Door-to-door Salespersons

ANZSCO ID 621712

Overview

Snapshot

Employed
4,500
Future Growth
N/A
Weekly Earnings
N/A
Full-Time Share
42%
Female Share
64%
Average age
37

Summary

Door-to-door Salespersons sell goods or services from door-to-door.

Specialisations: Door-to-door Fundraising Collector, Party Plan Salesperson.

Formal qualifications are not essential to work as a Door-to-door Salesperson, although some workers have undertaken training.

Tasks

  • Collects goods and transports them along established routes and to door-to-door areas.

  • Displays and demonstrates goods, and explains the qualities of goods to customers.

  • Informs customers of new goods and services.

  • Receives payments from customers and gives change.

  • Records transactions on customer receipts and sales records.

  • Wraps and packages goods sold.

  • Develops lists of prospective customers and calls on them to obtain new business.

  • Orders and purchases goods for sale, and monitors and maintains stock levels.

Characteristics

Job Type
Sales Workers
Skill Level
Entry level
ANZSCO Occupation group
Unemployment Rate
n/a
Industries
Pathway(s)
  • Informal or on-the-job
Interests
  • Administrative
  • Enterprising
Physical Demand
  • Light
  • Medium

Outlook

Employment Outlook

JSA produces employment projections to show where likely future job opportunities may be. Employment projections data are only produced for occupations at the broad four digit Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) level. While data are not available for this occupation, projections data are available for the parent occupation, Street Vendors and Related Salespersons, under the outlook section.


Earnings and hours

Working arrangements

  • Around 42% of people employed as Door-to-door Salespersons work full-time hours, in all their jobs combined. This is 24 percentage points below the all jobs average (66%).

    Full-time workers work an average of 44 hours per week in their main job. This is the same as the all jobs average.

    Sources:Full-time share and full-time hours: ABS, 2016 Census, customised report. Compared to the all jobs average.


Industries

Main industries

1
Retail Trade
36.4%
2
Health Care and Social Assistance
12.7%
3
Other Services
10.9%
4
Professional, Scientific and Technical Services
5.3%
5
Other industries
21.6%

Regions

Employment across Australia

NSW

29.5% All occupations: 31.6%

VIC

27.6% All occupations: 25.6%

QLD

21.3% All occupations: 20.0%

SA

6.4% All occupations: 7.0%

WA

11.4% All occupations: 10.8%

TAS

1.9% All occupations: 2.0%

NT

0.6% All occupations: 1.0%

ACT

1.2% All occupations: 1.9%

Employment by State and Territory (% Share)

State Door-to-door Salespersons All Jobs Average
NSW 29.5 31.6
VIC 27.6 25.6
QLD 21.3 20.0
SA 6.4 7.0
WA 11.4 10.8
TAS 1.9 2.0
NT 0.6 1.0
ACT 1.2 1.9



Worker profile

Age and gender

Age In Years
37
All Jobs Average is 40
Female Share
64%
All Jobs Average is 48%
  • The median age of Door-to-door Salespersons is 37 years. This is similar to the all jobs average of 40 years.

    A large share of workers are aged 25 to 34 years.

    Females make up 64% of the workforce. This is 16 percentage points above the all jobs average of 48%.

    Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Age profile and gender share compared to the all jobs average.

Age Profile (% Share)

Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Age profile of workers in this job compared to the all jobs average.
Age Bracket Door-to-door Salespersons All Jobs Average
15-19 5.6 5.0
20-24 12.2 9.3
25-34 25.7 22.9
35-44 22.4 22.0
45-54 16.1 21.6
55-59 6.3 9.0
60-64 5.7 6.0
65 and Over 5.8 4.2
Median Age 37 40

Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Age profile of workers in this job compared to the all jobs average.


Employment Pathways

Education, training and experience

Formal qualifications are not essential to work as a Door-to-door Salesperson, although some workers have undertaken training.

Visit

  • My Skills to compare Vocational Education and Training (VET) courses, providers and student outcomes.
  • AAPathways website to explore Retail Services VET training pathways.

Highest Level of Education (% Share)

Source: ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Highest qualification completed by workers in this job (in any field of study). Qualifications needed by new workers might be different from the qualifications of workers already in the job.
Type of Qualification Door-to-door Salespersons All Jobs Average
Post Graduate/Graduate Diploma or Graduate Certificate 8.9 10.1
Bachelor degree 22.8 21.8
Advanced Diploma/Diploma 12.6 11.6
Certificate III/IV 13.9 21.1
Year 12 26.8 18.1
Year 11 4.5 4.8
Year 10 and below 10.6 12.5

Source: ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Highest qualification completed by workers in this job (in any field of study). Qualifications needed by new workers might be different from the qualifications of workers already in the job.


Skills and Knowledge

Employers look for Street Vendors and Related Salespersons who connect well with others, provide good customer service and have an enthusiastic and positive attitude.

Skills

Skills can be improved through training or experience.

  • 59%

    Persuasion

    Talking people into changing their minds or their behaviour.

  • 50%

    Negotiation

    Bringing people together and trying to sort out their differences.

