Updated 2008
In-Demand

Summary Report for:
41-9091.00 - Door-To-Door Sales Workers, News and Street Vendors, and Related Workers

Sell goods or services door-to-door or on the street.

Sample of reported job titles: Demonstrator, Independent Sales Representative, Independent Beauty Consultant, Independent Distributor, Independent Jeweler, Sales Representative, Street Vendor

View report: Summary  Details  Custom

Tasks  |  Knowledge  |  Skills  |  Abilities  |  Work Activities  |  Work Context  |  Job Zone  |  Interests  |  Work Styles  |  Work Values  |  Related Occupations  |  Wages & Employment

Tasks

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Knowledge

Sales and Marketing — Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Customer and Personal Service — Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

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Skills

Active Listening — Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Time Management — Managing one's own time and the time of others.
Speaking — Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Service Orientation — Actively looking for ways to help people.
Management of Financial Resources — Determining how money will be spent to get the work done, and accounting for these expenditures.
Instructing — Teaching others how to do something.
Social Perceptiveness — Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Reading Comprehension — Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

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Abilities

Oral Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Oral Comprehension — The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Speech Clarity — The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Speech Recognition — The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Written Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Inductive Reasoning — The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Written Comprehension — The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Problem Sensitivity — The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
Deductive Reasoning — The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Originality — The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.

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Work Activities

Selling or Influencing Others — Convincing others to buy merchandise/goods or to otherwise change their minds or actions.
Performing for or Working Directly with the Public — Performing for people or dealing directly with the public. This includes serving customers in restaurants and stores, and receiving clients or guests.
Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships — Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.
Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work — Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work.
Communicating with Persons Outside Organization — Communicating with people outside the organization, representing the organization to customers, the public, government, and other external sources. This information can be exchanged in person, in writing, or by telephone or e-mail.
Coaching and Developing Others — Identifying the developmental needs of others and coaching, mentoring, or otherwise helping others to improve their knowledge or skills.
Developing and Building Teams — Encouraging and building mutual trust, respect, and cooperation among team members.
Getting Information — Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge — Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job.
Developing Objectives and Strategies — Establishing long-range objectives and specifying the strategies and actions to achieve them.

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Work Context

Freedom to Make Decisions — How much decision making freedom, without supervision, does the job offer?
Structured versus Unstructured Work — To what extent is this job structured for the worker, rather than allowing the worker to determine tasks, priorities, and goals?
Deal With External Customers — How important is it to work with external customers or the public in this job?
Contact With Others — How much does this job require the worker to be in contact with others (face-to-face, by telephone, or otherwise) in order to perform it?
Telephone — How often do you have telephone conversations in this job?
Electronic Mail — How often do you use electronic mail in this job?
Face-to-Face Discussions — How often do you have to have face-to-face discussions with individuals or teams in this job?
Physical Proximity — To what extent does this job require the worker to perform job tasks in close physical proximity to other people?
Level of Competition — To what extent does this job require the worker to compete or to be aware of competitive pressures?
Letters and Memos — How often does the job require written letters and memos?

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Job Zone

Title Job Zone Two: Some Preparation Needed
Overall Experience Some previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience may be helpful in these occupations, but usually is not needed. For example, a teller might benefit from experience working directly with the public, but an inexperienced person could still learn to be a teller with little difficulty.
Job Training Employees in these occupations need anywhere from a few months to one year of working with experienced employees.
Job Zone Examples These occupations often involve using your knowledge and skills to help others. Examples include sheet metal workers, forest fire fighters, customer service representatives, pharmacy technicians, salespersons (retail), and tellers.
SVP Range (4.0 to < 6.0)
Education These occupations usually require a high school diploma and may require some vocational training or job-related course work. In some cases, an associate's or bachelor's degree could be needed.

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Interests

Interest code: EC

Enterprising — Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.
Conventional — Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.

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Work Styles

Independence — Job requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done.
Integrity — Job requires being honest and ethical.
Cooperation — Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.
Dependability — Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
Initiative — Job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges.
Persistence — Job requires persistence in the face of obstacles.
Self Control — Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.
Achievement/Effort — Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.
Concern for Others — Job requires being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job.
Social Orientation — Job requires preferring to work with others rather than alone, and being personally connected with others on the job.

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Work Values

Relationships — Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment. Corresponding needs are Co-workers, Moral Values and Social Service.
Achievement — Occupations that satisfy this work value are results oriented and allow employees to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment. Corresponding needs are Ability Utilization and Achievement.
Independence — Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employs to work on their own and make decisions. Corresponding needs are Creativity, Responsibility and Autonomy.

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Related Occupations

41-2031.00 Retail Salespersons In-Demand
41-3011.00 Advertising Sales Agents
41-3021.00 Insurance Sales Agents In-Demand
41-4011.00 Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products In-Demand
53-3031.00 Driver/Sales Workers

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Wages & Employment Trends

National

Median wages (2008) $10.09 hourly, $20,990 annual
Employment (2006) 200,000 employees
Projected growth (2006-2016) Slower than average (3% to 6%) Slower than average (3% to 6%)
Projected need (2006-2016) 34,000 additional employees

State & National

          CareerOneStop

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics 2008 wage data external site and 2006-2016 employment projections external site. "Projected growth" represents the estimated change in total employment over the projections period (2006-2016). "Projected need" represents job openings due to growth and net replacement.

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