“I have never worked a day in my life without selling. If I believe in something, I sell it, and I sell it hard,” Estee Lauder once said. Her company, of course, grew to be one of the largest international beauty and skincare companies in the world.

Are you interested in developing a career in sales? A lot has been written about this pursuit. You can find everything from interview tips to suggestions for becoming a better salesperson. What might often be under-discussed, though, and just as important, is the future of the industry itself.

Companies will always be hiring sales people. But the scope of the industry is always changing. If you don’t pay attention to what’s in the wind today, you might find yourself stuck in a dying section of the industry with no clear path forward tomorrow. Here are three important things you should know as you continue down your sales career path.

1. Finance and Commodities

In the same way that there will always be hospitals and funeral homes to work in, one industry that will always be around is the financial sector. Specifically, finance, commodities, and securities. A career in sales in this field will pay the highest–averaging about $100,000 annually.

2. Trial Arrangements are Becoming More Common

During its early days, Joor, a New York-based company that connects brands to retailers, experienced numerous hiring issues. The traditional hiring process took a long time, and didn’t always reveal that much about candidates, who were only starting their careers. High turnover rates prevailed. Then the company switched to a 30-day trial basis for hires. Since then, the company has experienced a much higher retention rate of full-time employees, and everyone who is on the team really wants to be there. Many companies are now experimenting with this setup as a way to test the waters on both sides. 
 

3. The Dying Industries to Avoid

Today, sales recruitment agencies are looking for candidates with specific, extensive field experience—they’re not looking for a jack-of-all-trades. If you spend the first 10 years of your career in what ultimately turns out to be a dying industry, the switch to a new industry may be difficult and costly. No matter what field you’re interested in, research it extensively. See what experts are saying about it. Right now, three examples of currently lucrative, but dying, industries are mobile home sales, telecommunications carriers, and apparel manufacturing.

Do you have a career in sales? Let us know in the comments.