Top Ten Sales Resume Tips
Top Ten Sales Resume Tips
Always put your best foot forward: Highlight your skills, awards, accomplishments, cold-calls, percent to quota, large accounts, success stories, etc. Explain your position and make sure you quantify all of your accomplishments in bullets (have proof if asked).
Make it visually appealing: Do not clutter your resume with difficult to read language. Keep it simple with a chronological approach (see resume examples). Remember, a resume in the trash is no good to you!
Have an objective: Start your resume with a clear, concise objective and then move on to your current position. However, if you are fairly new to the workforce, your education should be right underneath your objective.
Use active language: Begin each sentence with an action verb and remember to use the proper tense — present tense for your current job, past tense for past jobs.
Keep it simple: Best results are achieved with a one or two page resume that is applicable to the position you are applying for.
Be confident: The resume is not the place to be humble. Make sure all of your accomplishments are highlighted.
Keep it professional: It is not necessary to include personal information such as age, health, hobbies, or marital status.
Don’t expect a job from your resume: Resumes do not get you jobs, rather interviews. The resume should be tailored to the position and highlight your accomplishments.
Don’t Stretch the truth: Resumes do not get you jobs, but do lead to interviews. Remember, everything you put on your resume is fair game and proof of the accomplishment might be required. If you cannot document it or back it up, be careful.
Don’t use fluff: Don’t write things like: “Self-motivated, hands-on team player with a proven track record, energetic sales person, very excitable and outgoing, etc.” This is just filler and will take away from your accomplishments.