Getting a head start on the job market
For the third annual Great Canadian Sales Competition (GCSC), students across the country are given the opportunity to pitch to major corporate sponsors who are looking to recruit fresh and upcoming talent.
This year, the University of Guelph is among 80 participating university and college campuses. Together, commerce students Tori Bellwood and Richard Scott are leading a team of campus ambassadors hoping to represent U of G through the final stages of the competition.
As team leaders, Bellwood and Scott are responsible for recruiting students to enter the competition by creating 30 to 90 second video pitches.So far, the team has collected around 35 submissions from students across all disciplines, putting them second only to York’s Schulich School of Business in number of submissions.
The initial video entry gives students the chance to pitch about a topic of their choice before entries close in January.
“The range of pitches is really wide,” said Bellwood. “We’ve had people pitch about why you should wear bike helmets, why you should wear a certain colour, all the way to why it’s beneficial to have a job while you’re in school.”
Having advanced to the semifinals last year, Bellwood hopes to use her experience to help students deliver exactly what the judges are looking for.
“All a good pitch needs is an introduction, three supporting points to sound credible, and an action item at the end,” Bellwood explained. “We say to pick something that they’re passionate about, that way they’re comfortable speaking about it—but the judges are really looking for how they talk and not necessarily what they speak about.”
Bellwood is also in the process of perfecting her own video pitch about why soup is absolutely the best food.
“It’s pretty much in every single culture,” she explained. “It’s diverse, it’s easy to make, it’s cheap to make, has a lot of layers of flavour and depth, and so many varieties, and I can go on and on. It’s my favourite food.”
For the second round, the top 25 per cent are paired with the sponsoring companies to learn how to pitch their actual products or services. From there, the top 25 students are chosen to participate in mock sales meetings with senior business leaders.
According to Bellwood, “Last year, all 25 of the finalists walked away with a job offer.”
With Statistics Canada reporting youth unemployment rates at 13 per cent as of 2015, Bellwood believes that sales skills are must-haves for students entering the job market.
“Presentation skills, communication, as well as being able to think on your feet are amazing [skills] and are highly transferable, no matter what someone wants to do,” Bellwood explained. “For example, engineers might have to apply for research grants; sales skills are important. Doctors need to have bedside manners; they have to be able to pitch themselves and why [a patient] should choose them to do their surgery instead of some other doctor.”
Bellwood concluded that, while the goal of a sales pitch is meant to sell an idea or a product, it is also just as important to sell oneself.
Photo by Dana Bellamy.