How To Become A Marketing/Sales Person: What It Is and Career Path

What is a marketing/sales person and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted experts

Andrew Gershoff Ph.D.,

John Tobon

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a marketing/sales person. For example, did you know that they make an average of $55.31 an hour? That's $115,043 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 4% and produce 63,300 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a marketing/sales person?

Andrew Gershoff Ph.D.

Department Chair, The University of Texas at Austin

First, graduates may find that they need to do more leg work to find jobs in this environment. Schools with career services often have long-term relationships with the same businesses, who tend to hire multiple students in any given year. If one sector falls apart, there may be fewer jobs available at the career center. But students should take advantage of any services that help them understand the jobs in the marketplace, develop their resumes, and practice interviewing.

Second, students should try to think more broadly about following their interests and still finding employment. So taking some time to learn about career paths that they hadn't considered is worth doing. Many jobs rely on similar skills and may offer similar fulfillment and happiness.

Third, students should be ready to explore possibilities at companies they may not have heard of. Now, is an excellent time to look at companies that may only have a few jobs to offer, but may be doing some of the most exciting things a student can be part of. Finding a good fit is essential to happiness in a career, which may not be at a "name brand" firm.

Finally, students should keep in mind that their journey is their own. It is easy to discourage if you are having a difficult time, and your peers find success. But it can be freeing to focus on developing new knowledge and skills that interest you. Your success will come, and it doesn't have to be defined by someone else.

ScoreMarketing/Sales PersonUS Average

Salary

8.0

Avg. Salary $115,043

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.0

Growth rate 4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.23%

Asian 5.11%

Black or African American 3.81%

Hispanic or Latino 14.05%

Unknown 3.71%

White 73.09%

Gender

female 36.42%

male 63.58%

Age - 48

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 48

Stress level

8.0

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.6

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.6

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a marketing/sales person

Explore marketing/sales person education requirements

Most common marketing/sales person degrees

Bachelor's

61.9 %

Associate

14.7 %

High School Diploma

10.4 %

Start to develop specific marketing/sales person skills

Skills	Percentages
Facebook	19.16%
Trade Shows	19.12%
Market Research	11.61%
Retail Store	6.94%
Product Knowledge	6.84%

Complete relevant marketing/sales person training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New marketing/sales people learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a marketing/sales person based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real marketing/sales person resumes.

Research marketing/sales person duties and responsibilities

Manage product deliveries, and maintain overall orderliness and cleanliness of facility to optimize customer experience.
Prepare necessary paperwork to process insurance sales and renewals.
Create and analyze quote-to-application conversion maps and unsold quotes to identify sales opportunity in geographic regions.
Monitor promotional giveaways, service enrollments, subscriptions and review survey results when applicable for daily marketing client reports

Prepare your marketing/sales person resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your marketing/sales person resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a marketing/sales person resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable marketing/sales person resume templates

Build a professional marketing/sales person resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your marketing/sales person resume.