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CHAPTER 17
MANAGING YOUR CAREER
1. Understanding Your Needs
2. Understanding What You Have to Offer
3. When to Ask These Questions
B. Understanding the Company
1. What the Company Has to Offer
2. What the Company Needs
1. Applicant Information Sources
B. Selling Your Capabilities
1. Preparing the Resume
2. Gaining the Interview
3. Writing the Cover Letter
4. The Interview
a. Preparing for the Interview
b. During the Interview
i. The Approach
ii. Needs Identification
iii. Presentation
iv. Gaining Commitment
5. Special Types of Interviews
6. Follow-up
7. Interviewing Never Ends
IV. Managing Your Career Goals
A. Making the Transition From College to Career
B. Dual Career Path
C. Continue to Develop Your KSAS
1. Sources of improvement
2. Learn Your Current Job
3. Learn the Job You Want Next
D. Managing Stress
1. Situational Stress
2. Felt Stress
V. Selling Yourself
Teaching Suggestions
1. Students need to shop for jobs (although the interview isn’t the best time for that), which
means looking at a lot of different opportunities, trying them on, and seeing if they fit. One
method we have found to be useful in introducing students to various types of sales
positions is to invite several salespeople to speak about their typical day. We try to have
one from consumer package goods, one who sells directly to consumers, an industrial or
medical equipment rep, and a pharmaceutical rep. At a previous institution, we did this in
the evening and put the students in charge of getting the speakers. At another, we use the
“Activity Hour,” an hour in which no classes are scheduled so that events like this can be
held. With students in charge (and of course we help out), it puts them in direct contact
with potential employers which is good. Also by having it at night, we get Principles of
Marketing students to attend which recruits students to the sales class. Note, we treat this
differently from a career fair. Ask the speakers to, in 10 minutes:
a) describe a typical day
b) what they like about their job
c) what they dislike about it
d) how they got the job
e) what it takes to be successful in that job.
We’ve been under a lot of pressure from companies to also hold a career fair. So in the
spring, we substitute the above experience with a career fair. However, we tell the
recruiting companies that a lot of the recruiting they will do is to the sales class (in our
case, to the sales major) and to the profession. There will be many underclassmen with the
questions about a-e (above) and we tell the recruiters that spending time answering those
questions will pay off later with candidates who are choosing the job because it fits, not
because it is available.
2. Students in search of a career are a paradox. Either they put too much pressure on
themselves to find the perfect job the first time out or they are so laid back that they don’t
begin looking for a career until it is too late. And some put so much pressure on themselves
5. If a student really wants that job, he or she will have to be exceptional. The competition
for jobs isn’t just the other 13 signed up for that day, but students and others from all
quits, and moves on. Use Exhibit 17-1 to illustrate this point, as it describes a good match
between the individual and the organization.
3. The Sales Professional’s Survival Guide (by Gene Garofalo and Gary Drummond,
Prentice Hall 1987) is grossly out of date but still provides a great list of advantages and
disadvantages of working for large or for small companies. You may want to ask the
students to come up with a list first, then compare it to the one from that book.
4. Ask students how the interview differs from a sales call. Questions 1 and 4 from the end of
the chapter are good starters for this discussion. What is the probability that using some
5. A sales manager once told us to keep an I Love You file, a file for thank you notes for a job
well done, memos of appreciation, etc. These letters and notes can be used as proof
6. Question 1 is a good starter for integrating material concerning personality styles with
interviewing. Assign this question ahead of time so that their responses will be thought out.
7. Ask students who have gone through job interviews to list some of the unusual questions
they have gotten and questions that they have gotten repeatedly. Compare this list with the
one in Exhibit 17-6. Then put up (Exhibit 17-7), which illustrates legal and illegal
questions. Ask your students how they would respond to these questions.
