CISD and XpressJobs Partner to Bridge Sri Lanka’s Sales Skills Gap

Sri Lanka’s sales sector one of the country’s largest employment generators, has long faced a structural challenge: while demand for sales talent continues to grow across industries, the profession itself lacks formal training pathways, consistent standards, and clear career progression.

In a move aimed at addressing this gap, the Colombo Institute of Sales & Distribution (CISD) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with XpressJobs, one of Sri Lanka’s leading recruitment technology platforms. The partnership seeks to better align structured education with employability outcomes, particularly in sales and commercial career tracks.

Picture (From Left to Right): Ms. Illakiya Rajendran (Manager HR and Operations: XpressJobs), Mr. Joe Peter (Head of Sales: XpressJobs), Dr. Oshadie Korale (Co-Founder/COO: XpressJobs), Mr. Chathura Kotagama ( Co-Founder/ CEO: CISD), Ms. Kushani Gamage ( Manager Sales and Marketing: CISD), Mr. Abdullah Nuhuman (Manager Academic Operations, Outreach & Partnerships: CISD)

A Persistent Skills Gap

Sales roles span sectors such as FMCG, banking, technology, healthcare, logistics, and exports. Yet many professionals enter these roles without formal grounding in areas such as buyer behaviour, negotiation, ethical selling, data-driven decision-making, or long-term account management.

Industry observers note that this has contributed to high attrition rates, inconsistent performance standards, and limited leadership pipelines within sales teams. Despite its economic importance, sales is often viewed as a short-term job rather than a long-term profession.

Why CISD Was Established

CISD was founded to address this exact issue: the absence of structured, professional sales education in Sri Lanka.

The institute’s mandate is to position sales as a recognised professional discipline, comparable to fields such as finance or information technology, supported by formal education, ethical frameworks, and defined progression routes.

By combining academic structure with industry relevance, CISD aims to ensure that sales professionals are trained not only to perform, but to build sustainable careers.

Supporting New Entrants and Experienced Professionals

A key focus of CISD’s model is its dual approach.

For school leavers and early-career entrants, CISD provides structured programmes that allow young people to enter sales intentionally, with foundational skills, professional discipline, and employability readiness, rather than learning informally on the job.

For those already working in sales and commercial roles, the institute focuses on upskilling and career advancement. This includes developing advanced sales capability, leadership skills, digital and data competence, and ethical decision-making, skills increasingly required in competitive markets.

Linking Education to Employment

As part of this MoU, CISD is able to integrate live sales vacancies from XpressJobs directly onto its platform through an integrated job feed. This ensures that sales opportunities across hard-core, field, and corporate sales are accessible to individuals from diverse backgrounds and experience levels, from all regions across the island.

Through the MoU, CISD learners gain direct access to employer networks, job readiness support, and structured career pathways, while employers benefit from a pipeline of sales talent trained to professional standards and modern sales practices. XpressJobs contributes its recruitment technology and nationwide reach, ensuring that skills development is directly connected to real employment opportunities.

Commenting on the partnership, Chathura Kotagama, Co-Founder and CEO of CISD, said the initiative was about redefining how sales careers are built in Sri Lanka.

“Sales plays a critical role in every sector of the economy, yet it has lacked structured professional pathways for decades. CISD was established to change that. This partnership helps connect education with opportunity, ensuring both young entrants and experienced professionals can progress with confidence,” he said.

Dr. Oshadie Korale, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of XpressJobs, noted the importance of closer collaboration between education and employment platforms.

“Our data consistently shows a clear gap in sales talent, hard-core, field, and corporate sales. Instead of waiting for candidates to come to us, we actively take opportunities to find them. That’s why partnering with CISD made sense. Their practical, hands-on approach to building job-ready sales professionals aligns perfectly with how we bridge real market gaps”

A Broader Workforce Impact

As Sri Lanka seeks to strengthen productivity, youth employment, and professional standards, initiatives that connect education providers with industry platforms are gaining importance. The CISD–XpressJobs partnership reflects a broader shift towards skills-to-jobs alignment, where training is directly linked to employability and long-term career growth, particularly in high-demand sectors such as sales.