a connection is forged, salespeople move out of the box of being pesky
interlopers into becoming valued associates.
Lastly, if you decide to embark on a career in sales never forget the tried-and-
true axiom of ABC - always be closing. This phrase means having the gumption to ask
for the business. While sales recruits might have congenial and bubbly personalities, if
they cannot look the prospect in the eye and ask for the business, they ought to find
another profession.
What will help Inside Sales Account Executives increase their earning potential?
Hank Boyd: Nothing provides greater leverage in salary negotiations than having
documented sales experience. My advice would be to garner as much experience as you
can while in college. For example, you could fundraise for a nonprofit cause or a local
political campaign. If you have affiliation with a fraternity or sorority, volunteer to
serve on its recruitment committee. The bottom line is that you must convince any
potential employer that you naturally relate to people from all walks of life.
Eric Gjerdevig
Lecturer in Marketing, Director for the Center for Professional Selling and Sales TechnologyNorth Dakota State University
Marketing
What general advice would you give to an Inside Sales Account Executive?
Eric Gjerdevig: First, remember that what you get out of your first job is so much more than compensation. A great manager mentoring you is priceless: it will pay you back dividends for the rest of your career. That said, in sales our compensation is typically tied to our performance. That means we need to put yourself out there, pay attention to the actions of the most successful salesperson in the company, learn everything you can, and manage your time well.
What Inside Sales Account Executive skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Eric Gjerdevig: I might be a contrarian with this answer. I think as technology advances very quickly with AI it's our human-to-human skills that will become rarer and more valuable over the coming years. It might sound silly but things such as asking questions, listening, storytelling, and being empathetic can function like superpowers and I think they will even more in the coming years.
What will help Inside Sales Account Executives increase their earning potential?
Eric Gjerdevig: Learning doesn't stop when you graduate. How jobs are done will continue to evolve more quickly with advancing technology. To excel you need to continue to learn, develop new skills, and be adaptive.
Director Dave Payne M.S.
Associate Professor of Practice / SalesUniversity of Akron
Specialized Sales, Merchandising And Marketing Operations
What general advice would you give to an Inside Sales Account Executive?
Director Dave Payne M.S.: Planning, practice, and skills are the keys to a successful career launch. Practice and coaching feedback will build competence, which builds confidence and sales performance success.
What Inside Sales Account Executive skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Director Dave Payne M.S.: Skills and competence are king! Sales professionals are paid a commission and bonus based on "sales performance" results...this will continue to drive top sales reps and managers to earn some of the highest incomes in the country. I am very proud to share that U Akron sales graduates have had a nearly 100% job placement rate for over a decade, with some of the highest starting incomes in the state of Ohio. This is directly tied to the gracious support of the 30 Fisher Institute for Professional Selling corporate partners which hire them every semester.
What will help Inside Sales Account Executives increase their earning potential?
Director Dave Payne M.S.: As Director of the Fisher Institute, sales education professor and sales coach for the UA sales competition team, I look for three basic characteristics in our sales students. I look for "likability", "coachability" and "hunger for success". Here at U Akron, we are on the cutting edge of pioneering sales research and next level sales education utilizing AI, infrared technology, and biometrics/ physiological responses to sales stress. Skills are king... creating a new system for sales practice, AI feedback and repetition will be the game changer. Advancing skills to make a 21-year-old sales graduate to exhibit the skills and talent to appear ten years more experienced will be very attractive to hiring companies. This is happening at Akron next semester.
What will help Inside Sales Account Executives increase their earning potential?
Meagan Glasco M.S., M.R.: I encourage graduates to connect with professionals in their field through LinkedIn, networking events, and/or alumni connections at their schools. Graduates can initiate conversations and schedule coffee or Zoom meetings to learn about roles in their industry of choice. Engaging with professionals currently working in graduates’ industry of choice will provide invaluable insight into essential skills, refine their career interests, and expand their network. The opportunity to hear real-life experiences shared by professionals is irreplaceable for graduates beginning their careers.
Ken Corbit Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Professional Practice in MarketingTexas Christian University
Specialized Sales, Merchandising And Marketing Operations
What general advice would you give to an Inside Sales Account Executive?
Ken Corbit Ph.D.: Strategic
Company Selection:
Focus on joining companies with robust sales training programs, emphasizing consultative selling. Look for organizations that invest in your development, providing live calling experiences, quota-driven sales processes, and exposure to tools like Salesforce.
Tech
Proficiency and Sales Tools Mastery:
Familiarize yourself with cutting-edge sales technologies, including CRM tools like Salesforce. Your proficiency in these tools will not only streamline your sales processes but also position you as a tech-savvy professional in the competitive sales landscape.
