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Selling or Influencing Others

Work activity group · O*NET

Selling or Influencing Others is one of the 41 Generalized Work Activities at the top of O*NET's work-activity hierarchy — the broadest description of what people do on the job, sitting above the more specific intermediate and detailed work activities. Across the 894 occupations O*NET rates on it, it scores an average importance of 2.45 of 5 — 13th percentile among all activity groups.

Intermediate activities it contains

The intermediate work activities O*NET groups under Selling or Influencing Others, ranked by how many occupations perform each. Each links to its own page.

Intermediate activity Occupations AI applied
Promote products, services, or programs 108 94th pct
Sell products or services 48 61st pct
Advocate for individual or community needs 7 77th pct

How AI is applied to this activity group

Microsoft's "Working with AI" study measured how often an AI assistant performs each work activity in real Bing Copilot conversations. Averaged across the 3 intermediate activities under Selling or Influencing Others that the study measured, this group ranks in the 77th percentile for how frequently AI is applied — a description of how AI is used today, not a forecast that the activity will be automated.

The figure is the mean of the child activities' applied-percentiles; open any activity above to see its underlying Microsoft measurements. Every occupation blends many activities, so a high AI-applied rank for one group does not mean a job is being automated.

Occupations that rely on this activity group most

Ranked by O*NET importance rating (1–5) for Selling or Influencing Others. Wages are BLS OEWS May 2024 national medians.

Occupation Importance Median pay Employment
Advertising Sales Agents 4.94 $61,460 97,470
Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products 4.88 $66,780 1,266,860
Sales Managers 4.86 $138,060 603,710
Telemarketers 4.85 $34,410 66,430
Bicycle Repairers 4.73 $40,360 12,590
Demonstrators and Product Promoters 4.72 $37,960 64,770
Solar Sales Representatives and Assessors 4.58 $100,070 293,930
Door-to-Door Sales Workers, News and Street Vendors, and Related Workers 4.58 $34,530 4,590
Opticians, Dispensing 4.54 $46,560 79,690
Retail Salespersons 4.40 $34,580 3,800,250
Skincare Specialists 4.32 $41,560 70,240
Sales Engineers 4.32 $121,520 56,690
Real Estate Sales Agents 4.30 $56,320 190,600
Marketing Managers 4.27 $161,030 384,980
Photographers 4.27 $42,520 51,230
Audiologists 4.14 $92,120 14,730
Chief Sustainability Officers 4.11 $206,420 211,850
Fundraisers 4.10 $66,490 105,930
Writers and Authors 4.03 $72,270 47,800
Insurance Sales Agents 4.01 $60,370 469,480
Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists 3.99 $35,250 295,460
Hearing Aid Specialists 3.99 $61,560 10,580
Recycling Coordinators 3.96 — —
Management Analysts 3.95 $101,190 893,900
Interior Designers 3.88 $63,490 69,580
Online Merchants 3.87 $81,270 1,128,200
Public Relations Specialists 3.86 $69,780 280,590
Spa Managers 3.83 $61,340 10,490
Chief Executives 3.81 $206,420 211,850
Highway Maintenance Workers 3.81 $49,070 151,750
Freight Forwarders 3.81 $49,900 97,800
Community Health Workers 3.81 $51,030 60,730
Real Estate Brokers 3.78 $72,280 49,590
Travel Agents 3.76 $48,450 59,150
Sustainability Specialists 3.74 $81,270 1,128,200
Wind Energy Operations Managers 3.74 $136,550 630,980
Loss Prevention Managers 3.73 $136,550 630,980
Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agents 3.73 $78,140 472,300
First-Line Supervisors of Non-Retail Sales Workers 3.72 $84,130 219,010
Prosthodontists 3.71 — 760
Parts Salespersons 3.69 $37,440 265,060
Security Management Specialists 3.68 $81,270 1,128,200
Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists 3.68 $76,950 861,140
Agents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and Athletes 3.68 $96,310 14,220
Tellers 3.67 $39,340 339,340
Butchers and Meat Cutters 3.67 $38,960 140,040
Security Managers 3.65 $104,690 141,090
Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers 3.65 $37,320 114,190
Precision Agriculture Technicians 3.65 $46,790 14,340
Dental Hygienists 3.64 $94,260 219,070
Advertising and Promotions Managers 3.64 $126,960 21,100
Craft Artists 3.64 $38,480 4,370
Child, Family, and School Social Workers 3.62 $58,570 382,960
Meeting, Convention, and Event Planners 3.59 $59,440 134,670
Sheet Metal Workers 3.59 $60,850 117,470
Morticians, Undertakers, and Funeral Arrangers 3.59 $49,800 25,700
General and Operations Managers 3.58 $102,950 3,584,420
Lodging Managers 3.58 $68,130 41,350
Chiropractors 3.55 $79,000 37,630
Counter and Rental Clerks 3.52 $38,540 398,620

Showing 60 of 894 occupations.

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

Cite this page
Plain

Singulariki. "Selling or Influencing Others." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/activity-groups/selling-or-influencing-others

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Selling or Influencing Others. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/activity-groups/selling-or-influencing-others

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-selling-or-influencing-others,
  title  = {Selling or Influencing Others},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/activity-groups/selling-or-influencing-others}
}

Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.