Selling and Sales Management  

Are you a highly motivated, enthusiastic person? If so, chances are good that you'd enjoy sales, sales management, or marketing. Professional selling is one of the fastest growing segments of the business world, and the Department of Consumer Sciences and Retailing boasts one of the few selling and sales management programs in the country.

Plan of Study

Career Options

Almost every industry staffs salespeople, which means graduates have many career options and can choose jobs that best suit their personal interests. And besides being versatile, sales careers have a good long-term outlook — in many corporations, selling is the first step up the ladder to middle- and upper-level management.

Coursework

  • accounting
  • business
  • communication
  • consumer behavior
  • customer relations
  • leadership strategies
  • marketing
  • professional selling
  • sales management
  • complete course list

Where You Might Work

  • chemical companies
  • food manufacturers
  • insurance companies
  • pharmaceutical companies
  • real estate brokerages

Learn from Experience

  • Shadow a salesperson for a day.
  • Role-play sales presentations under the guidance of an instructor.
  • Serve as a salesperson for a direct selling company that specializes in cutlery. You'll learn by doing as you deliver 20 sales presentations and even receive commission on your sales.
  • Apply selling theories by completing 140 hours of outside selling and writing a paper about the experience.
  • Become active in professional selling activities on a national level by joining Purdue's chapter of Phi Sigma Epsilon, a national fraternity for sales and marketing management.

You'll Have Help Finding a Job

For more information, contact:

CFS Undergraduate Student Services
700 W. State Street
Stone Hall, Room 110
West Lafayette, IN 47907-2059
Phone: (765) 494-8533
E-mail: cfsundergrad@purdue.edu