Hands-On
Experience:
Actively engage in live calling, take ownership of sales funnels, and work with senior hiring authorities during your training. This hands-on experience will not only build your confidence but also prepare you for the challenges of consultative selling.
Research
and Decision-Making Skills:
Develop strong research skills to evaluate companies based on fit, growth opportunities, compensation structures, and overall potential. This informed decision-making approach will set you apart and empower you to navigate the sales landscape strategically.
Mentorship
and Networking:
Seek mentorship both within and outside your organization. Building relationships with mentors who invest in your sales skills and knowledge will provide valuable insights. Additionally, actively participate in online forums to connect with practical sales
knowledge and best practices.
Frederik Beuk
Associate Professor of MarketingUniversity of Akron
Specialized Sales, Merchandising And Marketing Operations
What general advice would you give to an Inside Sales Account Executive?
Frederik Beuk: The key consideration is whether you really want to maximize your initial salary. For instance, envision two job opportunities: one offering a salary of $50,000 per year, where you'd be the most junior team member, and the other providing $75,000 per year, with the caveat that you would be the sole sales representative for the firm. The optimal choice is to prioritize learning opportunities. In this context, being the lone salesperson for a company that compensates its highest-earning sales professional $75,000 might not be your superior option. Instead, seek a position that offers the greatest potential for learning. Subsequently, demonstrate your negotiating prowess, a critical sales skill, by securing a slightly higher salary. However, it's essential not to fixate on maximizing your starting salary. Your career requires a long-term strategy, and you have several decades ahead of you to maximize income.
What Inside Sales Account Executive skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Frederik Beuk: Digital Literacy and AI are obviously on everybody's mind. The benefit for early career professionals is that these are skills they can use to differentiate themselves from more established professionals. Embrace these tools. At the same time, being an authentic storyteller that helps buyers envision the potential of your solutions can be an extremely powerful skill.
What will help Inside Sales Account Executives increase their earning potential?
Frederik Beuk: Digital Literacy and AI are obviously on everybody's mind. The benefit for early career professionals is that these are skills they can use to differentiate themselves from more established professionals. Embrace these tools. At the same time, being an authentic storyteller that helps buyers envision the potential of your solutions can be an extremely powerful skill.
Becky Sanchez
Executive Director of Career & Academic ServicesPortland State University
The School of Business
What soft skills should all Inside Sales Account Executives possess?
Becky Sanchez: -Conflict resolution
-Interpersonal relationship building
-Team player mentality
-Willingness to jump in and get the work done and focus on living into the company mission
Dr. Michael Harvey
Provost and Dean, John Toll Professor of Business ManagemenWashington College
Business Department
What skills stand out on Inside Sales Account Executive resumes?
Dr. Michael Harvey: Above all, good Business Developers must have excellent communication, interpersonal, and negotiation skills. Their work centers on meeting prospective customers and building relationships with them. Their communication skills, in particular, must include good listening skills so that they can truly understand customer needs.
What hard/technical skills are most important for Inside Sales Account Executives?
Dr. Michael Harvey: Quantitative skills and computer coding skills, plus any expertise in a specific technical area, like logistics or GIS.
What skills will help Inside Sales Account Executives earn the most?
Dr. Michael Harvey: Quantitative skills and computer coding skills are in the highest demand and shortest supply-and people who can combine them with strong, soft skills end up going the furthest.
Marthinus JC van Loggerenberg
Assistant Professor of AdvertisingUniversity of San Francisco
USF Advertising Program
What skills stand out on Inside Sales Account Executive resumes?
Marthinus JC van Loggerenberg: -Objective observation towards problem-solving and building tangible value
-Conceptual thinking and planning towards practical implementation
-Specialist skills in a very particular area of an advertising discipline landing credibility
Andrea Dixon Ph.D.
Executive Director, Center for Professional Selling, Frank and Floy Smith Holloway Endowed Professorship in Marketing, President, University Sales Center Alliance 2019-2021Baylor University
Hankamer School of Business
What skills will help Inside Sales Account Executives earn the most?
Andrea Dixon Ph.D.: People who can recognize patterns (in data, in people), build connections with and across others, create a focus on high-performance behaviors, and lead with a confident humility are those who will win today and in the future business environment.
What are the biggest trends we'll see in the Inside Sales Account Executive job market given the pandemic?
