Sales trainees are individuals who are in the process of learning to become effective salespeople. Individuals who have roles as sales trainees may be people who are learning the basics about how to perform as sales professionals, though they might also be established professionals who are learning to sell new products or how to perform in new capacities. To become a sales trainee, you first should determine into which kind of sales role you would like to move and for which kind of position you are qualified to apply. In order to become a sales trainee, you also should consider factors such as location, compensation, and the length of time for which you might be a sales trainee.
In most cases, sales trainees are people who are learning to enter full time sales positions. For this reason, available hours and level of pay might be different from those of established sales professionals. If you are training to become an auto sales professional, for example, you might get limited hours and you might not receive full levels of commission. In some cases, sales trainees are not employed and are taking courses at professional development centers. These people commonly are not receiving monetary compensation for training.
If you would like to become a sales trainee at a particular store or for a certain company, you should figure out how to qualify for sales positions. This information most often can be found on informational resources such as websites, applications, and informational employment packages. In most cases, a person who wants to become a sales trainee can expect to find requirements such as a high school diploma or equivalent degree and some customer service or sales experience. Positions that require a more in depth understanding of products might require undergraduate degrees and higher levels of experience. In the pharmaceutical industry, for example, an aspiring sales trainee might benefit from a background in chemistry.
A person who wants to become a sales trainee should keep in mind, however, that in most cases, he or she is not expected to be an expert. In many cases, sales trainees learn in training sessions about company policy, information that might be useful on a sales floor or out in the field, and relevant market data. More often than not, employers choose sales trainees based on their experiences and ability to learn new material that they practically apply to their work. While a person who would like to become a sales trainee certainly should act as if he or she is looking for a long term job, it is important to remember that you do not have to impress an employer with your deep understanding of a certain market or company culture.
