Selling yourself for a sales job might be your biggest challenge yet. So, how do you make yourself stand out among hundreds of applications and turn the challenge into a reality?
We're sharing what you need to include in your sales CV to sell yourself big time.
What's your story?
Your CV is your platform to communicate your professional story and should reflect much more than just what you've done. It should be your highlight reel showcasing your talent, attributes and best accomplishments so far.
Get noticed
If you really want to get noticed, you need to make sure your CV is going to tick the hiring manager's boxes in the first glance. So how do I do that?
It needs to be visually attractive and memorable. You want to stop the hiring manager in their tracks when they stumble upon your CV. It should not only grab their attention, but it should also break down your content so it's easier for them to get to the information that they need.
Be more current by breaking down your experience into categories. Doing this will make you stand out above the rest.
If you have any awards, shout about them and be proud of what you've achieved. They should be displayed at the top with your most recent sales achievements.
If you're just starting out in sales and don't feel like you have enough experience, don't let it put you off. This is the perfect opportunity for you to promote your non-traditional sales experience and displaying this in the right way, might land you that interview.
The WOW Paragraph
The first paragraph should be enough to wow the employer to read on. You should be honest and true to what you are capable of whilst ensuring your experience and interpersonal skills align with the needs of your potential employer.
Example
Joe Bloggs
Award-winning and CIM certified with over 10 years of national and corporate sales experience in commercial radio, digital and OOH industry. A passionate, first-class commercial leader delivering target expectations through inspiring ideas, meaningful relationships and results that matter to customers.
How should I include my sales experience?
As well as being able to demonstrate that you can do ideas, relationships and results better than anyone else, it's also important to include some hard numbers to showcase your achievements in your past positions.
What if I haven’t worked in sales before?
Maybe you’ve recently graduated or you’re making a move into a sales career? You might think that you don’t have the sales experience that is needed for a great standout sales CV, but you’ve probably got more sales experience than you think. This experience could come from an internship, a side project or an organisation you volunteer for.
Top Tips:
- Start by identifying the skills and experience that you have which will be relevant for the sales role you’re applying for.
- Look back at your previous experiences to see what you may have done which could demonstrate that. Maybe you’ve worked in retail or another customer service job where your main goal is to listen to customers needs and always make them happy.
- Once you’ve identified your experience, emphasize it using the same language as the job description you’re applying for.
Skills
When talking about your skills, it’s good to break them down into technological skills and soft skills.
Technical Skills
Most technical skills in sales are to do with software for lead and customer management or presentations. This section is important for screening so a simple list of the relevant technical skills that you have will do the job perfectly.
The top technical skills we look for are:
- Salesforce
- Hubspot
- Microsoft Dynamics
- Skype
- Slack
- GES Traffic
- Artesian
- Docusign
- Account Management
- Cold Calling
- Social Selling
- Scheduling
- Pitch Delivery
- KPI goals
Soft Skills
While technical skills are still important in sales, the industry is still built on soft skills. To really stand out, you need to show how you can put those soft skills to good use.
Top soft skills we look for are:
- Drive for results
- Strong communication
- Influencing
- Proactivity & Initiative
- Problem solving
- Decision making
- Presentation
- Resilience under pressure
- Time Management
- Customer service and development
Do's and Don'ts
- Do Highlight key areas where you excelled and exceeded your goals.
- Don't be humble, make sure you sell the best version of you.
- Don't just list your tasks, tell your story. It should show a clear path of your progression in your role.
- Do include your soft skills, too.
- Do include personal accomplishments which are relevant to the job you are applying for.
- Don't lie, stick to the facts and be honest about what you can do. Honesty is always the best policy.
- Do show how you have progressed in your career. It says a lot about you if you have been promoted or transitioned your role inside a company.
The key takeaways for a top sales CV
Demonstrate your potential impact to the company’s bottom line whilst making sure your story is wrapped up in an engaging and memorable way.
- Create a CV header which will show your certifications and make you easy to contact your summary very specific about your sales experience, accomplishments, goals and values.
- Include detailed metrics and specific examples showing the impact you have made in your previous roles.
List your technical skills which align with the job description and back up your soft skills with examples.
