Job Market Trends in Sales/Marketing

The COVID-19 pandemic posed many questions to the sales and marketing industry as companies faced unprecedented challenges in addressing how societal changes affected both the top and bottom line of many businesses. Additionally, as many companies transition to a work-from-home arrangement, sales and marketing departments have had to transition their workflows for optimal effect and productivity as well.

As a result of these shifts in working dynamics, interesting challenges and opportunities have arisen when thinking about careers in sales and jobs in marketing. Many job seekers now opt for jobs where they can work from home. Hence, they look for remote jobs in Atlanta, Dallas, DC, or from any part of the U.S depending on which city offers the best job offer.

Changes in the way people shop for goods, groceries, and nearly every other consumer item have been triggered by the global pandemic two. Companies that have transformed their operations to take advantage of digital and e-commerce have fared better than companies, and industries, that have relied primarily on in-person transactions. On the surface, this should be mean that sales and marketing jobs – especially demand for digital marketing talent – should rise, as companies look to take their online presence to the next level – in order to capitalize on these dramatic shifts in consumer behavior.

But do these trends actually play out in the real world? What is the future of the sales industry and what are the actual digital marketing trends in the marketplace today? While it is too early to make any definitive judgments on the state of play, there are definitely some trends that are apparent across sales and marketing jobs on the hiring front.

Sales & Marketing Jobs in a WFH World

One thing working for sales and marketing departments all across the country and at all sorts of companies is that sales and marketing, as a function, has been shifting to a more remote work setup for many years already. As companies have looked to cut costs and capitalize on areas where savings could be generated, it has not been uncommon for companies to have transitioned their sales and marketing departments to a work-from-home arrangement already. This bodes well for sales and marketing professionals who may already have the skills and processes in place to Excel in the work-from-home world.

Also, sales and marketing positions have traditionally been roles that have required travel – representatives flying to customers across the country to prospect and close deals, for example. Therefore, many sales and marketing professionals already possess the necessary autonomy and self-discipline required to succeed in a remote working environment.

“Sales and marketing professionals have traditionally been more comfortable with working from home, especially for some of our clients who have reached out to us for support in these kinds of roles in the past,” says Kristen Fowler, Practice Lead at Clarke Caniff Strategic Search, a boutique executive search firm specializing in the retail, luxury, real estate, and services sectors. “In that sense, we haven’t seen as much disruption to sales and marketing recruiting as we’ve seen in some other functions.”

Encouraging Signs in Sales Recruiting & Marketing Jobs

 As companies warm to the idea of either permanently working from home, or slowly transitioning back to an office setting, management teams have been freed up to start thinking about long-term strategies that bring their firms back to growth. At the end of the day, sales and marketing departments catalyze revenue generation for most organizations. As company leadership teams move their thinking away from human capital demands and budgetary constraints triggered by the uncertainty around the pandemic, Industries that support hiring efforts across sales and marketing roles are reporting that companies are returning to the mindset of increasing sales.

“It does seem as though companies are slowly trying to get back into growth mode again,” says Dennis Theodorou, Managing Director at JMJ Phillip Executive Search – a boutique executive search firm specializing in the manufacturing, supply chain, and technology sectors. “We are seeing signs across many of our clients that demand for sales professionals is rising. There has definitely been an uptick in hiring for sales positions over the past eight months.”

Kane Carpenter is the Director of Marketing for Clarke Caniff Strategic Search. In this role, Kane is responsible for driving market awareness across the entire JMJ Phillip Holdings portfolio of companies. Kane also manages Employment BOOST’s Career Services function for and leads hiring and recruitment efforts. Kane is currently pursuing an MBA degree from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, holds a bachelor’s degree from Boston University, and is Google Advertising Certified.