How to Get Into Sales (Even With No Experience): A Step-by-Step Guide

Breaking into sales without any experience can feel like a catch-22. Every job posting seems to want a proven track record, but how can you build one if nobody will give you a shot?

We’ll let you in on a secret: Sales is one of the few career paths where attitude, communication skills, and drive matter just as much as a resume full of relevant experience. Companies across industries hire entry-level sales professionals every day, and many of them prefer candidates they can train from scratch.

Whether you’re a recent graduate figuring out your first move, a career changer looking for something new, or someone who’s never worked in a formal sales role, this guide will walk you through exactly how to break into the field. You’ll learn how to identify the skills you already have, prepare for your first interview, target the right roles, and position yourself as someone worth betting on.

WHAT A SALES CAREER ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE

Before getting into how to break in, it’s worth understanding what you’re actually breaking into. Sales careers have a fairly consistent structure across industries, and once you understand the path, it becomes much easier to see where you fit.

The Typical Sales Career Path

Most sales careers follow a progression that looks something like this:

What Makes Sales Different From Most Career Paths

In many fields, career progression is tied to tenure — you put in the time, and you move up. Sales doesn’t work that way. Instead of time spent in a role, performance is what primarily matters. A rep who consistently hits quota will advance faster than a mediocre rep who’s been around for a few years. This is both a challenge and an opportunity.

It also means that breaking in without any experience is an achievable goal. Because once you’re in, what you accomplish matters far more than how you got there.

What Sales Pays

Compensation in sales typically has two components, a base salary and variable pay (commission or bonuses) tied to performance. Entry-level roles like SDR/BDR positions generally offer a modest base pay with a commission structure on top, and total earnings grow as you move into AE and leadership roles. In many industries (including tech, financial services, medical devices, and staffing) experienced sales professionals earn well into six figures.

That earning potential is one of the biggest reasons people pursue a sales career. The ceiling is high, and you don’t always need decades of experience to reach it.

WHY YOU DON’T NEED EXPERIENCE TO GET STARTED IN SALES

If you’ve ever talked yourself out of applying for a sales role because your resume doesn’t show direct experience, you aren’t alone — and you’re most likely underestimating yourself.

Sales is one of the more accessible career paths out there, precisely because the skills that make someone a good salesperson aren’t learned in a classroom. They’re best developed through life experience, and chances are, you already have more of them than you think.

Sales Hires for Attitude and Communication, Not Credentials

Ask most sales managers what they look for in an entry-level candidate, and you’ll hear the same things: coachability, resilience, work ethic, and the ability to have a real conversation. These are all qualities that come through in how you carry yourself, respond to feedback, and connect with people.

That’s why hiring managers may prefer a clean slate to candidates who potentially have years of bad habits to unlearn. If you have the drive, are receptive to training, and are good with people, you’re already a compelling candidate.

Your Previous Experience Translates More Than You Think

Think about the roles you’ve held, the situations you’ve navigated, and the skills you’ve built along the way. Many most likely transfer to what sales requires.

• Customer-facing roles: Retail, hospitality, food service, and client support all develop the communication and people skills needed.
• Teaching or coaching: Explaining ideas clearly, reading a room, and motivating others are core sales competencies.
• Athletics or competition: Goal orientation, resilience under pressure, and the ability to bounce back from losses translate well to a quota-carrying role.
• Negotiation or persuasion: Whether it was closing deals in a previous industry, mediating conflicts, or advocating for something you believed in, you’ve already been selling.
• Entrepreneurial experience: If you’ve ever run a side business, freelanced, or built up an operation from scratch, you understand hustle and have the tenacity that a sales career relies on.

None of these need to be directly tied to sales to be relevant. The key is knowing how to frame them (more on that later).

Many Entry-Level Sales Roles Are Designed to Train You

SDR and BDR positions at most companies are built around onboarding people who are new to sales. Companies that hire at this level expect to invest in training. They’ll teach you their sales methodology, their CRM, their pitch, and their process.

What they can’t teach, and what they’re mostly hiring for, is raw potential. The drive, the communication style, the willingness to pick up the phone and handle rejection without folding. If you can demonstrate that you have those qualities, many employers will happily help you fill in the rest.