8. Learning corporate culture is important to early success in a career. You may want to read
the Thinking it Through from the chapter that asks how students learned the school’s
9. One speaker at a conference said that stress was an excuse - when someone says he or she
is stressed, they are using it as an excuse to do something they wouldn’t otherwise do. For
example, stress is used as an excuse to lose one’s temper, to take a day off, to ignore
activities that need to be done, and similar tactics. That doesn’t mean that people don’t
cause of stress? Ask students how they handle the stress of final exams. Then ask which
strategies reduce the feelings of stress and which strategies reduce the cause of stress. Then
ask what causes stress in a sales job. Can all stress be eliminated? Of course, the answer is
no. So the question then becomes of identifying stressors, eliminating when possible, and
to develop healthy strategies for managing the stress that can’t be eliminated.
This is another good time to bring up role stress. Remember the discussion from the last
chapter about who a salesperson represents (see teaching suggestion #1)? You may want to
link that discussion into one on role stress and how to manage stress. This is also a good
time to re-emphasize the importance of internal partnering.
Suggested Answers to Ethics Problems
1. You are interviewing for your dream job. Suddenly the interviewer notices your wedding
ring and compliments you on it. But then he says, “You know, this job requires a lot of
travel. What is your spouse going to say to that?” You answer the question, and he
replies, “That’s great, now, when you don’t have kids. You don’t have kids, do you?
Because it is tough to be successful if you don’t get the travel done.” What do you do?
The interviewer has just asked a series of illegal questions. While his intentions are
probably honorable and he may be genuinely concerned about your ability to balance
family life and travel, he should not have asked the question. You can try deflecting it by
2. Some people recommend signing up for as many interviews as possible, reasoning that
the experience will be helpful when you find a company with a job you really want. (And
who knows? You might find a job you like.) Is this practice ethical? Why or why not?
Many people will say this is ethical. Others will say the practice is unethical, that students
Suggested Answers to Questions and Problems
1. What would you do differently if being interviewed by an amiable, a driver, an
analytical, or an expressive?
Students should plan for different personality styles by mentally role playing what they
would do if faced with different personality styles. An analytical will want support
What about a panel interview with one driver and one amiable? One analytical and one
expressive?
When faced with panel interviews consisting of interviewers with differing social styles,
interviewer’s reactions to the interview.
2. Reread the opening profile by Scott Thatcher. He didn't start out in sales. What was it
about his jobs that led him to sales, and what is it about Scott that makes him
successful? What is it about sales in general that gives someone like Scott a second
chance for success? After all, he was not a stellar student.
The enjoyment and satisfaction he had working with clients led him to sales. But what
made him successful was that, with maturation, he invested heavily in his own personal
3. Look at Exhibit 17.2. As the text says, this study is now about 20 years old, and it
mentions another study. Rate yourself along those dimensions—which traits do you score
high in? How would you prove that you have those traits? Based on the things you've
learned about sales this semester, what are some behavioral patterns or behavioral
characteristics that are also important for success in sales?
While anyone could find a place somewhere in sales, each student’s answer should vary
depending on interests and skills. Some students feel that they are not assertive enough for
sales yet, some sales positions involving repeat sales may be very appropriate for them.
Others feel that that they are not responsive enough. Sales situations with high rates of
rejection may suit them.
4. Looking at question 3 and reflecting on the opening profiles of all 17 chapters, which
person do you think has a sales job you might want to do, and would do well? Why?
Answers will vary by student, but the real question is why the student thinks s/he would
do well. Another thing to ask in class is why that job stuck out – why did they remember
it?
5. Some interviews are conducted over the phone or by video-conference. What do you
think is important and different about these types of interviews compared to face-to-face
interviews?
As with phone or video-conference sales calls, reading non-verbals becomes a challenge.
Phone calls require that you smile all the time (it comes through in your voice), practice
Do you think these differences carry over into selling by phone versus in person? Would
you consider an inside sales position? Why or why not?
Many students may think of inside sales as only those annoying telemarketers that call
6. Reread Building Partnerships 17.1. If a potential employer asked you today to describe
your brand, what would it be? How do you make yourself memorable? What changes do
you need to make to your social media presence to prepare for transitioning to a
professional career and to build your personal brand?
This question gets at the topic of reputation and how a personal brand reflects your
reputation. Answers as to what makes someone memorable will vary greatly.
7. Answer the questions in Exhibit 17.6 as you would in a sales job interview.
The answers will depend on the student.
