Sell yourself

Ignore the stigma, forget what you've heard about the economy: Sales jobs are hot, and employers are hiring.

With sharp enough skills and the right experience, you can sell an employer on hiring you or work your way up at your current company. Your position is likely to be secure, given that selling products and services is how companies make money and stay in business.

"There's always a need for great sales people," said Kent Hammer, president of Hammer Consulting in Bloomington, which specializes in hiring sales people in software, information technology and heath care IT. "It's recession-proof, which is important in this job market; there's great income potential, and there's sometimes more freedom. Those three are hard to beat."

Client companies eager to fill open sales positions are helping to push Minneapolis-based McKinley Group, the largest local corporate recruiting firm, to the best nine-month start to a year in its 10-year history, partner Tony Sorensen said.

The openings range from entry-level salespeople to -- for the first time in two or three years -- managers, directors and vice presidents of sales, Sorensen said. One of the hottest areas now is for sales representatives with advertising experience, as companies step up advertising spending.

So far this year, McKinley has placed 88 salespeople in Minnesota, up from 53 in all of 2010. The top industries are advertising, technology and industrial manufacturing.

Employers, however, are being selective. They're looking for specialists with sales experience in specific industries or sales people who can bring customers with them, Sorensen said.

Almost every job has some aspect of selling to it, according to Richard Rexeisen, marketing professor at the University of St. Thomas' Opus College of Business. Rexeisen said he wished everyone would have some involvement in sales during their career as a way to deepen their understanding of their organization, its products and services -- and its customers.

That would mean overcoming a negative bias toward sales for some, Rexeisen said.

"In today's economy, to prejudge opportunities is a luxury we can't afford," he said. "It's an economic stimulus in and of itself. Sales people are part of the engine, not the problem."

Here's what employers are looking for in sales candidates, according to Kent Hammer of Hammer Consulting:

Quota achievement. That gets your foot in the door and gives you job security.

Competitiveness. Needing and wanting to win can't be trained or taught.

Self-motivation and discipline. Many know what they need to do to meet their sales quota; doing it is a different thing.

Listening skills. Listen to clients' problems and take a consultative approach.

Positive attitude. Consistently successful people are positive, in Hammer's 20 years of interviewing experience.