Smart, Loyal Sales Stars – Apply Here!

Good Morning Boomers,

I receive lots of LinkedIn group messages as I belong to a lot of groups.  Great groups for the most part filled with interesting and insightful people who share their knowledge for the benefit of the rest of us.  Many also advertise job openings for which the unemployed are certainly grateful.  When I opened my mail box this morning I found a marvelous sales opportunity which many on the site would surely want to know about.  I eagerly began reading.

The posting is for an opportunity in the pharmaceuticals industry.  Hmm.  Usually very nice income and perks in that industry.  Wow.  They are asking for B2B sales so a pharma background isn’t even necessary.  Nice.  They want high performers.  Nothing you wouldn’t expect.  Why not hire the best of the best?  In this case, a President’s Award or ranked in the top 10% of your sales organization is a requirement.  And they have opportunities in various cities so multiple candidates will be hired.  Awesome opportunity.  

They want a GPA of at least 2.75.  I get that.  After all you will have to internalize some pretty serious science to be knowledgable enough to sell drugs or devices and they want to make sure that you have the “horsepower” to digest the information.  Why waste time trying to train someone who doesn’t have a good track record when it comes to learning heavy-duty “stuff”.

This part is troubling.  They ask that you have no more than 2 jobs after college.  Now correct me if I’m wrong, but I can’t think of a single reasonable, responsible, or business boosting reason for such a restriction.  

Surely it isn’t to pay lower wages because if you want top talent, and they are certainly asking that you be in the top, they are going to have to pay more for it.

Surely it isn’t because they don’t want the candidates to have any “bad habits” as they will already have had at least 1.5 years of B2B sales and that is plenty of time to pick up a clinker or two. 

Perhaps it is to limit the applications of “job jumpers”.  Today’s stats show that these days a stay of 3 years is about average.  So two jobs post college, 3 years each, points to a pool of applicants of about 28-30 years of age (for those who stayed and got the graduate degree before venturing into the world of work).

Unfortunately, my suspicion is that the “no more than 2 jobs” post college limitation has nothing to do with anything but the age of the candidates.  But perhaps I see a bogey man around every corner.  It is possible that my “agedar” goes up too easily and that I think “ageism” too quickly.

So let’s give them the benefit of the doubt.  Let’s give them a chance.  Let’s see what they would do with a candidate who fits all of their  qualifications – sales star, experienced B2B seller, good student, loyal employee who didn’t move around a lot, but who is also an “older worker”.  It would make an interesting conversation, don’t you think? 

Here is the link:  http://tinyurl.com/2bm7zw8.  If you meet all of the qualifications, connect with the recruiter.  Tell us about the conversation, let us know if you apply, if you get an interview, if you get the job.  We would love to hear a success story.  They would be lucky to have you.  And we could all use some good news.