Why Work in Direct Sales? Your Future Self Will Thank You

College is hard.

Many students are balancing work and school, sports, groups, clubs, and friends. And doing it all while laying the groundwork for a successful career.

There was a time when a simple part-time job could earn you enough to cover tuition and prevent you from going into debt to fund your education. Those days are over, as college tuition prices have skyrocketed over the last decade, even for the “more affordable” state school options.

Source: Education Data Institute

And so many students are left with only one option. Take out loans and rack up debt. This, of course, puts even more pressure on your future self to graduate and step into a high-paying position (assuming such a thing exists in your field), so you can pay off student debt faster.

Are internships a broken promise?

Future-minded students who want to stick out from the crowd will often pursue an internship. And why not? They can look great on a resume, help you make career decisions, and give you a chance to rub elbows with people in power.

Experience in the present can pay massive dividends in the future (even if that internship is an unpaid, volunteer position).

However, students today face a tougher job market than most generations before them, and an internship is no longer guaranteed to turn into a job offer. In fact, the most recent graduating classes saw a major dip in the number of job offers they received, compared to previous years.

There is no single factor that contributed to this shift, but it’s easy to see that the Covid Pandemic had a significant impact on job availability for college seniors. 

According to a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, just over half of recent college graduates are unemployed. The figures in 2025 are nearly as grim as they were for folks who graduated just after the 2008 recession.

The AI setback

There is another issue college graduates are facing today, something no other generation has had to face—the “AI job apocalypse.” 

Many businesses are eagerly looking for ways to grow their revenue by replacing workers with AI. Unfortunately, entry-level jobs—the ones that usually go to interns and recent college grads—are likely to be the first ones on the chopping block. 

It’s still unclear whether AI, with its hallucinations and dangerous applications, will actually be able to replace as many jobs as cost-cutting executives hope. But even the idea that AI might replace entry-level workers makes things harder for students, whether or not its utility is overplayed. 

…If entry-level jobs don’t disappear right away, the expectation that those jobs are short-lived may lead companies to underinvest in job training, mentorship and other programs aimed at entry-level workers. That could leave those workers unprepared for more senior roles later on.

—Kevin Roose, New York Times

I am not trying to make it all sound like doom and gloom. I am simply pointing out that life is different for college graduates today—even those with an internship or externship, or students who choose alternatives to college. And there are greater challenges ahead. 

So what are today’s young adults to do?

Learn, earn, and get ahead

Keep your eye on the goal of advancing your future self. Whatever your thoughts are on internships, let me tell you: You’re worth more than zero dollars per hour. Build your skills, not just your resume bullets. Look for ways to learn and earn.

And an excellent, often-overlooked, yet incredible way of doing this?

Direct sales.

“You mean those door-to-door pyramid scheme jobs?!”

No. I’m talking about legitimate direct sales companies, not MLMs or pyramid schemes.

Hear me out on this.

Why every student should have direct sales on their resume

Everyone needs to be able to sell in life

Selling gets a bad rap, but it shouldn’t… and it doesn’t from millionaires like Mark Cuban and actors like David Walton.

And that’s because, like it or not, life is sales. Remember when you tried to talk your parents into staying out past curfew?

You were selling them.

And remember when you tried to talk your teacher into rounding up that B+ to an A?

Again, you were selling.

In fact, we have an entire article that spells out why a sales mindset pays off, both at work and in your personal life, even if you don’t intend to work in sales for the rest of your life.

The good news is, unlike most entry-level jobs, the majority of sales positions don’t require any prior experience. The barrier to entry is your psychology, not your work history or “who you know.”

That makes a sales job the perfect stepping stone for gaining experience and getting your foot in the professional world.

Not only that but many sales companies will train you, too. That’s amazing in a world where many organizations expect grads to arrive ready on day one.

You will learn a ridiculous amount

Not only will you be trained to succeed (Vector, for instance, has a formalized training seminar they’ve been perfecting for 40+ years), but you’ll also gain hands-on experience in a professional setting. You will learn daily.

