Career
First-line supervisors of non-retail sales workers
Lead sales teams outside retail.
$87,520
Median pay
+0.5%
Job growth, 2025–35
21,700
Openings a year
High school diploma or equivalent
Typical education
None required
Typical time after high school
Here's what you actually need to know.
The work
What people in this job do
- Monitor sales staff performance to ensure that goals are met.
- Provide staff with assistance in performing difficult or complicated duties.
- Direct and supervise employees engaged in sales, inventory-taking, reconciling cash receipts, or performing specific services.
- Listen to and resolve customer complaints regarding services, products, or personnel.
- Keep records pertaining to purchases, sales, and requisitions.
The outlook
How the forecast changed this year
The deeper question
What kind of person does this path ask you to become?
What this work centers on
O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.
The work
Do you want most of your days spent on persuasion & leadership, then information & systems?
Responsibility
Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?
“Monitor sales staff performance to ensure that goals are met.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Active Listening, Monitoring, Speaking, Management of Personnel Resources.
Trade-offs
What does it ask of you in exchange?
No degree beyond high school, though on-the-job training is typical, for a median of $87,520 a year and 21,700 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- Selling Skills and Sales OperationsCIP 52.1804
- General Merchandising, Sales, and Related Marketing Operations, OtherCIP 52.1899
- Special Products Marketing OperationsCIP 52.1909
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers$69,500 · +0.1%
- First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers$48,520 · -3.7%
- First-Line Supervisors of Entertainment and Recreation Workers, Except Gambling Services$48,560 · +5.3%
- First-Line Supervisors of Mechanics, Installers, and Repairers$79,860 · +4.1%
- First-Line Supervisors of Passenger Attendants
Ask anything about this career.
“Would this make sense if I don't want to sit at a desk all day?” Answers will come from the sources on this page, with citations. Coming soon.
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Sources
- BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.