working in sales: a *brutally* honest Q&A | quotas, stigma, what i dislike 

I’m so glad you addressed the impact of your job in the world bc I have never seen anyone else do that. I think about that constantly bc I don’t want to go to school my whole life just to contribute to the negatives of this world. You continue to be raw, empathetic, and insightful and I appreciate it so much

I’m in a career prep program for minorities and we just had a webinar last week with Adobe tech sales reps! Tech sales is definitely getting discussed more to college students, so thankful for your channel for introducing it to me!

loved the honesty in this, looking forward to part two

thank you for sharing your experiences Kath! I’ve been watching your videos since you were at USC but never really commented and it’s been super cool to follow your journey from college to post grad life and I love how open and candid you are!

Love these videos! Now that I recently graduated college, it was difficult to rebrand considering how a lot of my content focused on college and seeing how you gracefully transitioned your content, it’s really inspiring!

As someone currently taking a left turn in my career to break into tech, an industry I've realized I'm passionate for, I sincerely appreciate your honesty and counsel through all of your videos. Hope you keep the amazing content coming and all the best in your endeavours!

This video was so helpful! I was thinking about going into medical device sales and some of the reasons I was turned off by the field are things you described. Keep being awesome 💗

Your candor was so refreshing, thank you Katherine!

yaaay Katherine you’re one of my fav youtubers❣️

Yay! Ive been waiting for a video like this because I am in medical device sales but I just started working from home and started my new job last week. I love your work routine videos! I would love to see some more!

katherine I've looked up to you a lot for these past few years. Im in college rn and working in retail sales so at a super micro level i can relate LOL, and as a fellow pisces im not surprised that i agreed w a lot of what u said (i.e. dissonance w the capitalistic reality of it all, dealing w disappointment of not closing deals, etc.) Im a psych major but i think sales could be a career option for me, so thanks! really enjoyed your honesty haha!

I really appreciate you being transparent in this video!

This was so interesting to watch because I used to work as a business development rep before I quit to work as a field manager for various political campaigns lol. I agree w/ sales' lack of diversity. I never felt like I was making a difference, either, and also I was surrounded by people who believed the exact opposite of what I did (politically, socially, etc.). I gotta say, though, working at non-profits doesn't bring the purpose you might think it does. It's mostly a lot of paperwork, stress, no-show interns, and red tape. It's being bogged down by bureaucracy and realizing there's nothing you can do about it. I've become disillusioned with it a bit; now I wonder if maybe keeping a less fulfilling but higher paying job in the end does greater good for the world, because you can fully allocate where that extra money/time/attention goes. Just some food for thought.

I really like you! How you communicate and how you think about things, and present them. You've really answered all the right questions in the right way. Awesome!

I started tech sales in Austin this past summer and i relate to your videos so much lol.. Love the content!

This was pretty interesting for me. I'm working on my MA and hoping to get into academia one day, but as a plan B (and since I research digital culture anyways) I've been thinking about which jobs in tech could work for me as a non-programmer. Good to hear more about what it's like on the inside!

Great video! i’ve recently got out of sales for some of the same reasons you mentioned (mainly the dissonance) but have recently been reconsidering and this video has helped me with that!

learning so much from these videos, thank you so much. determined to land my first SDR role this month and these have really helped me.

Loved the honesty of this video- thank you 😊

sales is something i was recommended to go in and try it!! however the sales i would do is more on the microbiology side because thats the field im currently in!

Love the unfiltered hot takes!

You are such a good role model ❤️

10:40 When you talk about how sales is not marketing to an abyss, this really spoke to me! I'm in marketing now but am frustrated that my social media posts and marketing emails seem less impactful than actually marketing directly to an individual. I don't care if my emails are seeing higher open rates, click-through rates, etc... I care that my actions resulted in a DEAL. Tangible, concrete wins are critical for my sense of fulfillment. I guess I need to go into sales too. :)

Great Q&A , 🎉❤ definitely appreciate it, especially about the quota part

This was probably the best video on sales. It hits everything & honestly

KATH FOR MY LUNCH BREAK? Ayyyy Also “theATRE??” Killed me. Also I don’t blame you for not working at a nonprofit! It is exhausting sometimes lol

