Sales Resume
  9 September 2003

Last week, we looked at components of a resume in general. However, a technical resume is different from an art resume. They need different style and techniques in writing. For the next three lessons, we will look at samples from sales, science and art and study their presentation together with ‘do and don’t’.

This week, we will look at a resume of a salesperson first.

LINDA McDONALD

221A Baker Street
London W1S 2TU
Tel: 0207 629 1876

OBJECTIVE

A position as Sales Coordinator, Representative or Account Executive.

SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS
  • Twelve years successful experience in direct sales of a range of products and services.
  • Motivated and enthusiastic about developing good relations with clients.
  • Effective working alone or as a cooperative team member.
  • Professional in appearance and presentation.
RELEVANT SKILLS

SALES & NEW ACCOUNT DEVELOPMENT
  • Increased a small publication's advertising revenue through market research and promotion.
  • Developed new distribution outlets for a special-interest magazine in South London
    - Made cold calls and follow-up visits to retail outlets throughout the region.
    - Organized detailed routebooks and financial record-keeping.
    - Successfully increased readership by more than 40 percent over a two-year period.
CUSTOMER RELATIONS
  • Served as vendor representative for Jana Imports:
    - Coordinated product information and distribution for 75 field representatives and major accounts.
    - Promoted giftware products at trade shows throughout the region.
    - Handled face-to-face contacts with new and established customers.
  • Oversaw the production of advertising and its placement in major trade publications.

ADVERTISING, MARKETING, DISTRIBUTION
  • Organized and styled merchandise for effective presentation in a 20-page giftware catalog.
  • Kept accurate, current computer records of inventory, international suppliers, brokers, shippers, etc.
  • Handled all aspects of order taking and processing, both at Bill's Dairy and Jana Imports.

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY

1991-present Sales Coordinator JANA IMPORTS, Surrey
1986-90 Distribution Coordinator DEJA VU PUBLISHING CO., Kent
1980-85 Manager BILL'S DAIRY PRODUCTS, Kent

EDUCATION
University of Liverpool, Liberal arts studies 1977-80


This resume is different from the one last week. This style is called 'functional resume'. It gives a summary of your achievements and skills. The one we looked at last week is 'chronological resume'. It lists your work experiences in a chronological order.

A functional resume is good when you have varied work experiences or when you want to change a career, for example from human resource to sales. A chronological resume works when you look for a promotion in the same field.

Linda’s resume is very good. Under her Summary of Qualifications, she tells us that she has had a long experience in direct sales and that she is an enthusiastic person. You should come across as an enthusiastic and dynamic person. Remember these adjectives and use them well. A statement like ‘effective working alone or as a team’ is a good thing to say though everybody tends to say it anyway. You should not be an exception. This section is a very good example and you should try to adopt these statements to be used in your own resume or cover letter.

Her Relevant Skills section is also impressive. Most people tend to ‘summarize’ their responsibilities at work rather than presenting their achievements. To create impressive descriptions, ask yourself what you did and how well you did it. Then sell your achievements, not your responsibilities.

Here are some examples of how you can improve your ‘job summary’:

Your responsibilities:

  • Managed all financial, accounting, budgeting, MIS and administrative functions.
  • Updated computer technology.

This is a summary of what you did. Of course, there is nothing wrong with it. However, it would be better if you turn 'your responsibilities' into 'your achievements'.

Your achievements:
Here is some information that you can include in your resume to give a personal touch:

  • Chief Financial Officer with full responsibility for the strategic planning, development and leadership of the entire corporate finance organization for this $280 million consumer products manufacturer. Directed financial planning and analysis, accounting, tax, treasury, budgeting, MlS and administrative functions through a 12-person management team.
  • Launched the introduction of PC-based client server technology to expand MIS operations throughout the finance function. Resulted in a measurable improvement in data accuracy and long-range business planning.

This is an example of a high-profile resume. Although you need to be brief, you should also try to sell. Be specific of how you did something. You might want to include some statistics, which can be an estimate.

For example:

  • Introduced continuous improvement and quality management programs throughout the organization. Results included a 25% increase in daily productivity and 64% increase in customer satisfaction.