Specialized Sales

Types of Degrees Specialized Sales Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many specialized sales, merchandising and marketing graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	2,620
Associate Degree	1,481
Basic Certificate	849
Master’s Degree	153
Undergraduate Certificate	61
Graduate Certificate	27

What Specialized Sales Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to specialized marketing and asked them what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. The responses were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important.

Knowledge Areas for Specialized Marketing Majors

This major prepares you for careers in which these knowledge areas are important:

• 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.
• 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.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

Skills for Specialized Marketing Majors

A major in specialized marketing prepares you for careers in which the following skill-sets are crucial:

• 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.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Persuasion - Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others’ reactions and understanding why they react as they do.

Abilities for Specialized Marketing Majors

Specialized Marketing majors often go into careers where the following abilities are vital:

• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• 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 Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

What Can You Do With a Specialized Sales Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with specialized marketing:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
First-Line Supervisors of Non-Retail Sales Workers	4.9%	$73,390
First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers	3.8%	$39,630
Lodging Managers	4.0%	$53,390
Parts Salespersons	5.0%	$30,430
Sales Agents, Financial Services	6.2%	$64,120
Sales Agents, Securities and Commodities	6.2%	$64,120
Sales and Related Workers	10.6%	$33,220
Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products	5.2%	$58,510

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Specialized Sales?

This is one of the most frequently chosen business majors. It is the 19th most popular in the country with 2,620 students graduating with a bachelor’s in specialized marketing in 2021. The major attracts more women than men. About 85% of the recent graduates in this field are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of specialized marketing majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	126
Black or African American	330
Hispanic or Latino	385
White	1,471
International Students	134
Other Races/Ethnicities	174

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Specialized Marketing, too. About 5.1% of those with this major are international students. The most popular countries for students from outside the country are:

• South Korea
• China
• Canada
• Taiwan
• Japan

How Much Do Specialized Sales Majors Make?

Bachelor’s Degree Starting Salary

The median early-career salary of specialized sales, merchandising and marketing students with a bachelor’s degree is $32,868 a year according to 2019-2020 data from the U.S. Department of Education. During this timeframe, most salaries fell between $27,397 (25th percentile) and $37,792 (75th percentile).

It’s important to note that just because the people reporting these salaries have a degree in specialized marketing, it does not mean that they are working in a job related to their degree.

Salaries According to BLS

Specialized Marketing majors often go into careers where salaries can range from $40,480 to $69,480 (25th to 75th percentile). This range includes all degree levels, so you may expect those with a more advanced degree to make more while those with less advanced degrees will typically make less.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Specialized Sales

Some degrees associated with specialized marketing may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to specialized marketing have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	11.1%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	31.8%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	4.9%
Some College Courses	5.6%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	11.9%
Bachelor’s Degree	32.9%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	1.3%
Master’s Degree	1.2%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	0.1%

Online Specialized Sales Programs

In 2020-2021, 204 schools offered a specialized marketing program of some type. The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	48	1
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	92	12
Bachelor’s Degree	6	1
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	14	2
Post-Master’s	1	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	1	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Specialized Sales Worth It?

The median salary for a specialized marketing grad is $45,080 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 13% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $103,600 after 20 years!

Majors Related to Specialized Sales

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to specialized marketing.

Major	Number of Grads
Business Administration & Management	416,590
Accounting	99,265
Finance & Financial Management	57,778
General Business/Commerce	56,042
Marketing	52,916
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods	43,382
Human Resource Management	28,787
Business Support & Assistant Services	19,119
Hospitality Management	17,689
Management Information Systems	13,680
Entrepreneurial Studies	11,319
International Business	9,101
Real Estate	6,547
General Sales & Marketing	5,923
Business/Managerial Economics	5,667
Other Business, Management & Marketing	4,822
Construction Management	3,846
Insurance	1,809
Taxation	1,547
Business/Corporate Communications	1,029
Telecommunications Management	55

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By Qfamily under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.