The toughest time in your sales career is the beginning. The most important choice is your first SDR gig and whether it can lead to an inside sales role with good training within a year. Once you get to a field role with a well known company then you have a lot more options.
There's a difference in quality between field sales jobs in tech. Some tech companies have high earning potential but sell a software that's "nice to have" instead of "must have" or is not a dominating player in the market. Companies like Oracle or Cisco sell products that have mandatory use in almost every F1000 company so you don't have to scrap for leads or beg for time in front of the CIO like you would at a company thats more niche. If you get a field sales role at one of these companies you'll be able to command 200k+ income on the market after a year or two.
I expect hiring to be more selective in the future once people fully figure out the income potential being comparable to other high paying industries like FO finance or big-law. Right now it's still possible for a history major with no internships to get an SDR job at a great company, but most of the kids graduating in who get hired for top training programs have internships and/or being recruited from a college sales program. If you get a job out of college at a top 10 tech company, you usually have one year of making 70-80k and making low six figures for a few years after that. Once these guys get to the field they are usually in their mid twenties and making 200k+ with incredible upside. These kind of financial opportunities are going to make more people want in. Once young people with technical degrees and sales experience focus their efforts, it will be very hard to get into this industry without any qualifications.
There's a difference in quality between field sales jobs in tech. Some tech companies have high earning potential but sell a software that's "nice to have" instead of "must have" or is not a dominating player in the market. Companies like Oracle or Cisco sell products that have mandatory use in almost every F1000 company so you don't have to scrap for leads or beg for time in front of the CIO like you would at a company thats more niche. If you get a field sales role at one of these companies you'll be able to command 200k+ income on the market after a year or two.
I expect hiring to be more selective in the future once people fully figure out the income potential being comparable to other high paying industries like FO finance or big-law. Right now it's still possible for a history major with no internships to get an SDR job at a great company, but most of the kids graduating in who get hired for top training programs have internships and/or being recruited from a college sales program. If you get a job out of college at a top 10 tech company, you usually have one year of making 70-80k and making low six figures for a few years after that. Once these guys get to the field they are usually in their mid twenties and making 200k+ with incredible upside. These kind of financial opportunities are going to make more people want in. Once young people with technical degrees and sales experience focus their efforts, it will be very hard to get into this industry without any qualifications.