By Christine Lavelle
CAR salesmen have been revealed as having the least respected profession in Scotland, sharing the bottom spot with bankers in a recent opinion poll.
Only 16 per cent of the general public said they had “a great deal of respect” for the salesmen, who often carry a reputation for being ‘too pushy’.
The information comes from an online public opinion poll, conducted by Angus Reid Public Opinion in London, and asked almost 2,000 adults at random across Great Britain their thoughts on 25 career categories.
John McGuire, managing director of Phoenix Car Company in Glasgow, has 36 years experience selling cars, and said he is shocked to hear the results.
He said: “I have devoted my life to selling cars and making sure my own and my staff’s customer service skills are of extremely high quality.
“I really hope none of our customers voted in this poll – all of our salesmen are graduates, and we train them to be helpful and efficient.
“Buying a car can be the most important thing to our customers that year, and I find it very fulfilling to be a part of their happiness.
“There are old school dinosaur types out there who are too pushy, but I would never employ them – if someone comes to me and says they have 10 years experience selling cars, I think – no, you have one year which you have repeated for 10.
“We don’t treat our profession as just a job, all of my staff members are building careers and this result is a real shame for their reputation as they are all bright and hardworking people.”
Politicians also came in close to the bottom, receiving less than a fifth of the population’s respect.
Nursing was voted the most respected profession in Scotland, closely followed by doctors, scientists and soldiers.
When asked: “Generally speaking, do you tend to have a great deal of respect, a fair amount or respect or very little respect for each of the following professions?”, nursing came out top with 97 per cent responding “a great deal of respect”.
The results show 94 per cent of people would say they respect doctors, and 93 per cent scientists – while soldiers also scored above the 90 per cent mark.
Teachers, vets, engineers and dentists were among others to score highly in the eyes of the public, all of which were well rated.
The results were also broken down by age, and overall did not show a predictable ‘respect your elders’ result, but it is apparent respect for bankers, teachers and politicians tends to increase as they get older.
