Southwestern Company Campus Relations

Every once in a while one of the Southwestern Company recruiters will visit a new campus and meet with the career center about recruiting students. Sometimes the career center will be aware of Southwestern Company, though many times they don’t. Usually, they will listen to the recruiter and then explain recruiting procedures on that particular campus and help them to get started. Occasionally, they will turn to their colleagues to learn about the company. This week a career center professional out west of the Mississippi inquired, through a listserv, about Southwestern. I am sharing what one cooperative education and internship professional shared in response. Yes, I received permission from this person to share her thoughts and I urge you to read her comments about Southwestern Company and sales as a profession because she speaks from the experience of being a salesperson and also from the perspective of hiring sales people for 9 years. The following is her quote.

“Southwestern has really taken a bad wrap and I am not sure why. I used to place salespeople in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and what they are asking students to do isn’t much different than what some companies ask their sales people to do when they ask them to work on straight commission. I went to Nashville and attended the sales school that the students attend and got a good overview of the program. Students do get some good solid sales training and then they are asked to work as independent sales reps and by that I mean they are in business for themselves. They buy their own display stock (not unlike what Mary Kay asks their sales reps to do), take orders from that and buy the books at a lower cost and sell them at a higher cost to the customers. So they are essentially managing their own businesses. The hard part is that they sell door to door in residential neighborhoods in areas that they usually aren’t familiar with. That was similar to what I did when I sold calculators door to door to businesses in the Dallas area. I will be the first to say that it isn’t for everybody and certainly not for the weak of heart! I did it and I am glad to have had the experience of doing it! I learned more about myself doing that job than anything else I have ever done.”

“Most all of the Southwestern area representatives that we have allowed on our campuses to recruit do a pretty good job of weeding out those who aren’t up to the task. It does take someone with a drive to succeed, some self-motivation and the ability to persist in order to really make some money doing this type of work. I have had medical students pay their way through medical school doing this. If a student asks me about it directly, I don’t paint any pretty pictures because having done something similar in a different venue, I know it to be one of the most challenging things I have ever done in my life! You don’t get any down days (those cost you money), and you have to manage your attitude to generate sales. It truly drew on more parts of me than anything else I have ever done, and I have done many different types of work. Even if they aren’t successful moneywise, they will learn a great deal about themselves that will contribute to their future success but they must be willing to take that gamble.”

“For those who do complete the summer and can add what they have done to their resume it is almost a guaranteed interview with any company who does business with the general public. I call it the “bootcamp for success” because I truly believe that if you can do that job; you can do any job!”

“I think the real challenge here is giving the students a realistic expectation of what they will be doing and what is involved and somehow in some cases that is evidently not clear. Only some of my departments will grant credit for it since there is no salary involved. However, it can be very lucrative for those who do well and it can also leave others in debt. Not unlike what some insurance sales positions can do.”

Please, feel free to contact me if you have any other questions that I may be able to answer. You may also want to talk with the Director of Campus Relations for the Southwestern Company, Ralph Brigham (a former Career Services Director in Montana).”
Warm regards,
Terry Erickson, Coordinator, Career Services & Co-op Ed., University of North Dakota

Terry has worked with many Southwestern recruiters and students have been very successful and some that were not as successful, but she supports the opportunity for students to try out jobs and careers and I respect that attitude.

Yes, you certainly can call me if you have any questions at 505-688-6246 as this is a great opportunity for students who are willing to work hard, be coachable and have a fair amount of discipline. The sky is the limit, in terms of money, skills and future opportunities, for those students willing to explore something out of the norm for the summer.

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