Dr. Miguel Olivas-Luján Ph.D.: As the economy "reopens" (thanks to appeased fears of contagion driven by vaccination, herd immunity, people worn out by the lockdowns, warmer weather, etc.), we should see workforce adjustments across industries and occupations. Already in March, unemployment was returning to 6% (from a high of 14.8% in April 2020, but after a low of 3.5 in February 2020; https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS14000000). Barring unexpected resistance in the virus variants or other influences, the summer and fall months should give us better job market numbers, but this recovery seems to be benefitting some population segments more than others. The unemployed rate for teenagers was at 13%, followed by Blacks (9.6%), Hispanics (7.9%), Asians (6%), adult men (5.8%), and adult women (5.7%; more detail is available at https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm).
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Inside Sales Account Executives?
Dr. LaRae Jome Ph.D.: Yes, while we might try to get back to "normal" or pre-pandemic times, there will likely be an enduring impact on psychology graduates.
For those psychology students who have been finishing their college degrees during this time, they may not have been able to participate fully in internship, volunteer, or research experiences with faculty. These out-of-classroom experiences can be useful in obtaining employment after college or in having a more competitive applications to graduate schools in psychology. On the positive side, many of the "soft skills" that psychology undergraduates learn in college will be very valued in the post-pandemic workplace. We are seeing an increased need for workers who have good critical thinking, listening, and empathy skills.
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Inside Sales Account Executives?
John Tobon: Yes, the enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on graduates will be how and where they will work. The pandemic forced employers to overlook their reluctance to telework arrangements in order to survive. The biggest change will come in government employment where all but the most sensitive positions will enjoy greater flexibility. This will also mean less travel for in-person meetings, as more people become more comfortable with video conferencing and as the technology becomes more secure and intuitive to the users, business travel will be reserved for only the most necessary activities.
What's a day at work look like for an Inside Sales Account Executive?
John Tobon: In the near term the work day will look a lot like online learning. Everything, starting with onboarding of employees has transitioned online. Newly hired employees may not meet their supervisors and co-workers in person for several months, if ever. There will be more real time online collaboration and greater need for proficiency in the use of communication software. Graduates may not necessarily live in the city where their employer is located, this will provide greater freedom to employees but it will also increase the level of competition for some positions. In the long term, workplace will look different. As a cost savings measure, companies will maximize the amount of offsite work that can be performed by implementing hybrid models that incorporate maximum telework arrangements.
What will help Inside Sales Account Executives increase their earning potential?
John Tobon: In the field of federal law enforcement the two growing needs are computer forensics and forensic accounting. Every law enforcement agency is in dire need of these skills, all criminal cases require forensic analysis of multiple devices such as phones, tablets, and computers. The demand for these skills far outweighs the current number of personnel available to perform the analysis. The complexity of the financial system has made tracing of ill-gotten gains a serious challenge even to the most experienced investigators. There is also greater emphasis on identifying the means and methods employed by criminal organizations and their co-conspirators to conceal illicit proceeds. The move to create greater transparency in beneficial ownership registries will create a flood of information that will require the unique skill set of forensic accountants to achieve success.
Dr. Ian Alam
Professor of MarketingState University of New York (SUNY) at Geneseo
School Of Business
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Inside Sales Account Executives?
Dr. Ian Alam: Companies hire graduates based on the perception of business growth or future growth in customer acquisitions. Currently the perception is that pandemic will die down in the near future. Yet the reality is somewhat different. The COVID cases are going up everywhere in the country and abroad. Therefore, the recent uptick we saw in hiring will fade away very soon. As a result, I expect an enduring negative effect on the graduate employments prospects. However, if our current vaccination program leads to herd immunity, i.e. at least 70% of the population is vaccinated by the end of summer, then the economy will open up further. This will encourage the employers to start the hiring again.
What soft skills should all Inside Sales Account Executives possess?
Jeffrey Gonzalez: Students need to be able to write well; they need to listen well; they need to learn audiences quickly; they need to acknowledge that they're entering into conversations with grace, rather than running in full speed; they need to understand cultural and identity differences; they need to understand the digital environment has a contrary balance of speed (content production; viral reactions) and permanence (your data trail).
What are the biggest trends we'll see in the Inside Sales Account Executive job market given the pandemic?
Jeffrey Gonzalez: I have to stress that I'm not an economist but an English professor who does a little work helping English majors think about their career options. That said, the American economy seems to continue down a bifurcated path--white collar labor that provides a modicum of security and blue- or pink-collar labor or gig work that isn't secure or well-paid. I would bet that we'll see a great deal of jobs in both sectors emerge as more people are vaccinated and as the summer months mean more people interacting outside, and I'm also optimistic about the stimulus packages' effect on the economy.
The trends will, if you ask me, mean more hiring. But for the students I work with, it'll likely be more of the same: underemployment for Humanities majors upon first graduating college, followed by slow & steady growth in wages and benefits through a period of switching jobs and careers. They'll start in jobs that involve reading, writing, researching, and analysis, or they'll support individuals engaged in these processes, before they start designing or directing projects of their own. Workers who learn fast, who have great language skills, who are adaptable to different circumstances--these people have the best chance of achieving careers.
