How to get into sales with no experience: the four ways in, where the first seats are and what they pay

Sales is one of the few well-paid careers that hires people without a degree in it or a record in it, and most of the first seats are not where people look first. On 1 November 2026 this board had 2,627 open first sales seats that US candidates could take, and the largest group was not at software companies but at equipment rental, industrial distribution and medical device companies. This guide shows where the first seats are, what they pay, what employers screen for, and how to get hired into one.

Every figure about open roles below is counted from the board's own listings, read from employers' careers systems and checked every hour. A first seat is one whose title marks a starting level (SDR, BDR, inside sales, associate, trainee, graduate program, intern) and names no senior rank; the entry-level sales jobs page lists every open one today, and right now the board's sales development roles alone number 2,315 at a median posted pay of $75k/yr.

Contents

1. The short answer
2. The four ways in
3. Where the first seats are
4. What first seats pay
5. What employers screen for
6. How to get hired
7. What the first year looks like
8. How these figures were counted
9. Quick answers

1. The short answer

• Pick a door, not just a title. The common first seats are sales development (SDR or BDR) at a software company, an associate or inside sales seat at a distributor or equipment company, an associate seat at a medical device or drug maker, and a graduate or trainee program at a large company.
• Expect about $70,000. US first seats that post pay have a median of $70,000 a year, from about $47,000 for internships to $77,500 for associate seats, usually with a bonus or commission included.
• Show you can do the work before you have done it. Employers hire first-time sellers on evidence of drive, ease with people, coachability and a record of hitting goals somewhere (a job, a sport, a business, a campus role).
• Apply where the seats are. More than a quarter of open first seats on this board are at industrial companies; software companies hold fewer, and compete for applicants hardest.

2. The four ways in

Students have a fifth door: a sales internship, usually for a summer, which many companies recruit for in the autumn before; the sales internships page lists every open one. The doors lead to the same profession and differ in pace and pay. Sales development is the most visible because software companies talk about it most, but it is one way in among several. The guides How to get into tech sales, How to get into medical device sales and How to become a pharmaceutical sales rep go deep on three of them.

3. Where the first seats are

By what the employer sells, the open first seats US candidates could take on 1 November 2026:

The employers with the most open first seats that day were United Rentals (145), Stryker (129), Red Bull (83), Johnson Controls (61), Fetch Pet Insurance (52), IQVIA (48), Ferguson (47), Rexel (47), Graybar (44) and Inspire Medical Systems (43). Equipment rental, electrical and plumbing distribution, beverages and medical devices hire new sellers in large numbers, many of them into associate and trainee seats.

Some cities have more first seats than others. Salt Lake City, Boston and Austin have the highest share of sales development seats among the large US metros (about one in six of Salt Lake City's open sales roles, one in nine of Boston's and Austin's). Only 203 of the 2,627 US first seats were posted as remote: most companies keep new sellers near a manager while they learn.

4. What first seats pay

Median posted pay of US first seats on 1 November 2026, by the title's words:

Most of these figures are on-target pay: base plus the bonus or commission paid at 100% of target. For sales development, The Bridge Group's 2025 study found a median on-target pay of $80,000, split 68:32 between a $55,000 base and $25,000 of variable pay - The Bridge Group. The guide SDR salary breaks that seat down by product and city, and the first promotion usually lifts pay by tens of thousands of dollars: the account executive salary guide shows what the next seats post.

5. What employers screen for

First-seat postings rarely ask for sales experience. What they ask for, and what interviews test, comes down to five things:

1. A record of hitting a goal. Any measurable result counts: a quota in a retail or restaurant job, a fundraising target, a sport, a business you ran, a campus role you grew.
2. Ease talking to strangers. Customer-facing work of any kind (service, hospitality, retail, tutoring, recruiting) is the most common background of new sellers.
3. Coachability. Managers hire people who take feedback and change quickly; expect a role play in which they coach you and watch what you do with it.
4. Organization and pace. Sales development and inside seats run on a high volume of calls and emails; employers look for people who keep a system.
5. For field seats, practical requirements. A valid driver's license and a clean record, willingness to travel in a territory, and for medical seats the ability to work in hospitals and pass credentialing.

A degree helps for some seats (medical and many graduate programs ask for one) and matters little for others; the entry-level page shows what each open posting asks for.

6. How to get hired

• Target 20 to 30 companies, not 200 postings. Pick the door that fits you, then the employers on this board that hire most for it, and learn what each sells and to whom.
• Rewrite your resume around numbers. One line per role, each with a result: sales made, targets beaten, customers served, money raised. The guide Sales resume shows how, with examples for career changers.
• Prepare for the four standard rounds. A recruiter screen, a hiring-manager interview, a role play (often a cold call or a discovery call) and a final round; Sales interview questions lists the questions and what a good answer sounds like, and the interview practice tool lets you rehearse.
• Prospect the job like a seller. A short, specific note to the hiring manager or a sales development leader, saying why their company and what you have done, works better than a hundred applications, and it shows the skill the job needs.
• Ask about the ramp. How long training lasts, when the quota starts, how many reps reach it, and how long people usually stay before promotion.

7. What the first year looks like

The first months are mostly training: the product, the buyer, the tools, the call scripts and many practice calls. Quota usually starts low and rises over a ramp of a few months. The Bridge Group's 2025 study put the average time in a sales development seat at 1.9 years - The Bridge Group; people who hit their numbers early are often promoted sooner. The usual next steps are an account executive seat, an outside sales territory, or account management. The guide Sales career path maps the ladder with what each step pays.

8. How these figures were counted

• The roles: every open sales role on this board on 1 November 2026 that a US candidate could take and whose title marks a starting seat (SDR, BDR, inside sales, associate, trainee, graduate program, intern) without a senior rank or a people-management title: 2,627 roles, 1,555 of them stating pay. The rule reads what a title signals, not a promise: a posting can still ask for a degree or a year of experience in its text.
• Markets come from what each employer sells; pay is the midpoint of each posting's own range on a full year's scale, and the median across the roles in each group.

These figures describe one day; the entry-level sales jobs page always shows the current seats.

9. Quick answers

How do I get into sales with no experience? Apply for a first seat (SDR or BDR, inside sales, an associate seat or a graduate program) with a resume that shows measurable results from any job, and prepare for a role play. On 1 November 2026 there were 2,627 open first seats for US candidates on this board.

What is the best entry-level sales job? It depends on what you want next: sales development at a software company leads to account executive seats; an associate seat at a device maker leads to a territory; inside sales at a distributor leads to outside sales. Associate seats posted the highest median pay, $77,500.

How much do entry-level sales jobs pay? A median of $70,000 a year across US first seats that post pay, usually including a bonus or commission.

Do you need a degree for sales? Not for most first seats; medical sales and many graduate programs ask for one.

Where can I find entry-level sales jobs? The entry-level sales jobs page lists every open first seat with its pay, and the sales development roles page every SDR and BDR seat.