And not “when am I ever gonna use this stuff?” busywork. Direct sales is a master’s degree in soft skills.

You’ll learn the most vital skills for the future

That quote nails it: True leadership is built on how you think, how you adapt, and how you show up for others.

And when you look at the skills today’s workforce actually needs, it becomes obvious: Leadership is a soft-skill game.

A recent survey from The World Economic forum asked respondents to predict what skills they expected workers would need to be successful in 2030. While skills like technical literacy and AI usage were among the top featured, respondents also listed soft skills that they expect will be even more vital in the future than they are today. These included: 

• Analytical thinking
• Creative thinking
• Resilience
• Flexibility and agility
• Leadership and social influence
• Curiosity and being a lifelong learner
• Systems thinking
• Talent management
• Motivation
• Self-awareness 

Notice how many of those traits have blue links to articles here on the Vector Impact? That’s because we write articles specifically about the skills we help people develop in a direct sales job. 

If you want to start building the soft skills you’ll need to be career-ready, a role at Vector can get you there.

You’ll learn how to build relationships

Ever heard of the hidden job market?

It refers to jobs that aren’t listed online but people learn about through employee referrals.

Experts estimate that anywhere between 60% to 80% of all jobs are found this way—through networking rather than traditional job searching.

So the more “weak ties” or acquaintances you have, the better.

Sales requires maintaining ongoing customer relationships. You must follow up with customers to ensure they’re happy, and you have to follow through on your promises made during the sales process.

All of the above will help you build rapport with your customers, some of whom can open doors for you in the future… or the present (yes, Vector people get offered other jobs while working).

The network you’ll develop won’t only include clients, either. It will also include all of your coworkers.

Former Vector Sales Rep Brad Couture says the people he worked with during his time selling knives at Cutco were the people he met within the company.

Vector boasts students and alumni from Harvard, Wharton School of Business, Cornell, Carnegie Mellon, Colombia, Tufts, Northeastern, Providence College and other prestigious universities and colleges nationwide.

Some of the most entrepreneurial, intelligent, charismatic and talented people I have met in my life were introduced to me through Vector Marketing.

There’s a famous quote that says “Your network becomes your net worth.” We are a combination of the five people we spend the most time with.

Being surrounded by highly motivated individuals working with Vector broadened my horizon on how much someone can accomplish through hard work and determination.

It shifted my fixed mindset to a growth mindset and allowed me to set larger goals for myself, both personally and professionally.

You learn how to manage your money

Americans owed a collective $1.4 trillion in private and federal student debt as of early 2025, a 4.2% jump from just a year earlier, according to Lending Tree.

Of course, there are anomalies, like Matt Foss and Brad Couture.

Foss graduated Arizona State University with zero debt thanks to direct sales.

“I have learned incredible financial habits that have set me up to graduate debt-free and start saving for retirement at a young age,” said Foss. “The financial freedom is just incredible.”

Like Foss, Couture was able to invest $30,000 in college and land his dream job straight out of school thanks to direct sales.

Carly Michaelis was able to save $22,000 while in school, thanks to her sales manager pushing her to manage her money better. Calista Poe also covered tuition, sorority dues, and living expenses by selling during school:

@vectormarketing.official

At just 20 years old, she’s already paying for college without student loans—thanks to her Cutco work experience. Instead of drowning in debt, she’s covering tuition, sorority dues, and living expenses while building real skills. Working at Vector Marketing in 2025 has opened her eyes to what’s possible when financial independence comes early. This is more than just a Cutco job review—it’s proof that working with Cutco can create both freedom and fun. Click the Link 🔗 in Bio to Apply Now #studentwork #financialfreedom #vectormarketing #vector #cutco

♬ original sound – Vector Marketing

You’ll learn how to get what you want

Sales teaches you how to negotiate, and every job involves some form of negotiating. Whether that’s negotiating with clients, bosses, co-workers, or vendors and suppliers, it all requires the same basic skill.

By working in sales, you’ll learn how to listen, evaluate variables, identify key drivers, overcome objections, and find ways to reach a mutually beneficial agreement.

