The Graduate Sales Market in 2025: What Employers Need to Know
Graduation season is nearly upon us, and here at This is Prime that means one thing: it’s go-time. Every year, we connect with thousands of ambitious, curious, and career-hungry graduates looking to break into sales. It’s an exciting time, but also a critical one for employers.
The graduate market is full of amazing new talent that is getting better and more switched on by the year. The key, especially when it comes to sales, where there isn’t one set path, is knowing where to find them and what they need.
So, in this blog, we’re breaking down what’s different about the graduate sales market in 2025. What do employers need to know to attract, hire, and keep the best of this new cohort?
What’s different about 2025 grads?
Gen Z have shaken up the workforce already and are changing the way their employers think. They’ve grown up in a world of uncertainty, rapid change and a marked shift in the importance of personal values. All of these factors will have an effect on your hiring processes.
Digitally Fluent: this generation of talent are more tech-savvy than any before them. This may impact your sourcing process, with social media channels like LinkedIn becoming a primary way they find jobs.
Flexible Expectations: Since the pandemic, remote and hybrid working has become more prolific. When surveyed, only 1 in 10 Gen Z workers want to work full-time in the office, something employers must consider when attracting talent.
Progression-focused: This new generation of workers are ambitious, but they want clarity. “Where can this role take me?” is one of the first questions they ask. So, clear progression routes with proof are important.
Challenges for Employers
Having worked in the graduate market for over a decade, we have seen a shift in sales candidates and what they want from a career. Although we think the industry has changed for the better, there are some challenges that are unique to the current market.
With ‘Easy Apply’ features on job boards, candidates can apply to dozens of roles in minutes, leading to more CVs for employers but also a higher volume of irrelevant or unqualified applications. Sorting through this influx can be time-consuming and overwhelming, creating an additional strain on already busy internal recruitment teams.
There’s also the risk of mismatched expectations. Graduates today feel more empowered than ever to ask for what they want, whether that’s flexibility, salary, or progression. But if the role doesn’t live up to what they’re hoping for, it can lead to frustration or early dropouts in the hiring process. Clear, upfront communication and honest employer branding are more important than ever.
What can employers do to prepare?
We know that hiring right now isn’t easy, with tighter budgets, high competition and evolving candidate expectations. It can feel like the goalposts are constantly moving. But there are things you can do to make expanding your sales team simpler:
Know what your candidates want
The first step in attracting talent is knowing what attracts them, and a little bit of research and understanding goes a long way. For example, studies show that 53% of Gen Z workers value learning to progress their careers. So, you might want to highlight or rethink your development and training provisions. Take a step back and see your perks, working setup, and culture the way a grad would, then tweak what isn’t working.
Know where to look
Today’s grads are more online than ever, but the top talent isn’t always trawling job boards at the last minute. To reach them, take a proactive approach to sourcing on platforms like LinkedIn and Milkround throughout the year.
Work with the experts
Understanding your ideal candidate is crucial. But, beyond that, the recruitment process is lengthy and costly, so you might consider working with recruiters – especially those who specialise in graduate recruitment.
How to Retain Top Talent
Once you’ve found and onboarded your sales superstars, the focus changes to helping them to grow and add value to your sales team. Put simply, retention relies on you following through on the promises you made in your job ads. But, there is definitely more to it:
- Be quick and clear: Just like in recruitment, slow communication or vague expectations can kill motivation. Set clear goals, provide regular feedback, and keep momentum high to maintain engagement.
- Recognise small wins: As a sales leader, you know how tough the early years of a sales career can be: facing rejection, setbacks and high expectations. Create an environment that balances that pressure with positivity.
- Invest in their development: Learning shouldn’t stop after onboarding! Ongoing development and mentorship show your team you’re invested in them, and that’s what makes people want to stay.
- Make progression visible: Share success stories from within your business to let new hires know what’s possible. Seeing a path they can actually follow can keep them motivated to stay and put in the graft.
How can Prime help?
At This is Prime, we’ve had our finger on the pulse of the sales industry for over a decade, placing candidates in some of the top sales teams across the UK. In those 10 years, we’ve developed our very own Prime Process to perfectly match candidates with businesses. From a rigorous screening process to our award-winning training and candidate support, when you hire a Prime grad, you’re getting the very best.
Ready to find your next sales superstar? Complete our contact form or email us at hello@thisisprime.co.uk – we’ll do the rest.
