Salespeople build negotiation, persuasion and social perceptiveness skills that managers, brokers and marketers rely on. Of the 25 careers below, Advertising Sales Agents match salespeople most closely at 83%, and Sales Managers follow at 79% with a BLS May 2025 median of $148,270.
Updated October 2026 · Data: O*NET 31.0 and BLS OEWS May 2025 · How we match careers
Sorted by skill match.
| # | Career | Skill match | Median pay | Pay change | Extra education |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Advertising Sales Agents | 83% | $64,820 | −10% | None |
| 2 | Sales Managers | 79% | $148,270 | +106% | None |
| 3 | Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel | 79% | $69,990 | −3% | None |
| 4 | Sales Engineers | 79% | $124,900 | +73% | None |
| 5 | Insurance Sales Agents | 76% | $62,280 | −14% | None |
| 6 | Real Estate Brokers | 76% | $73,220 | +2% | None |
| 7 | Online Merchants | 76% | $83,050Pay for the broader BLS group “Business Operations Specialists, All Other” | Not compared | None |
| 8 | Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agents | 75% | $78,660 | +9% | None |
| 9 | Fundraisers | 73% | $72,550 | +1% | None |
| 10 | Purchasing Managers | 73% | $148,080 | +105% | None |
Compared with Sales Representatives (Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products), median $72,080. Skill match is our estimate (0–99) from O*NET 31.0 skills, knowledge, work activities and interests, adjusted for preparation and big pay drops. Pay: BLS OEWS May 2025, national median.
How important each skill is in salespeople’ work (O*NET importance, scale 1–5).
The gaps that show up most often across your top 10 matches.
Free and low-cost training: use the CareerOneStop training finder below.
Sales trains you to read buyers, handle objections and close deals under a quota. O*NET rates negotiation, persuasion and social perceptiveness at 3.75 out of 5 for sales representatives, which is why management, real estate, fundraising and purchasing roles rank high. Purchasing managers use the same negotiation from the other side of the table. Marketing managers turn your customer insight into strategy. The main gaps are systems analysis and managing budgets and people.
A concrete first step, the skills to add, and the hard parts of each job, from O*NET 31.0 education, training and work context data.
83% skill match · $64,820 · −10% pay
Systems Analysis · Operations Analysis · Service Orientation
79% skill match · $148,270 · +106% pay
Management of Personnel Resources · Systems Analysis · Systems Evaluation
79% skill match · $69,990 · −3% pay
Systems Analysis · Management of Personnel Resources · Systems Evaluation
No work-context factor stands out as unusually hard in O*NET data.
If you want to stay close to what you do now, these roles are the nearest.
The closest matches are Advertising Sales Agents (83%), Sales Managers (79%) and Sales Engineers (79%), based on O*NET 31.0. Outside direct selling, Fundraisers (73%), Purchasing Managers (73%) and Logisticians (71%) use the same negotiation and relationship skills.
17 of the 25 matches pay more than the $72,080 median for wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives. Marketing Managers earn $166,790 (+131%), Sales Managers earn $148,270 (+106%) and Purchasing Managers earn $148,080 (+105%), according to BLS May 2025 data.
Not for the options on this page: all 25 matches usually need no more education than a sales representative has, based on O*NET Job Zones. Management roles still favor a bachelor's degree, and 71% of Sales Managers report one as their education.
Across the top 10 matches, the skills that most often need work are systems analysis, systems evaluation, managing financial resources and managing people. Your strongest skills, negotiation and persuasion, already rate 3.75 out of 5 in O*NET, so the gap is mostly in planning and leadership.