HOW TO GET STARTED IN SALES: 7 STEPS

Now that you understand what a sales career looks like and why experience isn’t always a prerequisite, let’s take a closer look at what you can do to get started. The following seven steps will walk you through what to do, from building foundational knowledge to landing your first role, and accelerating your growth afterward.

You don’t need to have everything figured out before you start. Work through these steps, and by the end you’ll have a plan, a stronger resume, and the confidence to walk into any sales interview ready to make your case.

Step 1: Learn Sales Basics

Before you begin applying, take some time to familiarize yourself with how sales works. You don’t need to become an expert overnight, but walking into an interview with a grasp of basic concepts, terminology, and process will set you apart from candidates who show up with enthusiasm alone.

Most sales roles, regardless of industry, follow some version of the same fundamental process:

• Prospecting: Identifying potential customers who might be a good fit for the product or service being sold
• Outreach: Making contact with prospects through cold calls, emails, LinkedIn messages, or other channels
• Discovery: Having conversations to understand prospects’ needs, challenges, and goals
• Pitching: Presenting a solution in a way that connects directly to what the prospect cares about
• Handling objections: Addressing concerns or hesitations that come up during the sales conversation
• Closing: Asking for the business and moving the deal forward
• Following up: Staying in touch with prospects who aren’t ready yet and nurturing relationships over time

As an entry-level sales professional, you may only be responsible for the first two or three stages of this process, but understanding the full picture shows employers that you’re thinking about sales strategically, not just as a job.

Get Familiar With Key Terminology

Every industry has its jargon, and sales is no different. Getting comfortable with common terms now will help you speak the language and demonstrate that you’ve done your homework. A few must-know terms include:

• CRM (customer relationship management): The software sales teams use to track leads, manage pipelines, and log activity. Salesforce and HubSpot are two of the most widely used platforms.
• Pipeline: The collection of deals or prospects a sales professional is actively working on at any given time
• Quota: The sales target a rep is expected to hit, typically measured monthly or quarterly
• KPIs (key performance indicators): The metrics used to measure a sales professional’s activity and performance, such as number of calls made, emails sent, or meetings booked
• Lead vs. prospect: A lead is anyone who might potentially become a customer; a prospect has been qualified as a confirmed lead
• Conversion rate: The percentage of leads or prospects who move from one stage of the sales process to the next

Step 2: Identify Your Transferable Skills

One of the biggest mistakes career changers and first-time job seekers make is assuming that because they haven’t held a sales title, they have nothing relevant to offer. In reality, most people have skills that translate to sales; they just haven’t learned to recognize them yet.

Your transferable skills are capabilities you’ve developed through every role, project, volunteer experience, and life situation you’ve navigated. The goal here is to look at your background through a sales lens and ask: Where have I already been using the competencies that sales requires?

Here are some of the most valuable transferable skills in sales and how they’re commonly developed:

One way you can determine which of these (or other) transferable skills you already have is by doing a quick audit. Grab a piece of paper or open a blank document and work through the following prompts:

• What roles have I held where I regularly communicated with or persuaded others?
• When have I been responsible for hitting a target, meeting a deadline, or delivering measurable results?
• When have I had to handle pushback, disappointment, or rejection? What was my response?
• Have I ever had to explain something complicated in a simple, compelling way?
• Where have I built relationships or earned someone’s trust over time?

Your answers don’t need to come from a traditional workplace. Volunteer work, side projects, community involvement, and personal experiences all count. What matters is that you can connect the dots between what you’ve done and what sales requires, and articulate that connection clearly to a hiring manager.

Step 3: Build Practical Exposure

One of the most common questions people new to sales ask is, “How do I get sales experience if I’ve never had a sales job?”. The answer is that you don’t need a formal sales role to start building credibility. You just need to be intentional about creating opportunities to practice and prove yourself.

Even a small amount of real-world exposure can make a difference in how hiring managers perceive you. It signals initiative, gives you concrete examples to draw from in interviews, and helps you figure out whether sales is actually the right fit before you’re fully committed.

