ELMI Occupation Report for Retail Salespersons

United States - 2020
Industry	Percent of total
General merchandise stores	20%
Clothing and clothing accessories stores	16%
Building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers	13%
Motor vehicle and parts dealers	9%
Miscellaneous store retailers	8%
More at BLS

Knowledge

People in this career often know a lot about:
Sales and Marketing Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Customer and Personal Service Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
English Language Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Administration and Management Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Mathematics Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
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Skills

People in this career often have these skills:
Persuasion Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
Active Listening Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Service Orientation Actively looking for ways to help people.
Speaking Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Negotiation Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
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Interests

People in this career often prefer these work environments:
Enterprising Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.
Conventional Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.
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Work Styles

People in this career will do well at jobs that need:
Dependability Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
Attention to Detail Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
Cooperation Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.
Integrity Job requires being honest and ethical.
Self-Control Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.
More at O*NET

Other Resources

Occupational Outlook Handbook
information on duties, training, pay, and employment outlook

CareerOneStop
resource for job seekers, students, businessess and career professionals

Related Occupations

Cashiers
Counter and Rental Clerks
Demonstrators and Product Promoters
Door-to-Door Sales Workers, News and Street Vendors, and Related Workers
Stockers and Order Fillers
More at O*NET

Career Video

Watch at CareerOneStop with transcript or at YouTube.

Projected Employment


Vermont
2020 employment	8,072
2030 employment	9,021
Annual percent change (compounded)	1.1%
Annual projected job openings (due to change and separations)	1,279
More at Occupational Projections

Education and Experience:

Typical education needed for entry No formal educational credential
Work experience in a related occupation None
Typical on-the-job training needed to attain competency Short-term on-the-job training
Based on BLS Education and Training Classifications

Job Zone

Some Preparation Needed
Specific Vocational Preparation Range (4.0 to < 6.0) - A typical worker will require over 3 months up to and including 1 year of training to achieve average performance in this occupation.
Based on O*Net Job Zones and SVP

Education Level

How much education do most people in this career have?
Education level		Percent of U.S. Workers
Doctoral or professional degree or post-MA certificate		0%
Master's degree or post-BA certificate		0%
Bachelor's degree		4%
Associate's degree		10%
Certificate or some college, no degree		3%
High school diploma or equivalent		63%
Less than high school diploma		19%
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Abilities

People in this career often have talent in:
Oral Expression The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Oral Comprehension The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Speech Clarity The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Speech Recognition The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Problem Sensitivity The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
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Work Activities

In general, what you might do:
Performing for or Working Directly with the Public Performing for people or dealing directly with the public. This includes serving customers in restaurants and stores, and receiving clients or guests.
Selling or Influencing Others Convincing others to buy merchandise/goods or to otherwise change their minds or actions.
Getting Information Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.
Making Decisions and Solving Problems Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
More at O*NET

Detailed Work Activities

What you might do in a day:
Gather customer or product information to determine customer needs.
Greet customers, patrons, or visitors.
Recommend products or services to customers.
Maintain records of sales or other business transactions.
Process sales or other transactions.
More at O*NET

Tasks

On the job, you would:
Greet customers and ascertain what each customer wants or needs.
Recommend, select, and help locate or obtain merchandise based on customer needs and desires.
Compute sales prices, total purchases, and receive and process cash or credit payment.
Prepare merchandise for purchase or rental.
Answer questions regarding the store and its merchandise.
More at O*NET

	This page includes information from the ONET 27.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. ONET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
	This page includes information produced in cooperation with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment Statistics and State Occupational Projecions programs.