Selling yourself - Creating the perfect sales CV

Posted on 28 September 2016 14:40:23 by C Andreanoff

So, you’re in the world of sales and looking to create a new resume. You have less than 60 seconds to catch the recruiter’s attention. When a position is opened, the recruiter knows the experience they are looking for and they quickly scan the resume for specific keywords. If they aren’t found, they move on. What makes a great sales resume and will make sure the recruiter will take notice? Here are some tips to make sure you’ll get noticed.

Summary - Open your resume with a summary. Your summary will be a quick synopsis of your background and will tell your story, along with what you will bring to the company that no other candidate will bring.

Sales pitch - Think of your resume as your sales pitch. How do you normally close the deal? You tell the story, you provide facts, and you show why your product is the best and why they need not look further. Treat your resume the same way. Show the reader why your number one and give them hard compelling evidence and don’t bore them with fluff.

Numbers - It’s clear in sales that numbers will speak for themselves. Showcase your sales numbers in your resume. Don’t just say you increased the profit margin, but show in numbers how much you did. Also, show how you ranked in comparison to others in your company.

List out details - It’s important to list the size and type of accounts, along with quotas. This will paint a picture to the reader of the size and so on, so they have a better idea of what you’ve worked with and were able to achieve.

Awards - Explain any awards or achievements earned. It’s also a good idea to show how many others you were up against to earn this award. Such as, “I was the #1 sales person for XYZ Company out of 200 other sales reps.” This will show that you had a lot of competition– higher numbers speaks volumes.

Sales resumes can be very tricky - there are so many sales people in the field fighting for the same role. With that, you need to make sure that you’re not missing a step and providing all of the details. If you can accomplish this, your resume is sure to land you an interview and the spot in the company you so desire.

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