8. Your summer internship in a sales job was a bad experience. Your biggest complaint was
that the sales manager seemed incompetent. In spite of this negative experience, you like
sales, so you are interviewing for a sales position. What would you say if asked why you
do not seek full-time employment with the summer internship firm?
You could be totally honest, saying that you were asked to hardsell and that is not right for
you. This answer would be appreciated by someone looking for a non-manipulative
9. One recruiter called a professor to check on a student that the professor referred. The
recruiter said, “You gave this student my name last Wednesday and it is now Tuesday.
Does this delay signal a lack of interest?” How would you answer that if the recruiter
was asking you the question and you were the student? Why would a recruiter comment
on the time it took to call?
This, like many of the situations we ask about, actually happened. That recruiter chose not
to interview the student, because the business required that salespeople follow up on leads
quickly. The recruiter interpreted the student’s slow response as an indication of work ethic
10. You are in an interview and you think this is your dream job. How would you secure
commitment? What would say different in the first interview if it is a screening interview
on campus versus the fourth interview at company headquarters?
Good ways to secure commitment are to state one’s sincere interest in the position and ask
“Do you have any reservations about my candidacy?” If the answer is yes, then the
objections can be handled. If no, then ask what the next step is and when that will take
Is securing commitment more or less important for sales positions than other types of
positions?
11. Most students who take this class are juniors or seniors. What things about school
stresses you out now? How do you deal with stress – both in healthy and maybe
unhealthy ways? What would you say to a high school senior about to enter college to
help manage stress in college?
Obviously, students' answers will vary greatly. Stressors they are likely to have will be
listed in terms of direct causes. The challenge in class or when grading is to consider what
form of stressors they face. For example, is it situational stress or role stress?
Suggested Answers to Case Problems
Case 17-1: Sales Competition Time
Questions
1. What kinds of jobs would Bill be suited for? Emily? Can Shelby’s fears be overcome, or
should she just find a job that doesn’t involve cold-calling?
Bill would be well suited to any type of sales that involves variety, such as working with
businesses or individuals to change how they do things. For example, selling equipment
that involves understanding work processes and changing those processes to fit the
2. Using the Web, review the sponsors and see what their entry sales positions are like.
Find a position for each student to apply for; you may have to look beyond the sponsors.
Print the ad; then on the same sheet (write on the back if you need to), justify your
choice.
Answers will vary tremendously based on what students find. But Smithfield Foods has
entry level sales positions calling on grocery chains, restaurants, and institutional
distributors (like Sysco or US Food Group). ESI is a technology company selling Xerox
3. Pick one of the positions you used in question 2 for yourself. Why is that a good fit for
you?
Case 17-2: Addie Spencer’s Interview
1. What did Addie do right? Why was that right? What did she do wrong? Why was that
wrong?
Addie does a lot of things well in the interview and in the pre-interview meeting with
2. What was Derrick’s purpose at the interview? What do you think Derrick could tell Erin
about Mandy?
Derrick is playing the role of a screener, and that conversation was part of the interview
3. HealthSouth is a publicly traded company. What sources of information could Addie use
to learn about the company? What information should she expect to get from those
sources?
She can read annual reports, 10Ks and other financial information that could give her an
idea of the financial health of the company. Yahoo! Finance and other online financial
EXERCISE 17-1 WRITING A JOB AD
Locate a posting for a job that you would like but requires 5 years of experience. Call or e-mail the
interviewer. Find out specifically what type of experience is desired, what companies you should
contact to begin your career with, and anything else you should do to prepare for that position.
Write up your findings and attach a copy of the job post.
EXERCISE 17-2 LOCATING INFORMATION
Choose three industries that you are interested in pursuing a career. These industries should be
something like consumer packaged goods, power tools, pharmaceuticals, etc., rather than
something like sales, advertising, or marketing. Next, locate three sources in general business
publications or websites plus two government sources that you can use to forecast employment
opportunities. This exercise will require some thought on your part as to what information could be
used to forecast employment and what sources are available. In your paper, compare and contrast
the opportunities in each industry.
