Top Ten Sales Resume Tips

1. Make it impactful!!

Highlight accomplishments: awards, percent to quota, rankings, large accounts won, success stories, etc. Use bullet points, a minimum of text and clean spacing so that your accomplishments are dead easy to notice. This is the most important of our sales resume tips.

2. Make it (extremely) easy to read.

Recruiters spend an average of seven seconds reviewing each resume they received. Seven seconds!

Avoid cluttering your resume with long paragraphs and difficult to read language. Keep it clean and simple (see Sample Sales Resume) so your accomplishments stand out.

3. Tailor your resume.

Most medium and large-sized companies use Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to scan and score resumes received. The score your resume receives is based on how many of the desired keywords your resume contains. Due to this, it is estimated that less than 25% of resumes are read by a human. Matching your resume to the job posting is how you get past the ATS bot.

4. Tasks and duties.

Only include tasks or duties if they are important for the job you are applying for. Everything else is filler that makes it harder for recruiters and hiring managers to find your accomplishments.

5. Limit your sales resume to one page.

Best results are achieved with a results-oriented, one page resume tailored to the position you are applying for.

6. Project confidence.

A sales resume is not the place to be humble. Make sure all of your accomplishments are highlighted.

7. Keep it professional.

It is not necessary or advisable to include personal information such as age, health, hobbies, or marital status. At best, they’re irrelevant. At worst they can be used to knock you out of consideration.

8. Don’t expect a job from your resume.

Resumes do not get you jobs but a well-written one can get you interviews.

9. Don’t stretch the truth.

Remember, everything you put on your resume is fair game for questioning during an interview. Getting caught in an exaggeration will almost always get your eliminated from consideration.

10. Don’t add fluff.

Examples include: self-motivated, hands-on team player, energetic sales person, outgoing, etc. At best, fluff adds nothing. At worst, it takes the reader’s eyes off of your accomplishments.

p.s. Don’t forget to read our Top 10 Sales Resume Mistakes.