Here are some ways to get started:

Take on a Volunteer Role

Similarly, many nonprofits and community organizations need help with fundraising, sponsorship outreach, or donor relations. Volunteer-based roles like these involve the same core skills as sales, such as making a compelling case, handling objections, and building relationships.

Start a Personal Selling Project

You don’t need a sales job to start selling. Flip items on eBay or Facebook Marketplace, sell handmade goods on Etsy, or offer a freelance service and pitch it to potential clients. The specifics matter less than the practice, and with this method you’ll get real experience prospecting, pitching, negotiating, and closing. What’s more, you’ll have results to point to.

Try Freelance Lead Generation

Some businesses hire freelancers to research and generate leads on a project basis. Platforms like Upwork and Fiverr are good places to find this kind of work. It puts you inside the top of the sales funnel, gives you hands-on experience with prospecting and outreach, and often exposes you to CRM tools that will show up on job descriptions later.

Shadow or Informally Assist a Sales Professional

If you know anyone working in sales (a former colleague, a LinkedIn connection, a friend of a friend), reach out and ask if you can shadow them for a day or assist with a small project. Even a few hours of observation can give you a clearer picture of what the day-to-day looks like and sharpen how you talk about your interest in the field.

Track Everything With Numbers

Whatever exposure you gain, make sure you measure it. Hiring managers in sales think in metrics, and being able to quantify your results, even from informal or self-directed projects, makes your experience feel more credible.

For example, instead of saying “I helped with outreach at a local nonprofit,” say “I made 50 outreach calls over four weeks and secured eight donor commitments.” Instead of “I sold items online,” say “I listed and sold 30 products over two months with a 92% positive feedback rating.” The habit of tracking and quantifying results will serve you well beyond your job search. It’s how successful sales professionals think about their work.

Step 4: Target the Right Entry-Level Role

Not all entry-level sales roles are created equal. The title, structure, industry, and company you start with will shape your trajectory more than most people realize. That’s why it’s important to be deliberate about where you aim, rather than applying to every job posting you see and seeing what sticks.

Here’s a breakdown of the most common entry points into sales, and what each one offers.

How to Choose the Right Role for You

The best role to target depends on a combination of your background, your goals, and the kind of environment where you’re likely to thrive. Ask yourself:

• Do I want structure and a clear development path, or am I more comfortable figuring things out independently?SDR/BDR programs offer more structure; startups and junior AE roles often offer more autonomy.

• Do I want to specialize in one part of the sales process or own the full cycle?SDRs focus on top-of-funnel; inside sales and junior AE roles give you broader exposure.

• What industry interests me?Selling something you care about, or at least understand, flattens the learning curve. Think about where your previous experience or natural interests could give you a head start.

• What does the growth path look like?Ask in every interview: Where do your top SDRs or entry-level reps go after 12 to 18 months? The answer will tell you a lot about whether the company invests in its people.

Step 5: Build a Sales-Ready Resume

A sales resume needs to demonstrate that you’re capable of delivering results. So, instead of merely listing where you’ve worked and what you did in those roles, it also needs to tell a story about what you’ve accomplished, how you’ve added value, and how those accomplishments translate to a sales environment.

The good news is that even without direct sales experience, there’s still a lot you can do to make your resume stand out.

Lead With a Strong Summary

At the top of your resume, include a two- or three-sentence professional summary that frames you as a sales candidate. This is your first opportunity to show hiring managers how your background translates, so be specific and intentional.

A weak summary sounds like this: “Motivated professional looking to transition into a sales role. Strong communicator with a passion for helping people.”

Here’s a stronger example: “Customer-facing professional with five years of experience in client relations and account management, now targeting an SDR role in B2B tech. Known for building trust quickly, handling objections with ease, and consistently exceeding performance targets in fast-paced environments.”

The difference is specificity. The second summary tells the reader exactly who you are, what you’ve done, and where you’re headed.

Reframe Your Experience Through a Sales Lens

This is where the transferable skills work you did earlier pays off. Go back through each role on your resume and ask yourself: What did I do here that a sales manager would care about? Then rewrite your bullet points to reflect that framing.

