Essay on Being a Salesman

Being a Salesman in Steel

Working in sales in the steel industry is fast passed and exciting, despite the common assumption of it being a typical cubical job. The many steel mills in our local area offer us numerous job opportunities, but the public is mostly informed of the labor side of the mills. With local steel businesses like US steel, Arcelor Mittal, Central steel and wire, and many more, corporate careers are more available and they offer a very different lifestyle than a labor job. Specifically, the Sales Associate position is a fun and lucrative entry level business position that is in need of some notoriety. The life of the average salesman in the steel industry starts off with schooling and internships, and then the demands of the job change overtime as you progress through the company, but with its benefits, the position of a salesman is a desirable one.

To first be a salesman you need to become one. To prepare for attaining this job, you need to graduate with a few things under your belt. First you need a degree in which you graduate with a 2.5 or better in most cases according to the HR department of US Steel. Your degree must also have some form of applicable business skills, meaning you need a major or minor in some form of business. They also require that before consideration for employment, which one signs up for some form of an internship within the industry. These internships typically last 6 months and can offer you a job after completion. To continue to move up within the company into executive positions, a MBA is required. But in most cases, with a signature on a contract to the company, they will wave all of those fees for your next degree (Pixley, 2015). Once all of your training is complete and you’re hired, the exciting and demanding life of the salesman reveals itself.

As an entry level employee you have many responsibilities. Part of the time, the salesman would be in charge of drawing up the sales contracts, filing paperwork, and holding phone conferences with costumers to attempt to make sales. The environment of the office and traveling differ extremely. The office will be hushed because everyone’s offices are separated so sales calls and meetings are quiet. But while traveling, almost anything can happen. As the salesman progresses in his selling techniques, he/she will be transitioned to more person to person based selling. To close a sale with a client face to face is an art. The salesman has to not only know the client well, but has to be sharp himself. Without being able to read a client’s body language and voice on the spot, you can’t properly adjust your own behavior to be as persuasive as possible. This is when the game gets fun. To help you close the deal at all costs, the company will fund dinner retreats and other outings to make sure the customer is comfortable and happy, so they are more likely to sign contracts. Working in metal sales like this will cause one to travel at least once a week. Depending on the size of your district, you could be traveling within a four hour radius of your home, or internationally. You have to be able to be spontaneous and make sure that no matter what, by the end of the meeting, that you close the deal with the costumer.