  • 48%

    Speaking

    Talking to others.

  • 48%

    Active listening

    Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.

  • 46%

    Social perceptiveness

    Understanding why people react the way they do.

  • 46%

    Serving others

    Looking for ways to help people.

  • 46%

    Critical thinking

    Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.

  • 45%

    Judgment and decision making

    Figuring out the pros and cons of different options and choosing the best one.

  • 43%

    Coordination with others

    Being adaptable and coordinating work with other people.

  • 43%

    Time management

    Managing your own and other peoples' time to get work done.

  • 41%

    Reading comprehension

    Reading work related information.

  • 41%

    Writing

    Writing things for co-workers or customers.

  • 39%

    Monitoring

    Keeping track of how well work is progressing so you can make changes or improvements.

  • 37%

    Complex problem solving

    Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.

  • 36%

    Active learning

    Being able to use what you have learnt to solve problems now and again in the future.

  • 34%

    Learning strategies

    Figuring out the best way to teach or learn something new.

  • 32%

    Instructing

    Teaching people how to do something.

  • 25%

    Management of material resources

    Providing the right equipment, facilities, and materials needed to do work.

  • 23%

    Management of personnel resources

    Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, and choosing the best people for the job.

  • 23%

    Systems analysis

    Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect it.


Knowledge

These are important topics, subjects or knowledge areas.

  • 60%

    Sales and marketing

    Showing, promoting, and selling including marketing strategy, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.

  • 56%

    Customer and personal service

    Understanding customer needs, providing good quality service, and measuring customer satisfaction.

  • 41%

    Education and training

    Curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

  • 36%

    Communications and media

    Media production, communication, and dissemination. Includes written, spoken, and visual media.

  • 36%

    English language

    English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

  • 34%

    Psychology

    Human behaviour; differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; research methods; assessing and treating disorders.

  • 34%

    Clerical

    Word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office work.

  • 33%

    Mathematics

    Arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, or statistics.

  • 32%

    Administration and management

    Business principles involved in strategic planning, leadership, and coordinating people and resources.

  • 29%

    Personnel and human resources

    Recruiting and training people, managing pay and other entitlements (like sick leave), and negotiating pay and conditions.

  • 26%

    Computers and electronics

    Circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

  • 23%

    Economics and accounting

    Economics and accounting, the financial markets, banking and checking and reporting of financial data.

  • 17%

    Sociology and anthropology

    Group behaviour and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures and their history and origins.

  • 16%

    Transportation

    Moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road.

  • 13%

    Production and processing

    Raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and ways of making and distributing goods.

  • 8%

    Telecommunications

    Transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.

  • 8%

    Therapy and counselling

    Diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and career counselling and guidance.

  • 8%

    Law and government

    How our laws and courts work. Government rules and regulations, and the political system.

  • 6%

    Fine arts

    Compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.

  • 6%

    Public safety and security

    Use of equipment, rules and ideas to protect people, data, property, and institutions.


Abilities

Workers use these physical and mental abilities..

  • 54%

    Oral comprehension

    Listen to and understand what people say.

  • 54%

    Oral expression

    Communicate by speaking.

  • 54%

    Speech recognition

    Identify and understand the speech of another person.

  • 50%

    Speech clarity

    Speak clearly so others can understand you.

  • 46%

    Written comprehension

    Read and understand written information.

  • 46%

    Written expression

    Write in a way that people can understand.

  • 46%

    Deductive reasoning

    Use general rules to find answers or solve problems logically.

  • 45%

    Inductive reasoning

    Use lots of detailed information to come up with answers or make general rules.

  • 45%

    Problem spotting

    Notice when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong, even if you can't solve the problem.

  • 43%

    Near vision

    See details that are up-close (within a few feet).

  • 41%

    Brainstorming

    Come up with a number of ideas about a topic, even if the ideas aren't very good.

  • 41%

    Sorting or ordering

    Order or arrange things in a pattern or sequence (e.g., numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).

  • 39%

    Categorising

    Come up with different ways of grouping things.

  • 39%

    Originality

    Come up with unusual or clever ideas, or creative ways to solve a problem.

  • 38%

    Selective attention

    Pay attention to something without being distracted.

  • 30%

    Multitasking

    Do two or more things at the same time.

  • 27%

    Trunk strength

    Use your abdominal and lower back muscles a number of times without 'giving out' or fatiguing.

  • 25%

    Memorization

    Remember things like words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.

  • 23%

    Far vision

    See details that are far away.

  • 20%

    Mathematics

    Choose the right maths method or formula to solve a problem.


Activities

These are kinds of activities workers regularly do in this job.

  • 64%

    Planning and prioritising work

    Deciding on goals and putting together a detailed plan to get the work done.

  • 63%

    Influencing people

    Convincing people to buy something or to change their minds or actions.

  • 63%

    Working with the public

    Greeting or serving customers, clients or guests, and public speaking or performing.

  • 61%

    Building good relationships

    Building good working relationships and keeping them over time.

