Every time an employer advertises a job, they can expect to receive dozens or hundreds of resumes, most of which will look exactly the same. If you submit your resume and it doesn’t stand out from the rest, you are unlikely to receive a call for an interview regardless of how well your skills and experience line up with the job requirements. There are, however, a few ways you can structure content and presentation of your sales resume to ensure it stands out in front of a prospective employer.
1. Work History. Detail your work history including titles and explanations of your responsibilities and accomplishments throughout your sales career. Your resume should tell the reader exactly what you’ve done and achieved. This is crucial since Since job titles are often misleading or their function may vary from one company to another (for example Business Development or Manager of Sales), your resume should tell the reader exactly what you’ve done.
2. Add Relevant Background. Not everyone will know the company you worked for and the products you sold. Let the reader know the market, offering, size and location of your past employers, and business volume if it is public information. Specify the technical aspects of your past work or training, especially things like sales cycle, product knowledge and any complex tasks.
3. Specify Dates and Location. An employer wants to understand your path of advancement, so accurately document the positions you have held and any educational credentials and awards.
4. Quantity and Relevancy. Customize your resume to the needs of reader and the position you are applying for. If your part time jobs earlier in your work history are irrelevant for this position, summarize them as “various part time positions” and use the space this created to talk about your experience helping companies sell products and generate revenues.
5. Show Success – Clearly demonstrates a track record of success and ideally increasing success over time.
6. Length. Fill up only a page or two. If need several pages to document your skills and accomplishments, it sends a signal to the prospective employer that you can’t organize your thoughts, or you’re trying too hard to make a good impression. If your content is strong, you won’t need more than two pages and most employers won’t read past that anyway.
7. Grammar. Communication skills are critical in most sales positions, and it is hard to claim superior written skills, when your resume has spelling, punctuation or grammatical errors. An error-free document is representative of an educated person. If you are unsure about your writing (or if English is your second language), consult a professional writer or editor.
8. Presentation – avoid fancy or colorful backgrounds that might be distracting for the reader, or hard to print. Select a conventional font, such as Arial or Times Roman. In some cases, such as a customer facing sales role, a small picture on your resume is a nice touch to show the reader you take presentation seriously.
9. Readability. Create a story for the reader to embrace. You have worked hard to reach your accomplishments, so make sure to profile them in an interesting light, while being clear and concise.
Finally, you may want to write a few drafts, and proofread carefully. and Rreview your document as if you were the intended recipient to ensure that there are no errors and the document leaves the correct impression. Feel free to have a peer review your resume for an independent perspective on its suitability for a position for which you wish to apply. Put quality time into this document as it may open the door to your next job. Care and attention can often make the difference between an interview and a rejection.
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