Entry Level Skills and Competencies Requirements for Car Salesmen Toward an Enhanced Curriculum in Marketing Management

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

One of the most relevant issues faced by tertiary education graduates is employment. The rapid acquisition skills and competencies is crucial to the success of professionals who must address the issues and conflicts that may arise in sales industry employment settings. Entry level skills and competencies requirements for car salesmen toward an enhanced curriculum in Marketing Management was studied to identify the gaps between what was learned in school and what was required by the job.

METHODS

This research involved descriptive, documentaries, and field surveys. The respondents were fifty-nine (59) car salesmen of various car companies in Cavite selected using the stratified sampling technique. The research instrument was divided into fourteen (14) groups. Multiple statistical tools were used such as frequency and percentage distribution, Paired T-Test, Pearson r, and ANOVA Test, and these were processed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software.

RESULTS

Most of the car salesmen are young and qualified to be effective sales representatives of the company. Car salesmen companies prefer young males, college graduates, and with experience in the same field. Car salesmen were able to attain the skills and competencies required by the employers. However, there are still areas that were not attained. The volume of sales is at the minimum range. The basis of the volume of sales do not comply with employers' entry skills and competencies requirements. Customer-service orientation and willingness to extend beyond regular hours have an effect on the volume of sales. Most of the skills and competencies expected by the car salesmen were exhibited significantly. Skills were effective; however, there were some skills that were not practiced. The profile of the car salesmen such as age, gender, educational attainment, and years of experiences has no effect on the volume of their sales.

DISCUSSIONS

The result show that an enhancement in the Marketing Management curriculum is needed to comply with the entry level skills and competencies requirements for car salesmen. The subjects in Marketing Management were appropriate for graduates working as car salesmen. However, the curriculum is insufficient and there were subjects that need to be enhanced to suit the entry level skills and competencies required by car sales companies for car salesmen.