Sales Executive Resume Example & Writing Guide
Use this Sales Executive resume example and guide to improve your career and write a powerful resume that will separate you from the competition.
Sales is a high-pressure job where you’re tasked with convincing people to buy your company’s products or services. If you’re good at what you do, it can be incredibly rewarding—and lucrative. Sales reps often have high salaries and great benefits packages, plus they tend to have a lot of autonomy in their roles.
Sales is a highly competitive field with tons of opportunities for growth, so if you want to break into the industry or advance your career, you need a resume that will help you stand out from the pack. Follow these tips and resume example to write a stellar sales executive resume that will get you noticed by hiring managers everywhere.
How to Write a Sales Executive Resume
Here’s how to write a sales executive resume of your own.
Write Compelling Bullet Points
Bullet points are the most important part of your resume because they’re the first thing recruiters and hiring managers will read. And they’re the best way to showcase your experience and qualifications.
So it’s crucial that you use them to your advantage. And the best way to do that is by using specific, descriptive language. For example, rather than saying you “managed sales team,” you could say you “increased sales by 15% in first year as manager, resulting in a record-breaking year for the department.”
The second bullet point is much more specific and provides more detail about what exactly you did and the results of your work.
Related: What Is a Sales Executive? How to Become One
Identify and Include Relevant Keywords
Applicant tracking systems (ATS) are used by many companies to help manage the influx of resumes they receive. ATS programs scan your resume for specific keywords related to the job opening. If your resume doesn’t have enough of the right terms, the ATS might disqualify you from further consideration.
One way to make sure your resume includes the right keywords is to read through the job posting and take note of the terms that are used most frequently. Then, go through your resume and make sure to include those same words in the relevant sections. Here are some common sales executive keywords:
- Sales
- Account Management
- Sales Management
- Sales Operations
- Negotiation
- Marketing Strategy
- Business Development
- Business-to-Business (B2B)
- Direct Sales
- Customer Service
- Management
- Marketing
- Sales Process
- Strategy
- Solution Selling
- Team Leadership
- Project Management
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
- Product Development
- Lead Generation
- Cold Calling
- Product Management
- Product Launch
- Entrepreneurship
- Team Building
- Sales Presentations
- Sales Prospecting
- Teamwork
- Digital Marketing
- Sales Effectiveness
Showcase Your Technical Skills
Sales executives need to be proficient in a variety of technologies in order to be successful in their role. This might include familiarity with customer relationship management (CRM) software, Microsoft Office Suite, and social media platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter. Additionally, sales executives need to be comfortable with using technology to communicate with customers and prospects.
Related: How Much Does a Sales Executive Make?
Remember The Basics
As you draft your resume, you’ll want to keep a few basic guidelines in mind.
Create Scannable Sections
There are a few things you can do to make your resume more readable and easier to scan, such as left-aligning your text, using a standard font size and type, and keeping your bullets concise. You should also try to include some white space on the page to make the document less overwhelming.
Be Concise
There is no set length for a resume, but a one-page resume is usually a good rule of thumb for recent graduates or those with limited experience. If you have more experience, you may need a two-page resume. When trimming down a resume, remove irrelevant information, filler words, and unnecessary details.
Proofread
Proofreading your resume is an important step in ensuring that it looks its best. There are a few key things to watch for: spelling mistakes, punctuation mistakes, and grammatical mistakes. You should also be aware of easily confused words, such as their/there/they’re and to/too/two. Spell checking your resume is a good start, but you should also have someone else proofread it for you to catch any mistakes that you may have missed.
Use a Summary
When you’re looking for a job, it’s important to make sure that your resume is as clear and concise as possible. A resume summary statement can be a great way to do this, as it allows you to quickly highlight your most relevant skills and experiences. By explaining how your skills and experiences will translate into the role you’re applying for, you can make it easier for potential employers to see how you’d be a good fit for the position.
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