BCIT Professional Sales program seeing record-high demand for grads

In a recent Leadership Lab piece in The Globe and Mail, titled, “Educational institutes should help students prepare for careers in sales,” author Sonya Mellof argues that educational institutes aren’t doing enough to prepare students for careers in sales. BCIT, however, is an exception. In the article, Bruce Anthony, Program Head, Marketing Management – Professional Sales, is quoted as saying the program originally had 18 students enrolled in 1980, and today graduates an average of 50 students each year, with three companies hiring per one student enrolled.

“Professional sales skills are imperative to growing a business,” says Anthony, pictured above. “Most business leaders I have worked with concur that the most important business skill is the ability to sell. Professional selling requires an extensive skill set that encompasses interpersonal communication as well as the application of methods to source customers, present solutions and build agreements. And yes, the demand for our Professional Sales grads is currently higher than we have ever seen it. It’s also worth noting that some of our recent grads have been able to earn over $100,000 in their first year.”

Entrepreneurship and sales training is increasingly a focus in curriculum across various disciplines at BCIT. For example, Professional Sales faculty also teach selling skills in other programs, including engineering.

BCIT offers a full-time diploma in Professional Sales as well as a Professional Sales certificate, which can be earned part time. In 2016, the Sales Education Foundation named the Institute a “Top University for Professional Sales Education.”