Sales organizations have always been mystifying to me. When I worked at a large, multi-national telecom, I started in desktop support (waaaaay back in the day!

Sales organizations have always been mystifying to me. When I worked at a large, multi-national telecom, I started in desktop support (waaaaay back in the day!). I remember being surprised about the layout of the 10,000 person organization, in general. You had staff, supervisors, managers, directors and vice presidents with some of those roles missing/swapped. Usually its "one or the other, supervisor vs manager" depending on if it was a higher-paid salary (or hourly) position or "the folks who answered the line when you dialed 411". For nearly every organization in the company, turnover was nothing that would raise an eyebrow. The structure was pretty boring, too -- A single VP, maybe two directors, the rest managers/staff. And then there was sales ... In Desktop Support, we spent a lot of time in the various local sales offices. We were either picking up or dropping off a computer over there about 5 times as much despite the office holding 100 employees. Almost everyone had an office. All office locations had the same dress policy, but everyone in the Sales department was 1980s IBM dress policy[0]. And almost everyone in the building was a Vice President. Being a frequent fixture in the office, I got to know a few of the managers and it was explained: the job has high performance quotas which, if met, will make a 6-figure salary very easily (in 2001) but which, if not, you'll be gone -- quickly[1]. There was something of a 400% turn-over (I can't remember if that was per quarter or per year, but I think it was the former). Much like the response from "Matthew Prince", though, the manager I talked to and the two sales-people that were hanging out all agreed "that's just how it works -- you don't have a consistent paycheck month-to-month, anyway, but the money is very good and the turnover means jobs are abundant." It's not a life I would choose, personally, nor am I in agreement with that way of doing things, but that was my take-away. [0] Which wasn't all that surprising; the office had customers come through. [1] The devil's in the details; certain sales jobs had long-tenured people and a long-term high-performer isn't let go after a bad month ... usually, anyway.