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With competitive salaries and perks, the chance to work in industries that interest you and a culture of being judged by your results, a sales career could offer just what you want from a graduate job.

With starting salaries reaching as high as £24,000 (excluding a wad of commission on top), media sales is definitely not a profession to be sniffed at. So, why do sales careers get the cold shoulder?

Part of the reason is one of misrepresentation. Let's set things straight. You can forget images of double-glazing sales bods and dog-eared, door-to-door traders, sales lies at the heart of pretty much every cutting-edge industry in the world: manufacturing, finance, IT, engineering, health, logistics and more. Banish images of sleazy, medallion-wielding old sales men too - contrary to popular folklore, graduate sales careers are in fact pretty darn glamorous jobs for girls and boys.

Wining and dining, sassy dressing and executive cars are often all part of the package in many sales jobs these days. And if you think sales isn't a career for those with a degree, stop being such a snob! The skills you develop during your degree will be invaluable. The reason why many multinational companies run graduate sales schemes is precisely because they want to exploit the skills, knowledge and talent which graduates can bring to the marketplace.

Go on, sell it to me

Still not convinced? One of the best things about a sales career is the salary package - unlike most other careers, you are actually rewarded for the work you put in. Companies usually offer a neat basic package, plus the chance to earn commission if you reach your sales targets. (All that ‘OTE' jargon in job ads basically means ‘on target earnings' or ‘opportunity to earn'.) Some companies also offer uncapped earning potential, which means the sky's the limit if you're really good.

Other perks often include a company car after a certain time period and all the usual bumpf of extras including pensions and life assurance. Career progression in sales is usually good too. Since sales is across all sectors, you can quite easily move into other positions and industries. Depending on where you work, you can, relatively speaking, climb to the top in a very short time period. Most people have heard of some lucky bleeder who went into sales after uni, did really well and now drives around in a Porsche having reached a senior position in the company after just four or five years. Not that we're jealous or anything.

Schmoooth talking

Of course, to be successful in sales you need to be able to convince people that your product is just so utterly indispensable that they have to buy it, no matter what. Accordingly, sales people usually have an uncanny ability to make things like detergent and cheese sound sexy. While most companies train you on the basics of selling, there's something indefinable and very personal which makes some people fantastic at selling, and it's usually down to their own personality.

Employers definitely don't want wallflowers - you need to be super-confident, very articulate and love meeting new people face-to-face and over the telephone. Most companies ask for any degree discipline: ‘We do not look for a specific technical knowledge,' says Caroline Ray from recruitment agency SThree. ‘Sales potential, ambition, and good communication skills are much more important to us. The technical knowledge that is needed for the specific role is learnt through the job itself, gathering information from clients and candidates through good questioning skills.'

Buying your way

Convinced yet? Well, before you start hunting for jobs, it's worth deciding which area of sales you want to work in. Although in essence recruitment consultancy and medical sales are ‘sales' jobs, they will be very different from each other. It's worth doing a bit of research before you apply to find out what the job really entails day-to-day. Find out how much of your time will be spent on field visits and on the phone. Commission rates vary from company to company, so hunt around for a job and pay structure that's best suited to you. To help get you started, look in newspapers and relevant trade press. Some recruitment consultancies specialise in graduates sales careers (there's quite a few of them in here to) - look on careers notice boards and do research online to find one suitable for you.

Clinching the deal

When it comes to applications and interviews, if you don't have any direct sales experience, retail work and collecting for charity can be useful to show you have experience of talking to customers. Employers will want you to give examples of a time when you persuaded someone to do something. They'll also be looking at how you present yourself and how you communicate. Remember the interview (whether face to face or telephone) is a trial of how you come across to new people, so it's important you ‘sell' yourself well. Finally, remember that enthusiasm counts bucket loads - eye contact, smiles and good questions at the end of an interview are a sure fire way of clinching the deal... 

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