Abstrakt is a partner company of the Inside Sales Lab at Mizzou's Trulaske College of Business. Students intern on campus, between classes, doing the same work our SDRs do: researching accounts, reaching decision-makers and booking real meetings.
Abstrakt partners with the Inside Sales Lab at Mizzou's Trulaske College of Business, run by the Center for Sales and Customer Development in Cornell Hall. Students work real inside sales internships with partner companies, right on campus.
As an Abstrakt intern, you do the same work our SDRs do every day: research accounts, reach decision-makers and book qualified meetings, all built around your class schedule.
“Abstrakt was only my second job after graduating from Mizzou, and I've been here for over 12 years. I started as an entry-level Sales Development Rep with no sales background and limited business experience. Today, I'm proud to serve as an Executive Vice President. This is the kind of place where hard work, curiosity, and drive can take you further than you ever imagined.”
Jessica FryeExecutive Vice President of Training and DevelopmentAlumni of University of Missouri
What to expect
How the Sales Lab internship works
Abstrakt hires you, trains you and manages you. You work from the Sales Lab on campus, on a schedule built around your classes.
The setup
Abstrakt hires and trains you
You're an Abstrakt intern from day one. We hire you, train you and coach you, and you do the work from the Sales Lab on campus.
The work
Calls, research and accounts
You call on prospects for My Trade Talent, one of the Abstrakt companies, research their industries and build account profiles in Salesforce. It's the same work our SDRs do every day.
The schedule
Built around class
You set your weekly hours around your class schedule, so the internship fits with a full course load.
The payoff
A head start on the phones
Your first calls, first rejections and first booked meetings happen while you're still in school, with other interns at the next desk to compare notes with.
What you learn
The skills the SDR job runs on
An Abstrakt internship is practice for the seat most careers here start in. You build the same four skills our full-time SDRs are hired for.
Cold calling is the part most people dread, and it's the part that pays off fastest. Hearing no from a business owner at 20 is cheap. Hearing it for the first time at 23 with a quota is not.
Book meetings with decision-makers
Manage a pipeline and move prospects through the sales cycle
Research industries and the accounts in them
Reach the right decision-maker and deliver the message
Your career path
Where an internship can lead
Every person at Abstrakt starts in the same seat. Two stops in, you choose your line. Whether you came for a sales career or to learn how every department of a business works so you can run one someday, or run your own, this is the route.
95%of the people running Abstrakt today started on this track
2businesses Abstrakt has started with people who came here to grow their careers
01
Stop 1 · everyone
SDR
Sales Development Rep
You learn B2B sales from the first dial: research the account, get past the front desk, handle the objection and book a qualified meeting for a real business owner.
02
Stop 2 · everyone
Partner Account Manager
An SDR who runs their own accounts
Still on the phones, now with your own book of client accounts. You own their results, join their calls and decide how their program is worked.
Sales department track
Sales
Sell Abstrakt programs to owners and executives at growing companies.
Run a full sales cycle, first call to signed agreement
Build and work your own pipeline
Present to owners and negotiate
Sales Manager track
Sales Manager
Lead a team of SDRs on the floor and own their number.
Hire, coach and develop reps
Run a floor to a goal every week
Read the call data and fix what it shows
Account management track
Account Management
Own client relationships and the results Abstrakt delivers for them.
Set strategy with business owners
Report results and keep clients growing
Turn feedback into a better program
Operations track
Operations
Run the machine behind the floor: data, quality, recruiting, training and process.
Design the systems a company runs on
Run quality control and reporting
Recruit and train at scale
Destination
Run a department
The people leading sales, account management and operations here today rode these lines.
Destination
Run your own business
You will have sold, managed, served clients and run operations. Abstrakt has started 2 businesses with people who grew here.
Recent graduates
Your Degree Got You Started. Your Drive Can Take You Further.
The Inside Sales Lab is a University of Missouri program, but our people come from more than 100 universities. If you are finishing a degree anywhere, these are the two ways in, and what each one asks of you.
St. Louis, MO · On-site · $40,000 to $55,000 a year
Start on the SDR side, certify at six months, then own client accounts as their main point of contact.
Degree: The posting asks for a bachelor's degree in sales, marketing, business management, entrepreneurship or a related field.
Started here early
Jessica Frye
Abstrakt was her second job after graduating from Mizzou. She started as an entry-level SDR with no sales background and is now our Executive Vice President of Training and Development.
How do I apply for the Inside Sales Lab internship?+
Through the University of Missouri. The Inside Sales Lab asks interested students to fill out its online survey and attach a resume, and a member of the faculty or staff follows up. The lab is in 401 Cornell Hall.
Do I have to be a Mizzou student?+
The Inside Sales Lab is a Trulaske College of Business program, so it is for University of Missouri students. If you are at another school, apply to our entry-level Sales Development Representative role when you are ready to start full time.
Do I need sales experience for the internship?+
The lab is built to give students their first real inside sales experience, and at Abstrakt we hire for drive, coachability and communication, not resumes.
Can the internship lead to a full-time job at Abstrakt?+
The internship does the same prospecting work our full-time SDRs do, and the SDR role is where almost every career here starts. Jessica Frye, our Executive Vice President of Training and Development, is a Mizzou graduate who started as an entry-level SDR.
I already graduated. Can I still apply?+
Yes. The internship is for current Mizzou students, but graduates from any school can apply for our entry-level Sales Development Representative and Partner Account Manager jobs, which start with 10 business days of paid training.
How many hours does the internship take?+
The lab lets students schedule their weekly internship time around their class schedule. Ask the lab staff for the current hour expectations.
Photos on this page: Hero photo: Abstrakt team members in our St. Louis office, Abstrakt's own photography. University of Missouri logo shown for the Inside Sales Lab partnership.
