High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: How to Handle Stress During a Job Interview

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

• How to Handle Stress During a Job Interview: "Remind yourself that stress in an interview is not only normal — it’s necessary. Prepare yourself for stress while you train yourself to do a great job."

• How to Sidestep the "Nos" and Be Persistent in Your Career: "You will have people around you who can’t see how big your life is going to be. You have to sidestep them."

• 5 Skills You Need But Rarely See in Job Postings: "on the next resume or cover letter you write, make sure you pair those technical talents of yours with examples of ways you’ve deployed them collaboratively."

• Why Introverts Are Actually A Lot Better at Sales: "Inbound or email marketing, however, demands an ability to research a customer, see the world from the customer's perspective, and adapt to the customer's situation and specific response--all skills that come easier to introverts."
• 5 Ways to Put Mindfulness to Work in Your Life: "Simple things like noticing the sensations in your body or your breath as you brush your teeth, drink water, wash dishes or drive home from work… anything you do every day on a regular basis will work."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: Figuring Out What to Do With Your Life

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

© Bellemedia | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos

• Figuring Out What to Do With Your Life: "From advertisements that show us what to strive for to our educations that prescribe narrow choices to our moms’ well-meaning advice that reflects her desires more than ours, we’re constantly showered with other people’s visions of success."


• 5 Things Never to Say in a Job Interview: "Let them decide who’s perfect for the job. Don’t say 'I’m exactly the right person for this job!' because it sounds very ignorant and unprofessional."


• How to Create Your Own Marketing Toolkit to Leave With Potential Employers: "When you walk in with a set of actual interview materials, you immediately look professional and prepared. You show your interviewer that you really thought about the meeting and put some effort into gathering your support documentation."


• What a Year of Job Rejections Taught Me About Pitching Myself: "Instead of thinking as a job applicant, I had to think of myself as a product and identify ways to create demand around hiring me."


• 5 Jobs Every Entrepreneur Should Work Before Starting a Business: "Working in sales should be an obvious move for any aspiring entrepreneur, even if it starts as just a telemarketing job."

Green Job Series: Careers in Biofuels [Sixth Installment]

Once the biofuels have been produced, sales workers are needed to keep supply chains running. This installment of The Daily Leap's green job series profiles sales occupations in the biofuels industry.

Plant Operations Occupations

Sales workers establish contracts so that goods can be bought and sold, and they help to keep biofuel production on schedule.

Job Duties

Purchasing agents buy farm products for further processing or for resale. They evaluate suppliers, negotiate contracts, review product quality, and monitor inventories. Purchasing agents develop budgets based on when and how much of a given feedstock is needed at a plant. They also establish contracts with suppliers, to ensure a steady flow of a given feedstock is transported to the plant to keep production on schedule.

Wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives sell goods—such as fuel, by-products from fuel production, or industrial equipment—for wholesalers or manufacturers to businesses, government agencies, and other organizations. They ensure that there are customers to buy the fuel, negotiate prices of these sales, and prepare contracts. They are often very knowledgeable about the products that they sell, but they may also work with an engineer who has more expertise.

Education

Some purchasing agent jobs may only require a high school diploma. However, jobs at large-scale commercial plants generally require a bachelor's degree. Some positions, especially those at the managerial level, may require advanced degrees. Degrees related to engineering, business, economics, or applied sciences are preferred. On-the-job training may take up to 1 year.

Wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives generally need a bachelor's degree, though some positions may only require a high school diploma. Most companies have on-the-job training programs that a sales representative must complete; these programs usually include time spent shadowing a more experienced employee as they complete day-to-day work. Sales representatives may also choose to earn a certification. The Certified Professional Manufacturers' Representative (CPMR) certification and the Certified Sales Professional (CSP) certification are offered by the Manufacturers' Representatives Education Research Foundation.

Earnings

BLS currently does not have wage data specific to the biofuels industry. However, BLS does have wage data for the basic chemical manufacturing industry group. The following table shows wages for selected sales occupations in this industry group for May 2011. The wages shown are median annual wages for the United States as a whole; wages vary by employer and location.

Occupation	Median annual wage
Buyers and purchasing agents, farm products	$51,380
Wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives, technical and scientific products	$83,100

For more detailed information on sales occupations in the biofuels industry, click the Occupational Outlook Handbook link.

Landing a Sales Job

Almost every industry has a need for salespeople, so if you’re interested in working in sales, the tips below may help you land the right sales job. 


Assess Your Traits and Skills
Although every individual brings unique skills and character traits to a job, certain skills and traits are more prevalent in salespeople and tend to lead to success in sales.  For example, salespeople typically have strong communication and negotiating skills. They are self-starters, persistent, and able to handle rejection and competition.  They know how to ask probing questions to better assess the needs of their customers and can often anticipate client needs before they are even expressed.  Salespeople characteristically understand the client’s business objectives and challenges and are able to present viable product or service solutions.   


Consider the Company, Products, and Services 
As with any job, do your homework.  Start by considering whether you believe in the products or services you would be selling and the company you would be representing. For example, ask yourself the following questions: Does the company have a reputation for doing business with integrity?  Do they treat their clients and employees fairly?   Has the company established itself as a reputable provider of quality products and/or services?   Are these priced competitively?
  
Quantify Success
When going for a sales position, quantify your success, whether it be through sales targets achieved, revenue generated, size of market or territory, etc.  Be prepared to answer interview questions about prospecting and qualifying clients, working with client budgets and deadlines, handling objections, and techniques for closing the sale.  And because many sales jobs are based on commission or a small salary plus commission, be sure you can handle a salary that may fluctuate quite a bit.

Working in sales is not for everyone; however, for the right person, it can be a very fulfilling and often lucrative profession.