I'm doing some research on the ID career path and am looking for info on different routes this career path can take (job titles, what you do, salary ranges to expect if you are willing to share, and any advice you would give to someone just starting off). Also, if you have any insight on the masters program and what it can do for you, please do share.

I'm an ID grad. I'd say 80% of grads go into some type of sales. I'm an outside guy and most of my buddies are as well. The other 20% are either management or distribution/operations. Salary is all over the place. I've heard everywhere from 45k to 175k.

ID grad here. I've worked in procurement since graduation (O&G industry) and I'm currently a Project Procurement Lead in our Major Projects business unit. Because of the diversity of the careers that ID grads go into it might be hard to come up with a relevant salary range.

BPCAg05 said:

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ID grad here. I've worked in procurement since graduation (O&G industry) and I'm currently a Project Procurement Lead in our Major Projects business unit. Because of the diversity of the careers that ID grads go into it might be hard to come up with a relevant salary range.

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Doesn't really apply to me, but what exactly does someone is procurement do? What's the day to day job requirements?

I source and buy/contract all materials and services for a new pipeline construction project.

BPCAg05 said:

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I source and buy/contract all materials and services for a new pipeline construction project.

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Thanks.

TwoMarksHand said:

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I'm an ID grad. I'd say 80% of grads go into some type of sales. I'm an outside guy and most of my buddies are as well. The other 20% are either management or distribution/operations. Salary is all over the place. I've heard everywhere from 45k to 175k.

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Not anymore. I recruit them every year and getting closer to 50/50. Sales, logistics, management, operations, and consulting are paths. Salary starting is 50-60s. Distribution pays less starting than mfg but income increase more for distribution.

Undergrad in 01 MID 07

AgShaun00 said:

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TwoMarksHand said:

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I'm an ID grad. I'd say 80% of grads go into some type of sales. I'm an outside guy and most of my buddies are as well. The other 20% are either management or distribution/operations. Salary is all over the place. I've heard everywhere from 45k to 175k.

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Not anymore. I recruit them every year and getting closer to 50/50. Sales, logistics, management, operations, and consulting are paths. Salary starting is 50-60s. Distribution pays less starting than mfg but income increase more for distribution.

Undergrad in 01 MID 07

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Interesting. I'm '13, so maybe I was just seeing selection bias of my friends. Good to know.

Class of 90 ID.

I'm in technology sales. Depending on who you work for and your level of experience, jobs range from 250-500K, all in.

ID here, basically used it to get my foot in the door for an analytics-type role at a distributor, pivoted a couple times, and now I'm in finance.

My first salary was probably average for a typical college grad right out of school. Ten years into my career I'm over 90th percentile for all ages, prefer not to be more specific than that.

good for you. I've been in outside sales since graduating ID in 1996. 20+ years later, feel a little stuck and wish I had looked into finance/analytics sooner.

Aggie95 said:

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good for you. I've been in outside sales since graduating ID in 1996. 20+ years later, feel a little stuck and wish I had looked into finance/analytics sooner.

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I was always an analytics personality, but agnostic when it came to the kind of problems I wanted to solve.

For anyone who is starting their careers, the time to try a lot of different things is early. I intentionally took very different roles in my first few years. It probably set my career progression back a little over my first seven years, but that broad base of experience has really paid off over the last three.

ID '05 grad. Work for a roofing distributor. $50k out of college. Been in sales and also a branch manager. Have enjoyed it so far.

dbtexasag05 said:

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Founded and own an electrical wholesale/remanufacturing business.

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What do you re-manufacture? I'm in electrical distribution.

ID '07 (actually '08) grad. I started with Accenture Consulting straight out of school. I'm still here 12+ years later. I specialize in bringing digital solutions to manufacturing and industrial operations.

dbtexasag05 said:

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ID Grad 06

I worked at an electrical supply house through college. Graduated and moved away and managed an electrical wholesale house in small market.

Moved back to a large market went to work for a remanufacturer of electrical goods. Got into private equity in the same space and got fired.

Founded and own an electrical wholesale/remanufacturing business.

I read this and went, woah, I did the same thing. I went to work for Elliott Electric out of school for a year in Longview.

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Transformers and electrical switchgear

Not an ID grad but worked in sales for a very large private electrical distributor for a few years and now work as a sales manager for a large name brand manufacturer in the industrial/retail space.

ID Sales - Starting salaries range from $45-65K, plus typically another $20-50K+ in bonus/commission.
Manufacturing Sales - Starting salaries range from $50-100K plus another $30-75K+ in bonus/commission.
Both will include a car or car allowance, my guys get $600/month plus ~$.30/mile.