As you work, focus on the following three things:

• Actions: What did you do? Be sure to use active verbs to describe those activities (e.g., prospected, negotiated, presented, converted, retained, grew, etc.).
• Results: What happened because of what you did? This is where numbers come in. Revenue generated, clients retained, targets hit, response rates achieved — include any metric that shows impact.
• Relevance: Does each bullet point connect to something a sales role requires? If it doesn’t, cut it or reframe it.Here’s a before and after example:Before: Assisted customers on the retail floor and answered product questions

After: Consulted with customers to understand needs and recommend solutions, consistently achieving upsell targets and maintaining a 95% customer satisfaction score.

Highlight Metrics Wherever You Can

Similarly, a resume that quantifies results shows that you understand how performance is measured and that you’re comfortable being held accountable. Plus, sales managers are numbers people, so they’ll more than likely be looking for these kinds of measurable results.

Don’t have traditional sales metrics to include? That’s fine. Think broadly:

• Did you manage a budget? How large?
• Did you retain clients or reduce churn? By how much?
• Did you grow a program, team, or audience? What were the numbers?
• Did you hit or exceed performance targets? What percentage of the time?

Even approximate figures are better than none at all. “Managed relationships with approximately 40 client accounts” is more compelling than “managed client accounts.”

Keep the Format Clean and Simple

Hiring managers reviewing a high volume of applications spend an average of a few seconds on an initial resume scan. Make sure yours is easy to read at a glance by:

• Using a clean, single-column format with clear section headers
• Keep it to one page if you have fewer than ten years of experience
• Use bullet points for job descriptions, not dense paragraphs
• Choose a readable font and leave enough white space that the page doesn’t feel cluttered
• Save and submit as a PDF unless the job posting specifies otherwise

Tailor It for Every Application

This is the step most candidates skip, but it’s one of the most impactful things you can do. Before submitting your resume for any role, read the job description carefully and make sure your resume reflects the specific language, priorities, and requirements mentioned. If the posting emphasizes cold calling, make sure your resume speaks to outreach experience. If it mentions CRM tools, reference any exposure you have, even if it was minimal.

Applicant tracking systems (ATS) scan resumes for keywords before a human ever sees them, so aligning your language with the job description can be the difference between whether your application makes it through to the hiring manager’s desk or not.

Step 6: Prepare for the Interview (and Treat It Like a Sales Call)

In a sales interview, the interviewer is both evaluating your qualifications and watching how you communicate, handle pressure, and whether you can sell. In a very real sense, the interview is an audition where the product you’re selling is yourself.

That doesn’t mean you need to be slick or performative. It means you need to be prepared, confident, and deliberate — the same qualities that will make you effective in a sales role.

Do Your Research Beforehand

This should go without saying, but familiarize yourself with the company, the product, and market before your interview. Sales candidates who skip this step stand out, and not in a good way.

At a minimum, you should be able to speak to:

• What the company sells and who their target customer is
• How their product or service fulfills customer needs
• Who their main competitors are and how they differentiate themselves
• Any recent news, growth milestones, or industry trends relevant to their business

Prepare and Practice Your Personal Pitch

Almost every sales interview will include some version of the question: “Tell me about yourself.” This is your opening pitch, and it deserves the same preparation you’d give any sales presentation.

Keep it concise and structure it around where you’ve been, what you’ve learned or accomplished, and why you’re here. Connect your background directly to the role you’re applying for, and end with a forward-looking sentiment that shows you’re excited about the specific opportunity.

Practice it out loud, ideally in front of a mirror or with someone who can give you honest feedback. This way, you can deliver it confidently when asked.

Anticipate the Tough Questions

Sales interviews often include questions designed to test how you think on your feet and how you handle adversity. Some of the most common ones for entry-level candidates include:

• Why do you want to get into sales?Be honest and specific. Avoid generic answers about liking people or wanting to earn more money. Talk about what draws you to the challenge, the performance-based structure, or the industry.
• How do you handle rejection?Have a real example ready. Think about a time you faced a setback or failure and what you did next. The content matters less than your ability to reflect on it honestly and demonstrate resilience.
• Sell me this pen.This classic prompt isn’t really about the pen. It assesses whether you ask questions before pitching, whether you listen, and whether you can connect a solution to a stated need.
• Where do you see yourself in two to three years?Sales managers want to hire people with ambition and a clear sense of direction. Have an honest answer that reflects your goals without sounding as if you’re planning to leave the moment something better comes along.

