The Best Career for Millennials Who Want to Make Six Figures

Where are all the high paying jobs these days? It’s a question often pondered by millennials on the hunt to financially get ahead.

We all want to make more money and we all think we are worth more than we are currently paid. The desire to make more money is part of what makes us American. Sadly, even for the most mission and passion driven individuals among us, financial resources are required to make a larger impact on the world.

So when I hear millennials complain about a lack of high paying jobs and read other similarly phrased self-defeating statements, I can only question if millennials are truly committed to doing whatever is needed to make more money. 

The fact is, opportunity is all around us. What’s missing though is the hustle. 

Since economies were invented thousands of years ago, one job in particular has stood the test of time as the end-all-be-all money maker for people willing to hustle. If you guessed sales, please pat yourself on the back because you are correct. The only thing that’s changed over the years with sales is the product being sold.

Nothing happens until someone sells something.

Where do you think jobs come from in the first place? They come from the fact that a company has a service or product offering which they believe fills a customer’s need and they require someone to sell said service/product. A boring definition to be sure but it hints at the importance of the profession.  Companies need employees to sell their products.

But all too often employees take for granted that their jobs are truly 100% dependent on their company’s sales machine working perfectly. Simply put, if you aren’t selling, you have ZERO job security and you’re only one recession away from being out of a job regardless of seniority.

It stands to reason then that with the fate of a company’s future constantly hanging in the balance and with responsibility placed squarely on their shoulders, you will certainly find sales people at the top of the company pay scale in virtually every corporation in the U.S.

Then why then don’t more people pursue sales careers? Because it’s one of the hardest damn jobs on the face of the planet.

A sales job doesn’t care about your resume or where you are from. Because only one thing counts in sales: “Get them to sign on the line that is dotted!”

I know what some of you are thinking, “I’m not a salesperson, I have morals!” Allow me a moment of mild indignation at your response. Just what exactly is it that you think sales people do for a living? Lie perpetually? I’m sorry but you watch too many made for TV movies. Turn off the soap operas and read the rest of this.

As with any profession, I’m sure there are a few bad sales actors, but the real performers in these jobs are some of the smartest, creative, empathetic, and most thoughtful individuals you will ever meet. After all, how do you think these people earn customer loyalty and trust, year after year? Not every salesperson is corrupt. In fact not many of them are. Break that stereotype America.

Still not convinced? That’s okay, we all need to see the light from time to time. Allow me to persuade you. 

So, without further ado, here are five reasons you should consider a career in sales.

1. Make tons of money.

When I started my first job out of college, I aspired to rise through the managerial ranks. That was until I found out the top two sales people at my company made more than three times as much money as the President of the company!

Was this some highly coveted job at Goldman Sachs with big bonus potential? No, this was simply your everyday small business manufacturing company (a $20 million dollar manufacturing company with 100 employees) in the middle of nowhere with two sales reps making near a half million dollars each per year.

Was I just lucky and fell into a goldmine of an industry? No way! This was in printing of all industries, yes that kind of printing (flyers, advertisements, business cards, etc). Printing hasn’t been a high growth industry since the 1800’s.

It turns out there are thousands of companies across the United States spanning a diverse collection of industries and within the vast majority of these businesses, you have sales people easily clearing six figure incomes. Those high earning sales people are as common as your human resources department, IT staff or accounting.

What most people in an organization fail to see though is the amount of hustle that goes into earning top dollar as a sales person. Because with sales, it’s all relatively simple. Work hard, get rich. Be lazy, stay poor. And it’s this part where most people fail.

For millennials though, what choice do we have? We’re not asking for handouts, just a chance. And sales may be that chance of a lifetime for an opportunistic, career-driven young person just getting life started, especially those with PHD’s.

PHD’s you say? Is that type of post-graduate degree really required for sales? Well not the PHD you are thinking of. The PHD I reference stands for poor, hungry & driven – all common traits of successful sales people. I think millennials qualify for that. I certainly fit that definition.

2.  Easiest job to get.

When I was a child, my father, who was also a salesman like me, was unemployed, broke and looking for work. Without a college degree to his name and little experience, his options were limited. Certainly not a position you want to be in with two kids and a wife to provide for.