You’ll also learn the part art, part science of how to close a sale, which involves getting people to agree with you and follow your lead.

Asking for what you want isn’t easy for most of us. Sales will teach you how to do it effectively.

You’ll learn how to work with a wide variety of people

Ever heard of it? According to a former boss, the Platinum Rule is treating others how THEY want to be treated, not how YOU want to be treated.

This rule will take you far in sales and in life.

In sales, you’ll learn there are four basic types of people, and everyone is a combination of these four.

No one may fit perfectly into these four boxes, but usually people are predominantly one of these four.

Sales will teach you how to quickly identify which type a person is and adapt your pitch to the way they prefer.

Want to be a chameleon in any environment? Direct sales is the answer.

You’ll develop self-discipline.

Some direct sales companies (like Vector) offer a base pay. But the way to maximize your income is by making sales and earning commissions. As one seller so eloquently put it: “sales is the highest paid hard work and the lowest paid easy work.”

If you’re somebody who hustles (i.e., someone who works hard, NOT someone who lies and manipulates), you can earn career-like income, even as a student.

Performance-based income means getting paid what you’re worth, which is a model ALL students should get familiar with, as the rise of the gig economy increases.

The World Economic forum predicts that by 2027, another 27 million workers will join the ranks of the already large freelance market in America, and it’s likely that many of today’s graduates will be among those numbers.

There are (a lot) of people you know right now that already do this. And if they are your age and/or competing for the same job as you? They’re going to be hard to beat.

The old days of getting paid for just looking busy are about to be gone forever, as more organizations shift to being remote-based and results-driven.

Making sales is easy when you have a good product. It’s the self-discipline and self-motivation that many students lack.

If you’re the type of person that is disciplined in your academics, performing arts, or athletics (all of which are results-driven endeavors)? Then you’ve got a fantastic income waiting for you in direct sales.

You’ll gain self-confidence

The perfect cure for shyness? Working in direct sales.

Related: Want to talk to people IRL? Work in sales

I would even go so far as to say that the more intimidated you are of a sales position, the more you need to experience one.

Most direct sales organizations (like Vector) provide you with mentors who will help you when things get tough. This is not a given with most companies and certainly not with most internships. Having someone you trust to coach you and guide you professionally will help you stand out from the crowd.

Sales or not, we all find ourselves in high-pressure, high-stress situations. Having a mentor means never going it alone.

The most successful salespeople are proactive

Successful people find a way to succeed regardless of their circumstances because they have an incredible work ethic and are always future-proofing their success.

All of the above are skills that pay off big time when searching for a job, when it’s harder than ever to land a job interview today.

As we’ve already seen, the job market is tough—almost as tough as direct sales. By working in this industry, you’ll quickly learn about the law of averages and how you can create your own luck.

Direct sales is perfect for busy students

And now we come full circle. College is hard because students are busy.

Direct sales positions are perfect for time-starved students who need flexibility in their schedule and their workplace (Vector allows students to work remotely). In most direct sales positions, students are taught to create their own schedules around existing obligations.

While some employers have a mentality of “we give you money, therefore we own you,” direct sales companies believe (rather, INSIST) that you can have it all.

Keeping the same schedule every week… scaling back when there are projects and exam deadlines… scaling up when your schedule opens up… always having an income you can return to over winter, summer, and/or spring breaks? Having the money to go on spring breaks without having to beg your parents or sleep in a bathtub?

These are the perks enjoyed by direct-selling students nationwide. Having the support of a team, the encouragement of a mentor, and the control of being your own boss:

@vectormarketing.official

This student didn’t think a sales job would shape his career—but a Vector Marketing job proved him wrong. Through real-world experience, working with Cutco gave him a competitive edge and helped define his future in marketing. Click the Link in Bio to Apply Now 🔗 #marketingmajor #salesjobs #buildyourfuture #studentjobs #summerjobs #vectormarketing #vector #cutco

♬ original sound – Vector Marketing

How nice, right?!

Work in sales. Your future self will thank you.