According to a LinkedIn Emerging Jobs Report, Sales Development Representatives are among the top 10 fastest growing jobs in the U.S., while an Enterprise Account Executive ranks as the second most recruited job on LinkedIn. It’s clear the demand for sales talent is high, starting at the entry-level. So where are recruiters having the most success finding promising sales talent?
New data from our platform shows that public universities and well-known – but slightly less selective – private universities are producing the most in-demand candidates for entry-level sales roles.
The list is compiled by analyzing the interactions between recruiters and students that use our platform. RippleMatch automatically matches qualified candidates with entry-level positions and internships, and screens candidates for initial interest. After reviewing candidates' profiles, recruiters that use our platform are able to reject or accept matched candidates into their interview process. By analyzing data across thousands of interactions, we found that students from certain universities were much more likely to receive a first round interview for ‘Sales’ positions than students from other universities. We identified the top schools as those with the highest percentage of candidates accepted by a recruiter into a company's interview process for a sales role.
Universities such as Syracuse University, Pennsylvania State University, and Texas A&M University all showed up on our list, while only one Ivy League schools made an appearance. In contrast, our list of the top 10 universities to find entry-level analysts was dominated by Ivy League schools and highly selective private universities. It’s clear that recruiters hiring for sales roles are looking beyond academic pedigree and expanding their search for talent to a wide range of schools – here are their top 10 preferences.
1. Texas A&M - College Station – 95% of Texas A&M Candidates Accepted by Recruiters
Location: College Station, TX
Type of Institution: Public
Undergraduate Enrollment: 53,065
Admissions Acceptance Rate: 60%
2019 US News Ranking: #66
2. Georgetown University – 86% of Georgetown Candidates Accepted by Recruiters
Location: Washington, D.C.
Type of Institution: Private
Undergraduate Enrollment: 7,463
Admissions Acceptance Rate: 14.5%
2019 US News Ranking: #22
3. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor – 85% of Michigan Candidates Accepted by Recruiters
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
Type of Institution: Public
Undergraduate Enrollment: 29,821
Admissions Acceptance Rate: 23.5%
2019 US News Ranking: #27
4. University of California, Berkeley – 82% of UC Berkeley Candidates Accepted by Recruiters
Location: Berkeley, CA
Type of Institution: Public
Undergraduate Enrollment: 30,574
Admissions Acceptance Rate: 15%
2019 US News Ranking: #22
5. Cornell University – 81% of Cornell Candidates Accepted by Recruiters
Location: Ithaca, NY
Type of Institution: Private
Undergraduate Enrollment: 14,907
Admissions Acceptance Rate: 10%
2019 US News Ranking: #16
6. University of Virginia – 80% of UVA Candidates Accepted by Recruiters
Location: Charlottesville, VA
Type of Institution: Public
Undergraduate Enrollment: 16,655
Admissions Acceptance Rate: 29.8%
2019 US News Ranking: #25
7. Pennsylvania State University – 79% of Penn State Candidates Accepted by Recruiters
Location: University Park, PA
Type of Institution: Public
Undergraduate Enrollment: 40,835
Admissions Acceptance Rate: 50%
2019 US News Ranking: #59
8. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign – 78% of University of Illinois Candidates Accepted by Recruiters
Location: Champaign, IL
Type of Institution: Public
Undergraduate Enrollment: 33,955
Admissions Acceptance Rate: 62%
2019 US News Ranking: #46
9. Boston College – 76% of Boston College Candidates Accepted by Recruiters
Location: Chestnut Hill, MA
Type of Institution: Private
Undergraduate Enrollment: 9,358
Admissions Acceptance Rate: 27%
2019 US News Ranking: #38
10. Syracuse University – 73% of Syracuse Candidates Accepted by Recruiters
Location: Syracuse, NY
Type of Institution: Private
Undergraduate Enrollment: 15,252
Admissions Acceptance Rate: 47%
2019 US News Ranking: #53
This post has been updated to include data from the entire 2018-2019 hiring cycle.