<p>My niece is a math major ( Applied, not Pure), and has discovered thru her part-time and summer jobs that she has a knack for Sales. She’s now contemplating a career that involves Sales, but might somehow use her math strengths. She graduates in June. Her strengths are also in Chemistry, English (lit and writing), Spanish, and History. Her GRE was above a 1500 (800 M and 7XX verbal).</p>
<p>What kind of Sales careers would likely suit a mathy person? Insurance?</p>
<p>With that background…she can probably sell anything.</p>
<p>A friend of mine was a chemistry major and has made a career in sales. He has worked for a few of the largest technology companies in the United States. </p>
<p>Companies…like Oracle, IBM, Csco, Aapl, Verizon, AT&T…and younger tech companies…I bet would be interested in her.</p>
<p>Financial companies would be interested in her too.</p>
<p>She could consider finance. A math background is solid for that.</p>
<p>Is she emotionally tough? Can take a little teasing? Willing to work 12 hour days? If so, she could go very, very far in I-banking and institutional sales in Finance. </p>
<p>fwiw.</p>
<p>Not to sounds too sexist, but I have seen attractive women do extremely well in tech sales. You have to be tech savvy and very smart to understand/sell complicated tech products. Add to that being an attractive, charismatic female and you will be amazed at the upside potential.</p>
<p>it’s not sexist. Attractive men do extremely well in sales, too. Actually, attractive people earn more money in every study done on the issue.</p>
<p>Tall men do very well, too. Such are the vagaries of our humanness.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>Yes…attractive people (male and female) do tend to do better with sales. People have a harder time saying “no” to “pretty people”. lol</p>
<p>I wouldn’t say that she’s the “works 80 hours a week” tough as nails kind of person. She’s just very good at gaining customers’ trust and providing “individual customer-focused” information which encourages customers to trust her opinion about what’s best for them. </p>
<p>That’s why I first wondered if insurance would be good? But, I don’t know much about that industry. </p>
<p>She’s a very feminine young lady, pretty, and smart. She’s not very “worldly” so I don’t think ibanking would be her thing, but what do I know??? lol </p>
<p>She’s also very family-oriented…doesn’t like missing important family events (weddings, holiday parties, etc.), so I think something that is Monday - Friday and rather normal business hours would be best.</p>
<p>Completely agree with dstark and AllThis. Smart women do very well in the tech fields- they get the complex details, are often kept nicely challenged by the technologies- and can do very well. But, it’s not only about attractiveness- pretty and dumb does’t get far. Not in high-tech. Or rather, not in the big $ aspects.</p>
<p>Mom2- insurance, when you sell to individuals, is tough. Smart girls should go corporate and deal with clients responsible for corp-level decision-making. This is about the process and the expertise required- not hoping Mr and Mrs Jones will like the price for a policy and decide to sign. Also, insurance more requires you to be avail when clients are.</p>
<p>What about pharmacological sales?</p>
<p>I second somemom</p>
<p>Sent from my DROID RAZR using CC</p>
<p>that’s a good idea…pharm sales. Is that an area that is hiring? </p>
<p>Lookingforward…do you mean that she could consider corporate insurance or corporate something else?</p>
<p>A former roommate of mine graduated with his BSEE and worked exactly 6 weeks as an engineer before moving into sales. He was tall, attractive, and personable, and parlayed all that into making $10k/month selling siding and windows, a lot of money in 1989. By 28 he was VP of sales for a different company.</p>
<p>As someone who has been in investment banking, I would recommend she not go into finance. It takes tenaciousness and a hypercompetetive spirit, not the friendly rapport-building that sounds like it might better suit your niece. I second the recommendation of the tech field - Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Apple …</p>
<p>Pharm sales involves a lot of driving to doc offices or drug stores, waiting, hoping they’ll see you. It is a stepping stone, yes. Same for “brand managers” for food corps- you are on the road a lot. </p>
<p>Another thing to consider, though, is how much she cares about the intelligence and strengths of co-workers. Will she be happy in just any sales job lots of “anywhere” college grads start in? Is this about having a job or some higher level of job-satisfaction?</p>