  • 56%

    Communicating with the public

    Giving information to the public, business or government by telephone, in writing, or in person.

  • 53%

    Coaching and developing others

    Working out the needs of others and coaching, mentoring, or helping them to improve.

  • 44%

    Keeping your knowledge up-to-date

    Keeping up-to-date with technology and new ideas.

  • 44%

    Communicating within a team

    Giving information to co-workers by telephone, in writing, or in person.

  • 42%

    Leading and encouraging a team

    Encouraging and building trust, respect, and cooperation among team members.

  • 42%

    Scheduling work and activities

    Working out the timing of events, programs, and activities, as well as the work of others.

  • 41%

    Researching and investigating

    Looking for, getting and understanding different kinds of information.

  • 41%

    Coming up with systems and processes

    Deciding on goals and figuring out what you need to do to achieve them.

  • 41%

    Thinking creatively

    Using your own ideas for developing, designing, or creating something new.

  • 40%

    Training and teaching others

    Understanding the needs of others, developing training programs, and teaching or instructing.

  • 39%

    Providing office support

    Doing day-to-day office work such as filing and processing paperwork.

  • 38%

    Working with computers

    Using computers to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.

  • 38%

    Making decisions and solving problems

    Using information to work out the best solution and solve problems.

  • 37%

    Guiding and directing staff

    Guiding and directing staff, including setting and monitoring performance standards.

  • 36%

    Helping and caring for others

    Providing personal assistance, medical attention, or emotional support.

  • 34%

    Managing payments and orders

    Monitoring and controlling resources and the spending of money.


Interests and demands

Learn about the daily activities, and physical and social demands faced by workers. Explore the values and work styles that workers rate as most important.

Interests

Interests are the style or type of work we prefer to do. All interest areas are shown below.

  • 100%

    Enterprising

    Starting up and carrying out projects. Leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes require risk taking and often deal with business.

  • 67%

    Administrative

    Following set procedures and routines. Working with numbers and details more than with ideas, usually following rules.

  • 43%

    Helping

    Working with people. Helping or providing service to others.

  • 43%

    Practical

    Practical, hands-on work. Often with plants and animals, or materials like wood, tools, and machinery.

  • 33%

    Creative

    Working with forms, designs and patterns. Often need self-expression and can be done without following rules.

  • 14%

    Analytical

    Ideas and thinking. Searching for facts and figuring out problems in your head.


Values

Work values are important to a person’s feeling of satisfaction. All six values are shown below.
  • 71%

    Relationships

    Serve and work with others. Workers usually get along well with each other, do things to help other people, and are rarely pressured to do things that go against their sense of right and wrong.

  • 52%

    Achievement

    Results oriented. Workers are able to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment.

  • 52%

    Independence

    Work alone and make decisions. Workers are able to try out their own ideas, make decisions on their own, and work with little or no supervision.

  • 36%

    Working conditions

    Job security and good working conditions. There is usually a steady flow of interesting work, and the pay and conditions are generally good.

  • 29%

    Recognition

    Advancement and the potential to lead. Workers are recognised for the work that they do, they may give directions and instructions to others, and they are looked up to in their company and their community.

  • 29%

    Support

    Supportive management that stands behind employees. Workers are treated fairly by their company, they are supported by management, and have supervisors who train them well.


Demands

The physical and social demands that workers face most often are shown below:
  • 97%

    Freedom to make decisions

    Have freedom to make decision on your own.

  • 97%

    Unstructured work

    Have freedom to decide on tasks, priorities, and goals.

  • 94%

    Contact with the public

    Work with customers or the public.

  • 93%

    Contact with people

    Have contact with people by telephone, face-to-face, or any other way.

  • 91%

    Telephone

    Talk on the telephone.

  • 84%

    Electronic mail

    Use electronic mail.

  • 76%

    Face-to-face discussions

    Talk with people face-to-face.

  • 71%

    Physically close to people

    Work physically close to other people.

  • 70%

    Competition

    Compete with others, or be aware of competitive pressures.

  • 67%

    Letters and memos

    Write letters and memos.

  • 62%

    Public speaking

    Talk to a group of people.

  • 61%

    Spend time sitting

    Spend time sitting at work.

  • 60%

    Frequent decision making

    Frequently make decisions that impact other people.

  • 59%

    Spend time standing

    Spend time standing at work.

  • 57%

    Impact of decisions

    Make decisions that have a large impact on other people.

  • 57%

    Time pressure

    Work to strict deadlines.

  • 55%

    Teamwork

    Work with people in a group or team.

  • 49%

    Angry or unpleasant people

    Deal with unpleasant, angry, or rude people.

  • 48%

    Using your hands to handle, control, or feel

    Spend time using your hands to handle, control, or feel objects, tools or controls.

  • 47%

    Conflict situations

    Deal with conflict or disagreements.

Occupational Information Network
O*NET is a trademark of the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration.
The skills and importance ratings on this page are derived from the US Department of Labor O*NET Database Version 21.2, 41-9091.00 - Door-To-Door Sales Workers, News and Street Vendors, and Related Workers.


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