Love how you candid you are with your answers. Lots of people like to sugarcoat what their job is ~really~ like and I appreciate your transparency. I'm wondering how we can make the sales industry more diverse (recruitment?) but it seems to be a bigger issue/more systemic

wow!! I’m a junior at USC majoring in business admin w/ an emphasis in sales! This video was so helpful because I’ve been interested in the tech industry and you also touched on the cultural significance which I totally felt. Loved your video!! ✌🏻

Yay for tech sales! My degree is in Global Health and somehow also ended up in this field (and went to community college)! I work with a lot of Ivy League grads but the truth is anyone can make it happen even with a non-traditional background :)

I also work in sales but in England, we do res sales so like door to door in charities and energy, so im either saving people money or raising money for charities. Everyone at work is different and come from completely different background, and the best part is I didn't need to go to uni (college) to get this job and I love it!

i have like no interest in going into sales but somehow you make it so interesting! love ur vids

Your honest comments that is the reason I watched it till the end you were very genuine I learned something's from you thank you.

Thanks for being so honest!

I work in a version of sales for a resort and completely agree about the capitalism vs. producing resources/funds for the other employees, plus the tourism it brings to the city

14:47 this is something i have struggled thinking about for so long, feeling like i’m going to end up pushing capitalism in the corporate cog. but i definitely think what you said is so true! thanks for discussing your take on this

Do you have any advice for someone 3-4 years out of college wanting to get into entry level tech and feeling like every job application just falls in a black hole and never hearing anything?

That is awesome that you found this job at a career fair!! I actually looked into Adobe's tours, and they don't really go to many CSU, only UCs :(

Love the internal and external impact. I lime that ! I help fund my coworkers

Wuaw I looooved ur answer on how the job is not itself for a grater good but it serves its purpose etc. Like I am SO conscious about capitalism and corporate America, but also honestly and truly passionate about communication and helping people therefore sales. U just said it so perfectly. Thank u!

I am using your videos to learn English and improve my listening skills. Thank you :)

kat i love this video so much! its so informational and i like how you pinpoint the lack of diversity (glad to recognize that and see a problem with it) (-:

I JUST finished an SDR interview here in Seattle and wished I would have seen this.

Great content!!

Thanks for sharing. The questions you have answered were all very key ones. Especially, I love you said that it is not like everyone hit quota every quarter. Because so many sales people only like to say how great they were doing, achieve 100%+ quota attainment and go to president's club (or whatever name it is in your company) just wondering where I can find part 2 of the video.

The ABCs of sales: A- Always B- Be C- Closing COFFEE IS FOR CLOSERS ONLY

I’m graduating nursing school soon and it’s just not something I want to pursue anymore. Hopefully I can get into tech sales!!!

always helpful :)

Hi Katherine, first of all just wanted to say that this was an awesome and helpful video! In general, I have found your videos very helpful and encouraging. Just a quick question though: regarding what you were saying about lack of diversity, is that true just for tech sales, or do you think that it is an issue in the tech industry in general?

Hi Katherine! Thank you for all the helpful videos. Would you have any advice or comment regarding someone starting in tech sales later in life i.e. late 30s? Thank you!

Have you met anyone who came from an accounting/Big4 firm background that ended up going into tech sales?

Im also in marketing thinking about transitioning into sales. I was worried because i am more of an introvert but im glad that shouldn’t effect me too much as you say i am a good listener. Theres not that much money in marketing in uk honestly on average obviously not including multinationals

Just started an internship working at a fellow tech giant, but in marketing. When you started talking about the capitalistic flaw of our jobs... yeah I felt that 👁👄👁

Hi Katherine, thank you for SUCH an informative video! I have a question regarding pivoting into tech sales- something I've been exploring for a while. I currently work for a University (in donor relations at the Assistant Director level). Do you have any idea if/ how I could make the switch into tech sales (specifically, at what level I could come into)? From what you've spoken on here, I recognized that a lot of my skills would be better suited in this industry than a non-profit. Thanks in advance!

Few years later... I sometimes still come from this channel from that story booth video...

Nice, a very honest view of the situation. Thanks

Do you have a corporate matching program for donations? You can have your followers venmo you the money so you can max the corporate matching program and have our collective dollars stretch out more!

Thanks for this!

great video! Thank you so much!