Where will we see growth? In areas that cater to the very wealthy; in app development; in health care/public health (of course); in finance; in entertainment production though housed in a handful of places.
Will we see growth in academic hiring? Not for the field I work in--the teaching & research side. We will continue to see growth in the administrative aspects of the university, which has been the trend for decades, while tenure-line hiring has declined considerably. It's not a good job to pursue.
How have salaries changed over time for Inside Sales Account Executives?
Jeffrey Gonzalez: My field is academia, and salaries have stayed fairly consistent if you get a tenure-line job. I'm part of a collective bargaining unit, which means I have a much better chance at a decent wage and decent benefits. Adjuncts do the bulk of teaching at American universities, and they don't have nearly the benefits or pay that professors get. English primary and secondary school teachers's pay has also remained consistent or declined, and teachers, like most public-college professors, have to rely on negotiations with the state for raises. We train a lot of teachers, and luckily, none of them is in it for the money.
For the students we have who go into the information or knowledge sector, they start underemployed and move up, as I said. The most recent research I've seen (and again, I'm not an economist) said that Humanities majors eventually make as much as business or more career-specific majors (public relations, etc.).
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Inside Sales Account Executives?
Ashley Strausser: Much has changed in the last year as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. One of the most obvious impacts being that of how we work and connect with others. I believe that working remotely will continue as employees and organizations have proven that they can work effectively from home. For many graduates, utilizing digital technology to do their work, collaborate with colleagues, engage with clients and connect socially with friends and family will continue to be the norm for the foreseeable future.
Additionally, graduating during a global pandemic has required students to be more flexible, open-minded and resourceful than ever before. Students graduating this spring had to adjust and pivot last year when many internships were cancelled or turned remote. While there are many industries that are struggling, many others are experiencing unprecedented growth during this time. I am encouraging students to be open to exploring positions in different industries, sectors and even geographic regions than perhaps they were initially considering, while still being true to their interests and skills. I coach students daily on the importance of networking, which has always been an essential part of an effective job search strategy; however, the power of one's professional network is even more valuable in a competitive job market.
What's a day at work look like for an Inside Sales Account Executive?
Ashley Strausser: As we continue to live and work through a global pandemic, many new graduates will be working remotely or in some sort of hybrid variation. Working remotely necessitates discipline and being a self-starter. Graduates will need to develop strong professional work habits that will serve them well and lay a strong foundation as they begin their career. Many of us are challenged by a lack of social interaction beyond meetings with colleagues or clients via Zoom or Teams. Working from home for the last year, I can personally attest that attending to our physical and mental health is more important than ever. Take time to go for a walk or run on your lunch break. Set your alarm early to spend time meditating before you begin your work day. Don't get into the habit of rolling out of bed at 7:55am to start work at 8:00am. Consider doing yoga after work to help relieve stress. Make it a point to set up regular Zoom lunch dates to connect with or get to know your new colleagues. With our laptop and work space set up at home it's easy to get into the habit of working much more than we normally would if we were commuting to and from the office. It's important to set boundaries related to when and how much we work. Employ a strong work ethic, but don't neglect important aspects of your well-being.
What will help Inside Sales Account Executives increase their earning potential?
Ashley Strausser: Graduates need to do their research, know their worth and negotiate their job offer. It amazes me how many students accept the salary offered to them without considering negotiation. Graduates should do their due diligence using sites such as Glassdoor and Salary.com to compare their salary offer to similar roles in the same region. If you are going to negotiate, you must be able to make a strong case as to why you are deserving of more money. This cannot be based on what you feel you deserve, but rather the skills you possess, relevant experiences you've had and the tangible results you've achieved that will enable you to be successful in the role. Evaluate the job description to determine if you possess some, or perhaps many, of the desired qualifications beyond the minimum qualifications listed. If so, use those as part of your negotiation. If not, consider how you might be able to develop those desired qualifications to make you a stronger candidate.
Competitive candidates should have a strong, well-rounded skill set. Being able to articulate your skills and experiences (academic, co-curricular, internships, research, study abroad, etc.) both on your resume and in an interview is critical. Know the skills necessary to be effective in the roles you seek. If you are lacking skills essential to your desired roles or industries, consider completing online courses or certifications through LinkedIn Learning or Coursera. Take advantage of skill-building resources and programs available through your university. Finally, research and prepare well for your interviews. This includes conducting mock interviews with staff in your career center to practice and gain valuable feedback on ways to improve your interviewing skills.