Career Explorer Sales
Changing shape
Securities, commodities, and financial services sales agents
Buy and sell securities or commodities in investment and trading firms, or provide financial services to businesses and individuals. May advise customers about stocks, bonds, mutual funds, commodities, and market conditions.
Among the careers AI is changing fastest: more resilient than 8% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is very high (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it very high), and US jobs are projected to change by +1.4% by 2035, slower than average. The work leans on ethical judgement and creative vision.
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)
- $78,660
- Job growth to 2035
- +1.4%
- Openings a year
- 35,100
- People doing it (2025)
- 531,000
- Usual route in
- Bachelor's degree, then moderate on-the-job training
Where people already use AI for this work
- Explain financial information
- Monitor external affairs, trends, or events
- Identify business or organizational opportunities
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Negotiate contracts or agreements
- Sell products or services
- Collect data about consumer needs or opinions
What the work looks like
- Make bids or offers to buy or sell securities.
- Monitor markets or positions.
- Agree on buying or selling prices at optimal levels for clients.
- Keep accurate records of transactions.
- Buy or sell stocks, bonds, commodity futures, foreign currencies, or other securities on behalf of investment dealers.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
What the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects
- Fewer of these jobs, as technology allows workers to analyze data more efficiently.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Arbitrators, mediators, and conciliatorsGrows with AI, Index 21, +4.7%
- Financial managersGrows with AI, Index 43, +9.7%
- Buyers and purchasing agentsGrows with AI, Index 41, +6.0%
- Legal support workers, all otherChanging shape, Index 16, -0.3%
Also known as: Broker, Equity Trader, Financial Advisor, Financial Consultant, Commodities Broker, Investment Representative, Investments Advisor, Investments Specialist.
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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.