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Sales

First-line supervisors of non-retail sales workers

Typically requires High school diploma or equivalent

What is this page & how do I use it?

This is a research report for one career — the kind an analyst would write for a stock. The rating at the top is the neutral baseline (same for everyone); below it come the cases for and against, how the last official forecast for this career actually aged, and what the education path costs and pays.

How to use it: read the bulls-vs-bears case, then hit Score this career to weigh it against your other options with your own interests factored in.

CareerStar rating
RiskyMedium uncertainty

Analyst take: Decent prospects — +0% projected growth, moderate AI exposure (54/100).

40
/ 100
low riskhigh
top row = high reward

Moat (borrowed from investing — the water that defends a castle): how shielded this career is from AI. Narrow = some shelter, but AI can reach a real share of its tasks.

The small grid is a style box (borrowed from Morningstar’s fund reports): the blue square places this career on reward (top row = high) versus risk (left column = low), against all 730 careers. Medium uncertainty means the score leans partly on forward-looking bets like AI exposure, so treat the exact number loosely.

🐂 Bulls say
  • +High pay — above 78% of careers ($84,130).
🐻 Bears say
  • Slow growth — behind 68% of careers.
📜 Reality check — how the last forecast for this career fared

In 2014, the U.S. government projected +4.7% growth for this career by 2024. What actually happened: -25.7%. Reality fell short of the forecast — a reminder that every number on this page is an estimate, and this is how the last one aged. Full back-test →

Was this rating fair?
Projected growth
+0%
Median pay
$84,130
AI exposure
54/100
share of tasks exposed to AI — not job loss

Education & ROI — how to get here

Real outcomes for the college majors that feed this occupation, across 213 bachelor’s programs.

Median earnings
$37,854
1 year after graduating
Typical debt
$26,173
median federal debt
Pay-to-debt
1.4×
first-year pay ÷ debt
Feeder majors
Selling Skills and Sales OperationsSpecialized Merchandising, Sales, and Marketing Operations
Selective schools offering these majors
University of Pennsylvania
PA · 5% admit rate
$89,028/yr
$111,371 grad pay
University of Georgia
GA · 38% admit rate
$27,993/yr
$68,726 grad pay
Texas Christian University
TX · 44% admit rate
$76,604/yr
$68,424 grad pay
Bentley University
MA · 45% admit rate
$79,548/yr
$120,959 grad pay
University of Wisconsin-Madison
WI · 45% admit rate
$28,679/yr
$73,792 grad pay
CUNY Bernard M Baruch College
NY · 48% admit rate
$14,170/yr
$75,971 grad pay

Earnings & debt from the U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard; majors mapped to this occupation via the NCES CIP→SOC crosswalk. A grounded ROI snapshot, not a guarantee — pay varies widely by school and specialty.

What this work involves

communicationpeople