Sales Vacancies ... checking them out!

Not everyone has the right kind of personality to be a sales person. Amongst other things sales people will need a pretty good dose of optimism; partly for their own benefit, and partly for the benefit of developing a good rapport with potential customers. But when they come to be looking at Sales Vacancies, i.e looking for their next jobs, that optimism needs to be balanced with an equal measure of realism.

For an established sales person looking for a move there would always seem to be plenty of variety as regards products and services to sell, and corresponding Sales Vacancies to consider. But through long experience one has learned that the nature & health of the company itself is, ultimately, more important than the products, services, or the vacancy details. If you join a company that is heading for failure / bankruptcy you sign up for all the stresses of being part of a company that is going down, and then for the further stresses of having to start your own career again from scratch.

Here are some tips on checking out the "background" to Sales Vacancies ...

• Courtesy of the Internet you should be able to find out quite a bit about the company that is advertising the Sales Vacancies. The Companies House web-site will give you all sorts of information about the company and its directors. Have a look at their most recently filed accounts, check out their turnover, and profits. If the company is in some sort of difficulties it should be apparent.

• The next good source of information about a company, and its Sales Vacancies, is its customers. If you can talk to a few customers you will, so to speak, be talking to someone with an "inside view". Their views of the company's reputation and economic health are likely to be pretty accurate. If you encounter negative views, then tread carefully.

• Whilst talking to customers about the Sales Vacancies that interest you, you could also mention your potential new boss(es). If they have been customers for any length of time they may have come across them and have opinions. Likewise, ex-employees. Although beware of any criticism coming from ex-employees. It might be quite justified, or it might simply indicate that for some personal reason the employee was unhappy during that employ.

• Yet another strategy would be to call the company, the one that is advertising the Sales Vacancies, whilst posing as a potential customer. Your experience as a potential customer will be yet another indicator as to what sort of company it is. If the company doesn't appear to have a good sales set-up, or doesn't seem to be dealing with you in a professional manner, you might then want to think again a bout the said Sales Vacancies.

• At first sight any adverts for Sales Vacanciesare likely to look good. After all, they are being advertised by people whose job in life is to encourage people to buy things. Another good idea, therefore, is to make a list of criteria for the new job that you hope to find and then start to measure up a whole bunch of jobs against those criteria. Viewing a whole collection of Sales Vacancies jobs at the same time can help you to form a balanced view of each.

Having the optimistic outlook so common in salespeople, I have in the distant past made poor choices by viewing Sales Vacancies through 'rose-tinted glasses'. Hopefully the above will help other to make better choices.

Good luck.