Sales Resume Tips

Writing a quality resume is difficult. Essentially you are boiling down your professional experiences into a 1 to 2 page document. To help bring clarity to the process remember this is just a marketing document.

Write your resume for a target audience. What type of sales job are you looking for? A software sales resume is different from a sales manager resume. Why? The company is hiring very different skills and experiences. Write your resume first to reflect the hiring motivations of your ideal job. Then tweak the resume for each job you apply for.

Chronological or Functional Resume Format?

We are asked frequently if people should write a chronological or functional resume. A functional resume simply describes what you do and your key attributes, while a chronological resume describes each step in your career.

Sales resumes should be chronological. More specifically they should be reverse chronological. Your current job goes first and your first job out of school (university or college) goes last.

Under each career heading try to write 3 to 4 bullets that describe your core responsibilities, and 1 to 2 bullets for your big achievements.

What doesn't need to be on a sales resume?

There is a lot of superfulous information that doesn't need to be on your resume. If you are trying to control the length of your resume throw out items like: experience with software applications, hobbies and irrelevant training courses. Remember this is a marketing document. Only keep the information that is relevant to your buyer: the hiring manager.

Also, you don't need to include your highschool under education. Everyone went to highschool. It's a given.

Sample Resume

You don't have to reinvent the wheel for your resume. Microsoft Word offers great templates for resumes. Use a basic resume template with a simple design that is easy to read. That will take out half the hassles you face in creating a resume.

The key elements of a sales resume include:

  1. Contact information
  2. Objective
  3. Experience (reverse chronological)
  4. Education

That is basically all you need. Take creative license to make it your own, and something that will speak to a hiring manager.