It was the end of the 80’s and the economy was on the cusp of entering a recession in 1990 and companies simply weren’t hiring. Recognizing this dilemma, my father took a bet on himself, which ultimately changed the course of his career for the better.

No he didn’t go out and start his own company like you might be thinking, instead he went to the prospective employer he was targeting and made them a proposition. 

While the employer stated that they had no current openings for another sales position, my father pushed the issue and asked if they had secured all possible business in their market. They admitted that they had not. My father replied, “Then you have an opening for me. Pay me what I sell and I’ll get for you the business you aren’t working with today.”

That’s right – straight commission day one. Bold strategy. A true Clint Eastwood type exchange in my eyes.    

Seeing as this company was essentially getting a free employee on day one, they gave him a shot and within two months, he was bringing in steady business and commissions. Within five years he was the top sales rep at the company, exceeding $100K a year in earnings.

This strategy might sound a little crazy to you but is it any more crazy than deciding to start your own business? People do that all the time with little thought. The only difference is when you start your own business, you often have to do every job in the company, including the accounting, all while trying to sell a potentially unproven product or service. Compared to starting your own company, sales is a much safer and guaranteed path to wealth.

Pick any company in any industry and you’ll discover that most likely, none of them have secured all possible business in their market. Guess what? That means they have a job for you. How bad do you want it?

3.  Job security.

I started my own sales career in 2006. Less than eighteen months later came the great recession.

This was not an ideal time to build a book of business. But while people all around me were losing their jobs, never once did I have a fear of being let go. Why? Salespeople basically equal customers, and no one is firing their customers when times are tight.

Did our revenue and commission potential decline during this period? Sure, of course, as companies weren’t spending money like they were before the crunch. But recessions are typically short-lived and despite a minor setback in pay, I maintained employment during the entire recession and recovery as did the rest of the sales team.

Is this to say salespeople are never fired or let go? No, not at all, as there are plenty of sales reps hired by companies who don’t sell a thing! But, as someone who eventually went on to manage a large team of sales reps, I can tell you firsthand that no executive ever wants to get rid of a performing sales rep. Those people are too hard to come by and are often the last to go. 

4.  Get promoted faster.

Want to rise the corporate ranks someday and potentially be a division President, COO or CEO? Be a sales rep.

As we’ve covered, the most valuable employees in an organization are often sales reps and the ability to bring in business is a skill that often translates to the executive ranks. Because Presidents, COO’s & CEO’s are basically selling every day. All businesses need capital and investors!

Do you really think Apple was so huge because of Steve Jobs technology know-how? I don’t think so. The man was a sales genius. Some of the greatest salespeople of our time are/were CEO’s.

Take for instance Sara Blakely, founder of Spanx and current billionaire. Do you know how Sara Blakely started her career? Selling fax machines door to door. That’s right, she became a door to door salesperson because she didn’t score high enough on her LSAT’s.

I’m sure she was incredible at selling fax machines and I bet she would have made an easy few hundred thousand a year if she had stuck with that. But Sara Blakely had vision and when you mix vision with a bit of hustle and sales ability, you have the perfect recipe for a successful founder & CEO.

You don’t have to be the next Sara Blakely but if you want to get ahead and rise up the ranks, the most important skill you can learn in life is the ability to persuade others to support your vision and ideas.

5.   Build lifelong relationships.

When it comes down to it, life is really all about the people in our lives. You can be the richest man in the world but when you’re lying on your deathbed, you won’t be thinking about your money. You’ll be thinking about the people in your life, both past and present – those close, lifelong relationships that helped get you through all those years.

The best sales people in the world understand how to build relationships that last. To be good in sales, it requires you be a person of high emotional intelligence, that you master the art of listening and be truly empathetic. Does that not sound like the type of friend you wish to have or wish to be to others?

When you work with clients, for years and sometimes even decades, the bonds that you build can last a lifetime. In my book of life, that’s what true wealth looks like.

Where are all the high paying jobs? That depends, what do you want to sell?