<p>Mom2, I’m not thinking insurance at all. I am saying she should seriously look at tech firms, where she would market and sell to corporations. High tech loves math majors- they know how to tackle complex problems, how to think in effective ways. (The companies provide training in the specifics.) It’s about solving a need, not just getting people to sign on the dotted line.</p>
<p>Insurance is often price-driven. You do a ton of cold calling to find people willing to sit down with you. Maybe, if she could get into selling insurance to corporations- but there is a lot of brand loyalty.</p>
<p>I’d avoid pharma sales. I suspect that we’re going to see more and more restrictions (either governmentally-imposed or hospital/doctor group imposed) on who detail reps are allowed to see, and what they’re allowed to pitch. Our local hospital owns many of the internal medicine/family practice/pediatrician groups in the area, and I’ve seen the signs restricting pharma detail reps. I think Kaiser is even more strict. (And, I don’t think that this is an entirely bad thing after my doc relied on the rep’s assertion that Vioxx was actually helpful for your heart.)</p>
<p>I’d go corporate sales, personally. I have a pretty hard time encouraging anyone to be an insurance salesperson since so many of the policies being pushed are terrible from a consumer perspective. JMO.</p>
<p>Btw, high tech isn’t as scary as it sounds. For all big projects, you are backed up by engineers or support staff. For all big deals, you work closely with your own manager and execs. I like dstark’s suggestions: Oracle, ATT, Cisco, etc, or a really great start-up (well run, good product- not the fly by night sort or companies in financial peril.)</p>
<p>Medical sales - not pharma. They can make a killing, many times are in the OR’s with the docs and go through lots of training and need a science/math background. Pharma is lower level, lots of paperworky tasks. </p>
<p>Medical sales can include anything from surgical equipment to orthopedics to hospital equipment, etc.</p>
<p>Look at Epic (not epic software). Its an EMR (electronic medical records) company outside Madison, Wisconsin. They are always hiring, pay very well, and are full of young grads. I’d bet they will happily take a person with both math and sales skills.</p>
<p>*Medical sales - not pharma. They can make a killing, many times are in the OR’s with the docs and go through lots of training and need a science/math background. Pharma is lower level, lots of paperworky tasks. </p>
<p>Medical sales can include anything from surgical equipment to orthopedics to hospital equipment, etc.*</p>
<p>Look at Epic (not epic software). Its an EMR (electronic medical records) company outside Madison, Wisconsin. They are always hiring, pay very well, and are full of young grads. I’d bet they will happily take a person with both math and sales skills.</p>
<p>s. I like dstark’s suggestions: Oracle, ATT, Cisco, etc, or a really great start-up (well run, good product- not the fly by night sort or companies in financial peril.)</p>
<p>Wow…such great ideas from everyone.</p>
<p>Jym…for Epic…would the employee have to live in Wisconsin? Or is the company just based there, but needs people everywhere? My niece wouldn’t likely want to leave Calif.</p>
<p>Really any sales job would lend itself to a strong math background. I agree that medical sales would be a great option. Pharm sales are lucrative, IF you can keep your job and that cycle seems to go around every 6 months or so–not a stable industry. We have several friends in the pharm sales industry and they are in constant fear for their jobs. Any sales jobs in the finance industry would be good but don’t limit them to insurance or investment sales, look at somewhat obscure markets like the leasing industry (office equipment, medical/dental equipment, etc.). These industries are fairly recession proof-or as recession proof as you can get. Generally in these jobs you live within your sales territory and they come with a lot of NICE perks. Because sales is a male dominated field, females that are good in sales tend to be highly sought after.</p>
<p>An odd suggestion but I would suggest if she is going into sales that she take up golf. Find a good teaching pro at a local club and invest in lessons. That will be a HUGE benefit in sales.</p>
<p>I work for one of the high tech firms in DStarks list and would second her recommendations of High Tech sales. </p>
<p>Sales in high tech is all about making your number - gender isn’t nearly as important as it is in other industries. Brains, personality, and effort is what it takes to make you successful and she seems to have all three.</p>
<p>IBM (who is not my employer) has a really good sales training program and would be first on my list if I were advising her.</p>
<p>Thanks…great ideas. I’m forwarding all of them to her and her parents.</p>
<p>:)</p>