Whether you work as a recruiter or hiring manager for your company, it can be daunting to try to fill a position. You need to go through various avenues to get the job listing seen, and once it is online, you have to sort through a bunch of resumes. Sometimes those resumes can begin to blur together, and it becomes tough to try to pinpoint the best candidate for the job. It would be a lot simpler if you could reduce the number of resumes you received while increasing the quality of them. While there are certainly no guarantees, you can greatly increase your chances of finding the best applicant by writing a marvelous job description. We are here to help, which is why we have provided you with a sales trainee job description sample to set you on the right path.
Sales Trainee Job Summary
The sales trainee will work with the current staff in order to learn about the essential operations of the business. You will be given assignments to complete with deadlines, and you may be stationed in different departments in order to receive the most comprehensive understanding of the job possible. At the end of the training, a sales representative position will be discussed.
Sales Trainee Job Responsibilities and Duties
- Complete the training program by learning about sales administration and essential sales functions
- Travel with sales representatives in order to learn about the sales process
- Attend sales conferences
- Complete a rotation within the sales office
- Practice the company’s sales steps by calling on new accounts and checking in with existing ones
- Continue to read marketing and sales publications in order to increase your understanding of the field
Sales Trainee Skills and Qualifications
- Motivated to succeed
- Able to work under pressure and meet deadlines
- Understanding of basic business practices
- High energy level and excellent customer service skills
- Self-Confident
- Verbal communication prowess
Company Profile
At Barisco Cooking Supplies, we are dedicated to giving our sales staff the tools they need to thrive within our company. Since 1997, we have steadily been growing to serve areas across the country. We currently employ over 1,000 workers, and our central headquarters is located in Modesto, CA.
Writing a Job Description Best Practices
- This sales trainee job description sample will hopefully have opened your eyes to the kinds of descriptions you need to write for your business. However, there is still plenty more you can do to really impress job hunters. This list contains some great information about additional things you should implement within your description.
- Do show the description to your sales representatives who were once trainees. They will tell you what they thought of their experience training with the company and if there is anything they would change about your job listing.
- Do not write using vague language. You want all the material on the page to be specific to precisely what you have to offer. You do not want a job description that sounds like it could have come from anyone.
- Do not use a bland tone throughout the description. Figure out what the dynamic is within the organization and try to capture that. If everyone treats each other like family, then convey that feeling.
- Do categorize the skills you want to see from most to least important. The first few bullet points should be the skills that are essential. The last few should be ones you are willing to compromise on for the right candidate.
- Do include some perks if you can. This can include information related to salary or healthcare. It can also include less tangible benefits such as the opportunity to travel a lot or having an amazing break room.
- Do include very specific instructions for how interested job seekers should apply. That includes saying exactly what you need whether it is a cover letter, resume or both. You should also put the email address you want people to send those materials to. If there is a link on your company’s website where people can apply, then include that link.
- Do learn a little bit about search engine optimization (SEO). By adding keywords and phrases to your job description, it will be easier for people to find your job listing.
Great talent is out there waiting to work for you. You just need to personalize your job description a bit so that job hunters know exactly what they are getting into.
Sales Trainee Job Responsibilities
Sometimes the best way to capture the top talent for your team is to create that talent by recruiting early and training them into the role. Before you can get busy instilling your new recruits with the principles and mission of your company, though, you need to know the principles of a good sales trainee job description to capture those recruits. It’s not enough to just jot down a few paragraphs of dry details. As the meatiest part of the description, your job responsibility section needs to invite active involvement and give jobseekers a clear idea of exactly why they’d want to work for your company.
The best way to do this is to eschew the commonly used paragraph format, which can turn a sales trainee job description into an uninteresting book report most candidates won’t read in full. Focus only on the information needed to capture the core functions of the job, presented in 6-8 bullets and using action-oriented writing.
If you’re unfamiliar with action-oriented writing, take a look at our example sales trainee job responsibilities. As you can see, each of our sample bullets begins with an action verb that denotes an active role within the organization:
- Shadow senior sales managers, account executives, and sales teams on a daily basis
- Provide administrative and sales support throughout the sales lifecycle
- Learn key details of account sales and customer relationship management
- Develop communication and negotiation skills
- Rotate throughout multiple departments to acquire insight into the full sales process
Sales Trainee Job Specifications
Although you’re hiring personnel to train into a sales position, you still only want the best and the brightest. Without quality high-potential candidates, you waste your time training personnel unsuitable for the role — and without clearly established job requirements, you might waste your time screening resumes from applicants who aren’t qualified and don’t meet your criteria. Make those criteria known by adding a job qualifications and skills section to your sales trainee job description, and cut down on time lost reviewing poor-quality applications.
Because you’ll be taking on entry-level candidates, years of experience may end up being a preference rather than a requirement. For requirements, you may want to look for education level, soft skills and technical skills with particular sales-specific applications. Your sales trainee job description should encourage jobseekers to compare their personal traits against these requirements to determine if they make the grade.
Here’s a few examples of sales trainee job specifications:
- Recently completed degree from an accredited university or academic institution
- Prior experience in customer service preferred, particularly in the fashion retail industry
- Knowledge of or familiarity with Salesforce.com and associate software required
- Capability of grasping complex concepts quickly
- Willingness to take direction from multiple senior management personnel
- Positive customer-facing demeanor