Parts Salespersons
Sell spare and replacement parts and equipment in repair shop or parts store.
Most important skills
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Persuasion
- Reading Comprehension
- Service Orientation
- Social Perceptiveness
- Critical Thinking
- Monitoring
Key knowledge
- Customer and Personal Service
- Sales and Marketing
- Administration and Management
- Administrative
- Computers and Electronics
- English Language
- Economics and Accounting
- Production and Processing
What the work involves
- Read catalogs, microfiche viewers, or computer displays to determine replacement part stock numbers and prices.
- Determine replacement parts required, according to inspections of old parts, customer requests, or customers' descriptions of malfunctions.
- Receive and fill telephone orders for parts.
- Prepare sales slips or sales contracts.
- Receive payment or obtain credit authorization.
- Advise customers on substitution or modification of parts when identical replacements are not available.
- Examine returned parts for defects, and exchange defective parts or refund money.
- Mark and store parts in stockrooms, according to prearranged systems.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Enterprising.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (46.9% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years (50.3%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 1 month, up to and including 3 months (26.7%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 2: Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Parts Salespersons is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Very high | Higher on contact with others than 99% of occupations compared | 100% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Very high | Higher on dealing with the public than 98% of occupations compared | 84% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | Very high | Higher on teamwork than 97% of occupations compared | 91% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very high | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 84% of occupations compared | 63% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | High | Higher on time pressure than 67% of occupations compared | 42% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | Very high | Higher on conflict situations than 91% of occupations compared | 40% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very high | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 93% of occupations compared | 62% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Consequence of error | Low | Lower on consequence of error than 71% of occupations compared | 25% of surveyed respondents chose “Not serious at all” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: high
- Conflict situations: very high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very high
- Consequence of error: low
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 0%
- Contact with others about half the time: 0%
- Contact with others most of the time: 0%
- Constant contact with others: 100%
n = 18, Incumbent 08/2023
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 0%
- Very important: 16.47%
- Extremely important: 83.53%
n = 18, Incumbent 08/2023
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 3.24%
- Very important: 5.73%
- Extremely important: 91.03%
n = 17, Incumbent 08/2023
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 0%
- Limited freedom: 7.69%
- Some freedom: 29.75%
- A lot of freedom: 62.55%
n = 18, Incumbent 08/2023
Time pressure
- Never: 1.24%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 31.75%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 24.88%
- Every day: 42.13%
n = 18, Incumbent 08/2023
Conflict situations
- Never: 3.74%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 18.96%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 8.25%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 39.91%
- Every day: 29.13%
n = 18, Incumbent 08/2023
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 19.62%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 62.06%
- Every day: 18.33%
n = 18, Incumbent 08/2023
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 24.98%
- Fairly serious: 24.69%
- Serious: 24.66%
- Very serious: 22.48%
- Extremely serious: 3.2%
n = 18, Incumbent 08/2023
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O*NET-SOC 41-2022.00 · SOC 41-2022 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8