Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products
Sell goods for wholesalers or manufacturers to businesses or groups of individuals. Work requires substantial knowledge of items sold.
Most important skills
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Social Perceptiveness
- Persuasion
- Negotiation
- Critical Thinking
- Reading Comprehension
- Writing
Key knowledge
- Sales and Marketing
- Customer and Personal Service
- English Language
- Mathematics
- Transportation
- Computers and Electronics
- Administration and Management
- Communications and Media
What the work involves
- Answer customers' questions about products, prices, availability, product uses, and credit terms.
- Recommend products to customers, based on customers' needs and interests.
- Contact regular and prospective customers to demonstrate products, explain product features, and solicit orders.
- Estimate or quote prices, credit or contract terms, warranties, and delivery dates.
- Consult with clients after sales or contract signings to resolve problems and to provide ongoing support.
- Provide customers with product samples and catalogs.
- Identify prospective customers by using business directories, following leads from existing clients, participating in organizations and clubs, and attending trade shows and conferences.
- Monitor market conditions, product innovations, and competitors' products, prices, and sales.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Enterprising, Conventional, Social.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (48% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years (29.9%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 6 months, up to and including 1 year (39.8%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 4: Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products 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 99% of occupations compared | 92% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | Very high | Higher on teamwork than 98% of occupations compared | 92% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very high | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 81% of occupations compared | — |
| Time pressure | Moderate | Lower on time pressure than 56% of occupations compared | 45% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Conflict situations | High | Higher on conflict situations than 79% of occupations compared | 31% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very high | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 85% of occupations compared | 45% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Consequence of error | Very low | Lower on consequence of error than 95% of occupations compared | 60% of surveyed respondents chose “Not serious at all” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: moderate
- Conflict situations: high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very high
- Consequence of error: very 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 = 23, Incumbent 08/2020
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 0.5%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 0%
- Very important: 7.33%
- Extremely important: 92.18%
n = 23, Incumbent 08/2020
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 1%
- Very important: 7.24%
- Extremely important: 91.77%
n = 23, Incumbent 08/2020
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 0.25%
- Limited freedom: 0.25%
- Some freedom: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- A lot of freedom: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 23, Incumbent 08/2020
Time pressure
- Never: 5.56%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 1.04%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 25.83%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 44.92%
- Every day: 22.65%
n = 23, Incumbent 08/2020
Conflict situations
- Never: 0.5%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 27.04%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 31.22%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 22.96%
- Every day: 18.28%
n = 23, Incumbent 08/2020
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 0.5%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 6.13%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 44.89%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 31.83%
- Every day: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 23, Incumbent 08/2020
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 59.63%
- Fairly serious: 15.03%
- Serious: 3.12%
- Very serious: 22.21%
- Extremely serious: 0%
n = 23, Incumbent 08/2020
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O*NET-SOC 41-4012.00 · SOC 41-4012 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8