Career Explorer Sales
Changing shape
Parts salespersons
Sell spare and replacement parts and equipment in repair shop or parts store.
In the middle of the pack: more resilient than 49% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is moderate (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it high), and US jobs are projected to change by +3.0% by 2035, slower than average. The work leans on emotional intelligence.
AI can do many of the tasks, and hiring is expected to grow slower than average or to shrink. The job is likely to change, so build the human parts of it.
- Median pay (2025)
- $38,630
- Job growth to 2035
- +3.0%
- Openings a year
- 30,000
- People doing it (2025)
- 273,000
- Usual route in
- No formal credential, then moderate on-the-job training
Where people already use AI for this work
- Execute financial transactions
- Explain technical details of products or services
- Advise others on products or services
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Collect data about consumer needs or opinions
- Monitor resources or inventories
- Clean tools, equipment, facilities, or work areas
What the work looks like
- Receive payment or obtain credit authorization.
- Assist customers, such as responding to customer complaints and updating them about back-ordered parts.
- Fill customer orders from stock, and place orders when requested items are out of stock.
- Receive and fill telephone orders for parts.
- Locate and label parts, and maintain inventory of stock.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Healthcare support workers, all otherHuman edge, growing, Index 83, +4.8%
- Hearing aid specialistsHuman edge, growing, Index 89, +19.4%
- First-line supervisors of housekeeping and janitorial workersChanging shape, Index 61, +3.2%
- Physical therapist aidesHuman edge, growing, Index 87, +4.0%
Also known as: Parts Consultant, Parts Counterperson, Parts Salesman, Parts Salesperson, Parts Advisor, Parts Counter Salesperson, Parts Counterman, Parts Person.
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Sources: US Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2025 to 2035; O*NET 31.0; Microsoft Research (2025); Anthropic Economic Index (2026); Eloundou and colleagues (Science, 2024); Felten, Raj and Seamans (2023). How we score. Updated 12 October 2026.