Show That You’re Coachable

If you get the job, sales managers are going to invest time and resources in training you, and they want to know that investment will pay off.

You can demonstrate coachability throughout the interview by asking thoughtful questions, responding openly to feedback or pushback, and showing genuine curiosity about how the team operates and how top performers got to where they are. Avoid being defensive, dismissive, or overly rigid in your answers, and if the interviewer offers a correction or a different perspective, engage with it rather than brushing past it.

Close the Interview

This is the step where you can show you think like a salesperson. At the end of the interview, don’t just thank the interviewer and wait to hear back, ask for the next step.

Something as simple as this can go a long way: “I’m excited about this opportunity and I feel strongly that my background is a great fit. What does the next step in your process look like, and is there anything else you’d need from me to move forward?”

It’s direct, it’s confident, and it shows that you know how to advance a conversation toward a decision.

Step 7: Invest in Certifications or Training (Optional)

By this point, you have a solid foundation. You understand the sales landscape, you know what you bring to the table, you’ve gotten some practical exposure, and you’re ready to apply and interview. So why consider this step?

While certifications and formal training are by no means a prerequisite for breaking into sales, the right training can give you an edge, particularly if you’re competing with candidates with more direct experience. This step is more of an accelerator rather than a requirement: something to pursue in parallel with your job search if you wish.

Free and Low-Cost Certifications Worth Considering

• HubSpot Inbound Sales Certification
• Salesforce Certified Sales Foundations
• LinkedIn Sales Navigator Training
• Sales Courses on Coursera

Sales Bootcamps

If you want a more immersive, structured learning experience, sales bootcamps might be a good fit. Programs from companies such as Aspireship or SV academy are specifically designed to help career changers break into sales (particularly in tech), and offer a combination of sales training, coaching, and job placement support.

These programs vary in cost, time commitment, and outcomes, so do your research before committing. Look for programs with transparent placement rates, strong employer partnerships, and alumni you can speak with if you have questions before enrolling.

A Word of Caution

It’s easy to overprepare — spending months completing courses and certifications at the expense of your actual job search. Certifications can build confidence and strengthen your resume, but they won’t get you hired on their own. The best way to learn sales is by doing it.

Use this step to supplement your search. A HubSpot certification completed over a weekend and added to your LinkedIn profile is valuable. A six-month detour into online learning before you’ve submitted a single application typically isn’t.

The Final Takeaway: You’re More Ready Than You Think

Breaking into sales is something that thousands of people successfully do every year. The candidates who get hired aren’t necessarily the ones with the most impressive resumes. They’re the ones who show up prepared, demonstrate the right qualities, and make a convincing case for why they’re a good fit.

You now have everything you need to do just that.

You understand what a sales career looks like and where it can take you. You know how to identify and articulate the skills you already have, how to build credibility before your first interview, how to target the right roles, and how to walk into any hiring conversation with confidence.

The only thing left to do is start.

If you’re ready to take the next step, Sales Search Partners is here to help. Explore open entry-level sales opportunities or send us your resume to start building your sales career today.

FAQ

How do I begin a career in sales without experience?

To begin a sales career without experience, start by building a foundation. Get familiar with basic sales concepts and terminology, take stock of the transferable skills you already have, and look for small ways to build practical exposure. From there, tailor your resume to speak the language of sales, target the right entry-level roles for your background, and approach every interview as an opportunity to demonstrate the qualities hiring managers actually hire for.

What kind of experience transfers to a career in sales?

More types of experience transfer to sales careers than most people expect. Any role that involved communicating with or persuading others, managing relationships, hitting performance targets, or handling pushback and rejection has given you skills that are directly relevant to sales. The key is being able to identify what you did, connect it to what sales requires, and articulate that connection clearly to a hiring manager.

What skills do I need for a career in sales?

The most important skills in sales are communication, active listening, resilience, goal orientation, and the ability to build trust with people quickly. Beyond those fundamentals, familiarity with CRM software, an understanding of the basic sales process, and a willingness to be coached and developed will go a long way, especially at the entry level.