Your resume is your ticket to getting a call for an interview by recruiters, hiring managers and HR staff when you are looking for a new job. I’ve seen some really great resumes, some good, and some really bad resumes. If you want to get a new job in sales, make sure your resume sells yourself. You can’t get a new job if you don’t get that first call for an interview, so if you’re unsure if your resume sells you well enough check out these tips. 1. Do some research for each job you apply for: You should tweak your resume just a bit for each job you’re applying for. Make sure to highlight relevant experience specific to the job you’re applying for. For example, if it’s a start-up, highlight any start-up or small company experience you have or if they are looking for “closers” highlight your relevant experience with closing deals. Your resume should be customized to each company, not just a generic sales resume. 2. Your header should include your name, email, phone number and LinkedIn profile link: I’d say that less than 20% of you have your LinkedIn profile on your resume. You may say why does that matter, but what do you think the first thing most hiring managers will do when they receive your resume? They do a search on LinkedIn to find you, so why not make it easy on them and add the link to your resume. Having your LinkedIn profile on your resume also shows you’re up to date with the social media trends. If you’re a big Twitter user, include that as well. Please don’t add a picture to your resume. That’s important on LinkedIn but unless you’re a realtor there is no need for a picture on your resume. 3. Create a summary of achievements section: This section is your first impression to the reader, so document your top 3 or 4 best results and give readers the best impression of you at a quick glance. Summarize the highlights of your accomplishments, so the hiring manager gets excited and wants to continue reading more about you. This section should help you set yourself apart from other people, so identify your most important achievements and explain them. Include any awards you have earned like Presidents Club, Achiever Club, Rookie of the Year, and explain why you received the award. (Received Achievers Club award in 2013, 2014 for being in top 5 percent of sales team). 4. Document your professional experience and highlights: Does your resume show that you are an overachieving sales rep? Isn’t that what you want people to know about you. The bullet points on your resume should not read like a job description, describing only your responsibilities. You should describe your accomplishments like you are proud of what you have done. Begin each statement with an action word such as: Top, overachieved, generated, increased, managed, or championed. Use your resume to demonstrate where you excelled at your job. 5. Numbers, numbers and more numbers: A sales resume without numbers showing performance might let people think you may not have any. If you’re an overachiever, won awards, exceeded quota, state it. Don’t just say sold $500K in CRM software, but say something like “Achieved 110% of quota selling CRM software in 2014”. A sales resume without numbers that show success gives the impression that you may be hiding something, like performance against quota. 6. No Mistakes! This is so important and while it may seem like a silly requirement to some, many recruiters or HR people will be turned off when they see your errors. It tells me that you don’t pay enough attention to details and this may be very important to the job you are applying for. As a sales person you can win or lose a deal on the DETAILS, so take the few extra minutes it takes to do a spell check on your resume and your LinkedIn profile as well. Paying attention to these ideas should get your resume to stand out and get noticed. The best sales resumes show how you have been successful before and how you will meet the needs of the hiring company. Sales Managers – What do you look for in a resume? Would love to hear your ideas.
Does Your Resume Sell YOU Enough to Get an Interview?
