Recruiting junior sales profiles: the challenges of today

Finding good salespeople remains a persistent challenge, particularly when looking for junior profiles. Why is it so difficult? Perhaps because the competencies these young candidates bring no longer align with current expectations. The sales role itself is no longer what it was ten years ago.

Today, a junior salesperson must navigate digital tools such as CRMs, AI, manage social media effectively, and personalise their approach to each client. They need to be comfortable with remote selling, capable of analysing data, and able to create content to strengthen their professional profile. In short, alongside new behavioural competencies, advanced technical knowledge, marketing awareness, and strong communication skills have all become essential.

The real challenge for organisations? Attracting and retaining these versatile profiles, while taking into account the specific expectations this new generation brings with it. Here are some practical ways to make that happen.

Understanding what the new generation needs in order to attract them

Junior salespeople no longer share the same expectations as the previous generation. To attract these profiles, organisations need to understand what drives them and build an offer that speaks to them directly.

For this generation, salary may be an important factor — but it is far from the only one. These junior candidates are looking for flexible working environments, genuine opportunities for development, and work that feels meaningful. More than ever, they are attentive to work-life balance and personal wellbeing. They expect a working environment that recognises their efforts and is shaped by caring, empathetic management.

To attract these young profiles, organisations need to rethink how they make their case — designing job postings that are more human in tone and that genuinely highlight these aspects. As much emphasis should be placed on the quality of the work itself as on the environment in which it will take place. And for greater reach, it is worth exploring the alternative channels this generation actually uses, including the social media platforms where they spend their time.

Taking a holistic approach to assessing junior sales candidates

Organisations still rely too heavily on academic qualifications when recruiting salespeople, and in doing so miss out on profiles that may be more atypical but possess precisely the qualities now most sought after. Too much attention is focused on candidates’ technical skills — which, as is well known, can always be developed through training and experience. As a result, behavioural competencies and motivation — which are at the very heart of sales work and far more predictive of success in these roles — are too often overlooked. And yet it bears repeating: most recruitment failures are linked to a poor assessment of these human factors, not to a candidate’s technical background.

To attract junior sales talent, it makes sense to focus on motivated candidates with strong potential, even where they lack a specific sales qualification. Three psychometric assessments can support this approach:

A sales aptitude assessment, to estimate a candidate’s aptitude for developing within sales roles. The Sales Profile 2 is one of the few tools on the market capable of evaluating a candidate’s potential regardless of prior experience.
A personality assessment, to identify the qualities most relevant to sales performance: a natural talent for persuasion, the drive to take on challenges in demanding environments, and the ability to listen attentively to clients.
A motivation assessment, to identify what genuinely energises these junior profiles — whether that is financial reward, the desire to push beyond their limits, a sense of purpose, status, or team culture — so that the role can be shaped accordingly to support their wellbeing and encourage long-term retention.

Investing in the onboarding and development of junior profiles

Junior profiles place significant importance on the human dimension of work and on wellbeing in the workplace, this hardly needs restating. They are also sensitive to the alignment between their own values and the organisation’s culture. To maximise the chances of a successful and lasting integration, it is therefore essential to design an onboarding process that genuinely makes sense to them and responds to their needs.

For instance, to give this new generation of salespeople the foundation they need to integrate effectively, mentoring programmes, continuous learning opportunities, and personalised support will stimulate their motivation and generate the genuine desire to invest fully in their role and in the life of the organisation.

Furthermore, by assessing candidates’ predispositions for a sales environment from the outset, and by anticipating the competencies they can develop over time, organisations can quickly put in place tailored development programmes. This both accelerates the onboarding of new salespeople and represents an investment in their long-term potential.

It is by moving beyond conventional assessment criteria to focus instead on the commercial potential of this new generation, and on what they genuinely expect from work, that organisations will find it easier not only to acquire these profiles, but to help them grow. In doing so, they respond to the needs of both the individual and the organisation.

Download our practical guide to recruiting and developing salespeople more effectively.