If you’re applying for a job in sales, one of the best ways to get your foot in the door is a great resume. We’ve included some advice to help you design a resume that stands out, as well as a template preferred by many sales hiring leaders.
To make sure you have the essential components of an excellent sales resume, we’ve provided some recommendations on what to include. The most important thing to keep in mind is that most resume readers will, on average, only scan the content for 10-15 seconds and in the case of sales, they are primarily looking for numbers.
Metrics
Let’s say you describe yourself as confident, enthusiastic, tenacious, etc. These are some characteristics of a great salesperson, but prospective employers want quantifiable evidence that backs up your claims.
Make sure to include:
Your responsibilities and subsequent results in a quantifiable format
Example: “Accomplished [X] as measured by [Y], by doing [Z]"
Quota attainment ideally for all years, but at least the last 5 fiscal years
Example: FY22: Achieved __% of quota by closing $__ in revenue)
Sample customers acquired and retained
Example: Net New Customers Closed: Visa, Salesforce & Oracle
Large expansion deals with: Microsoft, Charles Schwab and McKesson
Largest deal closed: $1.2M with IBM
An overview of your territory and what you’re selling
Example: “Selling a Marketing Automation platform to CMO’s and VP-level marketing leaders at Fortune 1000 Accounts located in Greater Bay Area”
Accomplishments and Accolades
Example: FY21: Achieved President’s Club Award
Example: FY21: Ranked #2 out of 24 Enterprise reps in North America
Overviews
Objective, summary statements and profile overviews are generally unnecessary on sales resumes.
Appearance
Make sure your resume is clean and polished. Triple check for spelling errors or mistakes; hiring managers will notice them!
Make sure everything is visually appealing and easy to read
Use sales language to ensure keywords are noticed
Separate past roles from each other
List your metrics and achievements in order
Ensure the resume is ideally no more than 2 pages or 1 page for every decade of work experience
Include your contact information (city, state, phone, email) and your LinkedIn profile link
Ensure tense consistency
A resume that lacks these aspects is likely to get discarded or ignored. A messy or chaotic resume could result in a negative characterization by the hiring manager.
Finer Details
List your education (college, degree, major) and personal interests at the bottom of your resume. Highlight interests that contribute to the perception that you have a sales oriented personality. Do you play any sports? Do you enjoy reading? Do you have hobbies that allow you opportunities for public speaking?
Specific skills and competencies are only needed if they are particularly relevant and showcase your unique qualifications. Examples include specific sales methodology training (e.g. MEDDIC or Sandler) or types of technology (open-source, Hadoop, ERP, etc.). These keywords allow your resume to become more searchable within AI resume filters used by larger company recruiting functions.
Refrain from referencing anything that might be perceived as controversial on your resume, such as political or religious affiliation.
Sell Yourself
Selling yourself through your resume is the first step towards showing prospective employers that you are a good fit for their sales position. Displaying your accomplishments in a quantifiable way, keeping everything clean and polished, and showing you have the qualities of what it takes will result in a quality resume that makes you stand out.
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