Most manufacturers will want 4-7+ years of sales experience.

JH06 said:

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Not an ID grad but worked in sales for a very large private electrical distributor for a few years and now work as a sales manager for a large name brand manufacturer in the industrial/retail space.

ID Sales - Starting salaries range from $45-65K, plus typically another $20-50K+ in bonus/commission.
Manufacturing Sales - Starting salaries range from $50-100K plus another $30-75K+ in bonus/commission.
Both will include a car or car allowance, my guys get $600/month plus ~$.30/mile.

Most manufacturers will want 4-7+ years of sales experience.

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4 - 7 years of sales experience... I have nearly 10 years of direct sales experience and I performed in the top 5% during that time. Some of this was tangible and some intangible products, but both included a lot of cold calling and closing. Would this background be enough to go straight to a career in manufacturing sales? Also, I have a degree in construction science and 5 years of various experiences in that industry. Any ideas on what type of sales or specific companies I should be targeting with this background?

Curious, why do you want to go into manufacturing?

dbtexasag05 said:

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Curious, why do you want to go into manufacturing?

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I'm interested in learning as much as I can about what is out there and what my background would line up well with. I wouldn't say that I have more interest in one over the other simply because I don't know enough about either to make that judgement.

Based on your post, it looks like you have quite a bit of experience to draw from.... any pros / cons you think I should be aware of?

Why don't you shoot me an email.

Username minus the 05 at yahoo.

Probably worth a phone conversation as opposed to kicking message back and forth.

However, if you aren't comfortable with that...
1.). What do you want to do or like to do? I have always thought that distribution sales is more of a grind. There is no going home at 5:00. It's a 24 hour profession because you are typically dealing with harder customers and people with stricter deadlines. Not saying MFG sales isn't hard, but those people don't necessarily have to open the doors of the business to help a customer in a jam. If that makes sense.

2.). What kind of money do you want or have to make? A post above is correct MFG guys start higher but have a lower ceiling. Distributor guys ( as long as the work for the right distributor) have a limitless income.

3.). How much do you want to travel. Most distributors go home at night. MFG guys typically have larger territories.

Agreed distribution sales is definitely more of a grind, and agree manufacturing sales in most cases has more travel. I dont necessarily agree with the make more money comment though especially in this Amazon.com world. Every time we have a job opening we are turning down several very well qualified distribution sales reps and the most common theme is either "tired of the grind" or "tired of them messing/cutting with my comp".

More and more distributors are having to find ways to stay competitive with Amazon marketplace and more and more manufacturers are starting to sell direct. You can see it with companies like Grainger and Fastenal reducing their store count and eventually they will have to do even more headcount/comp reductions. I think post covid it will even get worse because end users will continue to want less people entering their facility which will drive consolidation and online spend to the big boys.

I work for a $750M household name on the industrial team and our top 5-10 guys make as much or more than the distributor I used to work for that was more than 10X our size. It is all about if youre willing to relocate or move into different roles on the manufacturing side.

To answer your question COSCAG, yes that is more than enough experience but a lot of companies just use that as the minimum to weed out newbies. Our company hires almost exclusively based on the interview so I would make sure you do a lot of research on the company, their market, and their competition before you walk into an interview.

Wife of a good friend got an ID degree in the early 1990s. She went to work at Grainger and was paid very well because she had good people skills and helped with their workforce diversity push. After doing that about 18 months she quit to be a stay at home mother. Once the last child got her driver's license she went back to work for a commercial contractor, but I am not sure how much money she makes these days.

ID grad '02 here. Started out in EPC industry doing everything I could get into throughout the same company from graduation till I left in '14. Started in subcontracts/construction department, went into business development, finance, then commercial management. Moved between business units too (upstream, downstream and technology). Left and went to an oil & gas major as a commercial manager in their law department helping procurement draft, negotiate and execute better agreements. Now working for an industrial gas major as a product manager overseeing helium which entails production, transportation/logistics and competitive agreements.

I graduated in the past decade. Similar to what most people here have said, I'd say at least 60%+ of my peers went into sales of some sort. I went in to procurement/logistics route with an oil and gas company- medium sized. Starting pay was a little higher IMO vs sales, though I'm not sure at what point it crosses over or if it does. Oil has been horrible for the past 5 years, so I'm sure that's somewhat limited promotions/opportunities to jump ship and "level up". I haven't necessarily loved it but it's been fine for the time being.