Internship Info

Vector Marketing Corporation's Management Development Internship Program is designed for students who want to develop professional leadership and management skills as a complement to their undergraduate experience. As a company that promotes from within, Vector Marketing Interns are trained and observed for management potential and may advance within the organization. Students who successfully advance within the program are considered the company’s top candidates for career management position upon graduation.

Position Descriptions

Vector Marketing has a strict "promote from within" policy that allows students to begin as an entry-level sales representative and advance into sales management while pursuing their education. Position descriptions for some of the key roles students hold at Vector Marketing are provided here.

Sales Representative

After completing Vector’s college-level sales training program, sales representatives market Cutco products under the supervision of their office manager. Their responsibilities include the following activities:

Presenting Cutco products for sale direct to the consumer, through preset appointments.
Filling and submitting customer orders.
Identifying potential customers through personal referral and lead generation.
Scheduling appointments.
Reviewing personal performance with the local office manager at weekly meetings.
Attending advanced training workshops and conferences on personal sales techniques, consumer behavior, time management, and effective communication.

The sales representative sets his/her schedule, which generally demands from 10-20 hours per week.

Sales Trainer

Sales representatives who achieve $15,000 in career sales advance to the Field Trainer position and may take on the following additional duties:

Serving on the office key staff, working with the office manager to set and achieve sales goals, motivate the office team, and provide guidance to new representatives.
Providing direct training to new reps by example, bringing them on appointments, observing and critiquing their techniques, and demonstrating specific skills and approaches to the sales process.
Participating in specialized training to present new products under development.
Managing booths at fairs and shows, which includes coordinating the sales staff and schedule, negotiating and purchasing space, and ordering displays and consignments.

The sales trainer sets his/her personal schedule, which generally demands from 10-30 hours a week.

Assistant Manager

An assistant manager's activities in a typical Vector office will include the following:

Maintaining a standard of professionalism and personal sales that sets a leadership example for the sales staff.
Responding to inquiries regarding the sales representative position and the company.
Conducting initial group interviews.
Preparing and delivering advanced training workshops on such topics as personal selling, developing leads, answering objections, closing the sale, communications skills, and time management.
Conducting personal daily interviews and performance consultations with sales force.
Implementing advertising and recruiting strategies to attract qualified applicants for the sales representative position.
Assisting in planning and conducting meetings.

The extent and level of activity in each of these areas will vary depending on the AM's previous experience, the management style of the supervising manager, and AM's personal initiative. This is generally a part-time position of 15-25 hours per week.

Sales Manager

Sales managers are responsible for the local sales function in a Vector division office. Vector’s division managers are senior sales executives responsible for the operations of 6-8 district offices in a broad territory. They must also operate a "pilot" or model sales office that is expected to set high performance standards, test new initiatives, and set a leadership example for the territory. Due to the travel commitments and management demands on a division manager, most have a sales manager who handles the day to day sales operations of the local division office. A sales manager will generally assume the following responsibilities:

Working with the division manager to establish annual business plans including budgets, sales projections and recruiting needs.
Devising and implementing advertising strategies and sales promotion programs.
Interviewing, training, and developing an active sales force of anywhere between 50-150 sales representatives.
Providing personal professional development for salespeople.
Directing and supervising a staff of 1-3 assistant managers.
Conducting staff meetings and speaking publicly for large and small groups on such topics as sales techniques, consumer behavior, closing the sale, time management, communication skills and motivation.
Submitting orders, maintaining accounts, and preparing reports.
Maintaining a standard of professionalism and personal conduct that sets a leadership example for the sales staff.