When it comes to getting that job, your resume will never do you justice. It’s going to be up to you, the applicant, how well your words and phrases are going to showcase your skills and abilities. The more impressive your resume is, the better your chances of landing that job.
You don’t have to be a sales professional or even have a knack for writing in order to craft an impressive sales resume and get that all-important interview call back. Here are some tips on how to write a killer sales resume.
Know What Employers Want In A Resume
Before you even start thinking about how to write a killer sales resume, it’s important to know what employers are looking for in a resume. The ideal resume will highlight your skills, experience, and accomplishments. By way of example, if you’ve spent the last five years running a software company, you’re probably going to want to highlight that experience and accomplishments.
An employer is looking for a person who has both the skills and experience to do the job. In this age of digital resumes, getting lost in the details of your skills and experience is easy. Employers want to see a clear snapshot of you as a professional and a person.
Employers also want to understand why you’re looking for work at this particular time in your life. For example, if you just graduated from college and are looking for your first full-time job, it’s significant to highlight that.
Be Yourself, but be Professional
You’re applying for jobs and crafting resumes for a reason. It’s to get that callback or interview. If you’re worried about coming off as too salesy or too much like a salesperson, don’t. You are selling yourself, but you’re selling yourself as you. If you really want to stand out, though, you’ll try to tone down some of the more “nice” aspects of yourself. You don’t have to be an aggressive jerk, but you’re probably not going to get hired if you come off as a syrupy sweet talker.
Keep It To 3 Pages
There’s been a lot of buzz recently about the rise of “4-page resumes.” While most experts agree that you should never go over two pages, there’s a lot of debate on whether a resume should be three pages or four. The consensus is to never go above three pages.
If you’re going above three pages, you’re probably doing more than enough to impress an employer. If you’re looking to stand out, you want to put an emphasis on the skills and experience that sets you apart from other job applicants.
That doesn’t necessarily mean more words or even more pages. Instead, it means you’re using different words and phrases to really convey your skills and experience. Instead of saying you’re excellent at managing teams and customers, you’re saying you have superior client service skills. Instead of saying you’re great with budgets and managing cash flows, you’re highlighting your skills in financial management.
Don’t Go Too Heavy on the Numbers
There’s been a lot of debate recently about whether to list your salary requirements in your sales resume. As a general rule of thumb, never, ever do that. It will just come off as too pushy and desperate. That said, there’s no reason your sales resume has to include your salary requirements.
The same is true for any other number-heavy details in your sales resume. If you want to keep it to three pages, you can put the details of how many sales you’ve made, how much money you’ve made, and how much in commissions you’ve earned. Beyond that, it’s too much information to be kept in one document.
Make it a point to put all the numbers and numbers-heavy details on separate documents that you can easily transfer over to your sales resume.
End with a Call to Action
The end of your sales resume should be a call to action. That may sound weird, but it’s important to state what you want from the employer. What do you want out of this job? This is most effective if you’ve included a section towards the end of your sales resume that gives a little more insight into yourself.
You may want to include a section about your interests and/or volunteer work. If you’ve also included your social media links and other online profiles, you may want to include a section at the end with a call to action. Instead of closing with “Contact me if you have any questions,” close with something like “Let us know how we can help you out with your job search.”
Stay up-to-date on Industry News and Trends
If you really want to stand out on your sales resume, you want to make sure you stay on top of recent industry trends and what’s happening in the job market. You can do that through any number of online channels. LinkedIn is a great place to keep up to date on industry news and trends going on in the job market.
You can use LinkedIn Pulse to get an idea of what’s trending, what job titles are attracting the most attention, and what topics are being talked about in job posts. You can also keep track of the trends and job market news by following the relevant professional or industry Facebook pages. Not only that, but you can also follow Twitter feeds for those same pages.
Help With Your Next Job Search
If you want to close the deal on your next job search, stay up-to-date on the trends in the job market. Follow the relevant industry blogs and news sites. Keep an eye on the job postings that you see on social media channels like Facebook.
Look for ways to keep up-to-date with the latest trends in your field. That could include checking out some online courses available, attending networking events, or participating in professional networking groups on social media channels.