A new CareerBuilder.com survey shows Sales professionals are optimistic about prospects of selling for a new employer. Forty-four percent expect the economy to improve in the fourth quarter and 29 percent plan to change jobs by February. The CareerBuilder.com survey, "The Pulse: Sales Workers 2004," included more than 100 Sales professionals and was conducted from August 5 to August 24, 2004.

A popular catalyst for jumping ship amongst Sales workers is the absence of career advancement possibilities. One-fourth of Sales workers are unhappy with their career progress to date. Thirty-two percent want more opportunities to move up the company ladder and 29 percent state development and learning programs at their present employers are not conducive to making this happen.

Sales professionals also say they are looking for more inspiring leadership and higher pay. Thirty-two percent feel their corporate leaders could be doing a better job in leading and managing employees. Forty-one percent are looking to their leaders to provide better compensation in base salary and commissions for the revenue they generate. More than half of Sales professionals are still waiting for their 2004 salary increase.

"The economy is improving, job creation levels are picking up and Sales professionals are on the hunt for a bigger payoff," said Mary Delaney, Chief Sales Officer at CareerBuilder.com. "This means the competition for top talent is heating up. CareerBuilder.com has more than 70,000 Sales jobs, nearly double compared to this time last year. This is the first time in four years where leading companies are seeing Sales candidates actually turn down positions because they have received a better offer elsewhere."

Almost six-in-ten Sales professionals say they are working under a great deal of stress as they strive to achieve sales goals. Further complicating these stress levels are increasing workloads. Four-in-ten Sales professionals report their workloads have increased in the last six months and become unmanageable.

About the Survey

The new CareerBuilder.com survey, "The Pulse: Sales Workers 2004," was conducted from August 5 to August 24, 2004 of more than 100 sales professionals. To collect data for the survey, CareerBuilder.com commissioned SurveySite to use an e-mail methodology whereby individuals who are members of SurveySite Web Panel were randomly selected and approached by e-mail invitation to participate in the online survey. The results of this survey are accurate within +/-9.5 percentage points (19 times out of 20).

About CareerBuilder.com

CareerBuilder.com is a leading online source for maximizing recruitment dollars and optimizing job searches with superior products, customer service and technology. With a unique combination of national, local and niche audiences, CareerBuilder.com makes it easy for recruiters to reach the most qualified candidates with industry-leading market research data and support. Job seekers can search for the right job from more than 500,000 continuously updated postings, representing more than 30,000 of the top employers in virtually every industry, field and location. Together with Gannett Co., Inc. , Tribune Company , and Knight Ridder, Inc. , CareerBuilder.com includes the Web's top newspaper sites -- the most trusted employment sources in recruiting. For more information about CareerBuilder.com products and services, call 888-670-TEAM or visit http://www.careerbuilder.com/ .

  Media Contact:

  CareerBuilder.com
  Jennifer Sullivan
  (773) 527-1164
  jennifer.sullivan@careerbuilder.com

SOURCE: CareerBuilder.com