Sales and Marketing

Acareer in sales involves business development, promoting a business, obtaining orders and maintaining customer relationships.

Marketing, on the other hand, involves the maximising of profits through developing strategies and promoting products, services and ideas that cater to the demands of the market.

Sales encompasses two possible areas of work: retail sales and corporate sales. A career in retail sales, though less “glamourous”, tends to give early responsibility and fast career progression, thanks to its rapid expansion.

On the other hand, corporate sales require a greater amount of strategy and an integration of multiple transferable skills.

While salespeople are mainly involved in promoting business growth, marketing professionals will need to work closely with colleagues across several departments to successfully expand the organisation’s reach.

This may include the sales team, market research team and production and distribution staff. With the rise of social media marketing, graduates should also be digitally-savvy and have a strong awareness of market trends.

Job areas include

• Sales

• Business development

• Store management

• Brand management

• Marketing

• Market research

• Merchandising

• Social media management

Skills required

• Commercial awareness

• Communication skills

• Resilience

• To be a team player

• Problem-solving ability

Job hunting tips

• Research employers and their products thoroughly before applying – you have a high chance of being given case studies and role plays within interviews. This also applies to marketing roles

• During job interviews for a marketing role, an ability to market oneself is a reflection of your ability to market a product. Show confidence and demonstrate a capacity to think out of the box with concrete examples from past experiences

• Experience regarding dealing with customers is extremely important. It will make interviews easier if candidates can draw on their own previous working experiences