Thank you for sharing your experience 👌💫

What would you say are the easiest jobs to get into business? I’m a business marketing major and scared I won’t find a job.

there are a few things you mention that I agree with you on and disagree. I used to work in software sales for 10+ years and yes it is true, you have to be ambitious and a self-starter but you also need to be comfortable with taking criticism and following metrics/KPI's on a daily basis from upper management. Software sales is cut throat and it requires mental toughness!

Great video :)

Can you work tech sales remotely only?

sales people keep the lights on and of course with the help on the rest of the team.

so informative thank you

So do you think I could get into sales only having my associates degree or do most jobs not care ?

you are so well-spoken!

everybody uses the term "marketing" loosely...especially as it entails almost everything a company does

Ive never been described so exactly. If this aint for me I dont know what is.

I have no experience in sales at all. Is this something I can get into without experience or degree?

I rediscovered you after like 3 years....woah...last I watched was your Disneyland vlog I guess

I'm here again

Is tech sales stressful? Do you can you work remotely doing it?

I love that Keke Palmer meme 🤣🤣

What are you doing to increase diversity in tech sales?

How are you doing as far your thyroid??

Do you have any advice for sales internships?

lol I was a theatre major and now I am in Sales

How are the hours?

best tech sales degrees?

should you tell the people regularly throughout your video to destroy the like button to help with the youtube algorithm? since your talk was about tech sale, i thought that was a good time to bring it up...

Can someone succeed in tech sales jobs in smaller towns / cities?

do you see yourself staying in tech sales for the foreseeable future?

How old are you?

💕💕💕

excellent video. Real af. Helped me a pot

Do you work at a fortune 500 company, and if so what letter does it start with?😂

I have an interview tomorrow with a sales apprenticeship program and this was so helpful, thank you!!!

You are the best person on this app

Wow what an amazing and detailed list of dislikes that 100% apply to a sales position lmao

this needs time stamps

A lack of diversity is a good thing in many cases as long as it's a relfection of the small percentage of diverse applicants who apply. Descrimiation is illegal, and therefore if that's happening then companies should be held accountable, but a lack of diversity is often a relection of the type of people who apply not descrimiation on the part of the people doing the hiring. We live in a free socity and there for we shouldn't try to prefent minorities from working in sales, however the opposite is also true that we should try to push minorities into sales just to make ourselves feel good that there is more diversity in the work place. Otherwise this can lead to a diversity hiring policy simlar to what many companies in silcone valley have, where they intentioinally give preference to anyone who's not a straight white male, just because they wish to make the work place look more diverse. An HR department should't be seeking to hire more minorities to make the work place look diverse, they should be seeking the absolute best candidates regardless of race, religion, gender or sexual orientation. I personally worked in construction for many years and I can say there is an extreme lack of female and sexual minorites in those jobs, but it's reflection of the fact that most wormen and sexaul minorites would never apply for those jobs, and that's totally understandable. In a free society people need to be free to apply for any job they wish and they also need to be free not to apply and except the fact that people from certain backgrous often gravitate towards certain carreers.

I work in sales in Italy, it is pretty different from your job but the concept is the same. I totally relate to everything you said, for me it is especially difficult as a 25 year old woman to be taken seriously, but I try my best everyday and it is very rewarding when people tell me they’re happy with my products and give my number to other companies so I can increase my business. 0% of my salary is guaranteed because I am self-employed and have an agreement with my company, so I feel the “fire up my ass” you’re talking about every. single. day. Working in the cardboard industry I have to close sooo many deals everyday to earn decent money and I can’t miss anything but what worries me the most is that I won’t get any help when I will have kids. I still wouldn’t give this job up for the world so I am sure I’ll manage somehow. The pressure is high and neverending but I feel so lucky that I have this job when people my age and older here are still at their parents’ house with their degree(s) waiting for at least one opportunity. Anyway, thank you for sharing this, I’m subscribing for more content I can relate to 100% 😂

what's an even more faker major is a music major of a particular medium...

Okay- we need to be friends or at least in the same network :)

I'm glad to see a woman talking about it. Seems like it was all bros

It’s not a true sales position but a customer and sales support position but not real sales. Think about it. The AE role outbound would be more of a truer tech sales job!

I see we even have the same job haha! :)

This video is exactly what I need right now since I work in sales. I sell Cutco Knives

You left out the most important question of all. You didn't tell us how much you make and what your. Commission structure is and you're bonus and bisalary and how long you've been at the company. Give us some numbers. !