Guide to Crafting a Dynamic Sales Representative Resume

Think of preparing your resume like you would prepare before a big meeting with a client or a pivotal presentation you hope will close the deal. When you apply for a job, you often start with a resume. A potential employer or recruiter typically reviews it and decides whether they would like to offer you an interview. Essentially, it's your sales pitch to a company on why they should hire you. 

As a sales representative, you know the value of a sales pitch. It’s a skill you already possess, so you can put it to good use when writing your resume. Think of yourself as the service and use your resume to make a sale. 

Explore practical ways to structure your sales representative resume, the sections to include, and what you need to do to highlight your skills and achievements. 

What do employers look for in a sales representative resume?

Employers want to know you have the workplace and technical skills to work as a sales representative. They seek evidence that you are confident, can build relationships, present a good pitch or argument, and are results-driven. Highlighting these skills and others, along with relevant experience and education, is the best place to start when creating your sales representative resume. Some other essential sales representative skills you might highlight include the following. 

Workplace skills: 

• Active listening 

• Positivity 

• Persuasion

• Conflict management

• Resilience

• Persistence

• Competitiveness

• Time management 

Technical skills:

• Product knowledge 

• Customer relationship management (CRM) tools

• Goal setting and forecasting

• Social media 

Ultimately, an employer wants to know you have what it takes to represent the company by showing customers how the organization's products and services meet their needs. That means you have the skills and know-how to generate strong leads, follow up, close sales, and create revenue growth. 

Read more: What Are Employability Skills and Why Do They Matter?

Importance of layout for a sales representative resume  

When writing your sales representative resume, it is critical to consider the document's layout and ensure you structure it to highlight your strengths while remaining easy to follow. 

A reverse chronological resume layout is a great way to showcase your skills and experience, especially if you work in a specific field, like sales. If you have little or no prior experience, you may prefer to use a functional resume so you can lead with your relevant skills rather than highlighting a lack of experience. You may also consider a hybrid resume structure, which combines the two.

Typical sections to include 

Whatever layout you choose for your resume, you should include some essential sections to present your best features. These include your personal details, a summary, your educational background, previous experience, workplace and technical skills, and any professional credentials or associations you have. 

1. Personal details

An effective resume has a straightforward layout, with your contact details at the top. It should include your name, address or city, telephone number, and email address. You may also add a link to your LinkedIn profile. Ensure you use a font that stands out and is easy to read.  

2. Summary

A summary is an important part of your resume. It should state who you are, what your more relevant and impressive achievements are, a brief round-up of your experience, and explain what you’re looking to do next. It should be about two to three sentences long, or it can be a bullet list of up to five phrases. This part of your resume acts most like your sales pitch. If you impress here, a recruiter will continue to read on. 

3. Education

Your education section is a standard section for any resume. Make sure you list your formal education in reverse chronological order and include dates of study, college name and location, degree earned, and any other relevant information, such as coursework, majors, or honors.

You may also include any informal learning, vocational courses, professional development, and additional certifications relevant to the role. You may add these in a subsection or list them with your college education. 

Necessary education for sales representatives

Depending on where you work, you may have different educational requirements. The minimum expectation is a high school diploma. However, some employers will ask for a degree, such as a business or marketing degree, or specific certifications related to the role and industry. Experience and skills are essential in this field, so it is more about proving what you can do. 

Helpful courses to consider 

Adding relevant certifications, certificates, and courses to your resume, particularly if you do not have a degree, cements your understanding of a sales role and shows a dedication to professional development. These may or may not relate directly to the selling process. Some courses and certificates you might consider include:

• Google Project Manager Professional Certificate: As a sales rep, you may have your own caseload of customers and clients, so effectively managing your time and resources is vital, which is where project management skills come in. 

• Successful Negotiation: Essential Strategies and Skills: Negotiation is a useful skill to have as a salesperson.

• Relationship Management: Building and maintaining relationships is essential for securing sales. 

4. Experience 

Your experience section is usually a heavily detailed section of your resume. List your experience in reverse chronological order so that your most recent experience is in the most prominent position at the top of this section. 

When writing your experience, include dates, the name and location of your employer, and the title of your role. This section is essential to highlight your accomplishments and responsibilities rather than simply listing your duties. 

Your experience section is also a good place to use as many keywords as possible, which will help in ensuring your resume is applicant tracking system (ATS) compliant. 

Highlighting results and actions

Grab a potential employer's attention by showcasing the accomplishments that might help you stand out among other applicants. 

A great way to do this is by including specific actions you have taken personally and the quantifiable results of doing so. For example: “Gained 59 new business leads through business networking, resulting in $150,000 in revenue.” In this example, it is clear what action got the measurable results. 

Tailoring experience to the job

To make the maximum impact, tailor your resume to the role you are applying for. This ensures that all the information you include remains targeted to the role, demonstrating exactly how well you meet the selection criteria with examples. 

To tailor your resume, thoroughly read the job description and selection criteria for emphasized keywords and phrases. When writing your resume, mirror that language and intentionally showcase how you meet those criteria. Whether the recruiter looks over your resume or uses an ATS, using the correct language can help your resume stand out. 

5. Certifications or professional associations

You can list certifications in your education section, or you may wish to use a separate section where you list items like certifications, licenses, professional associations, and awards. How you do this will typically depend on what you have achieved and what the recruiter is looking for. 

6. Technical and workplace skills

Consider adding a dedicated skills section to your resume. It can complement your education and experience, make your resume more readable, and allow you to optimize it further with relevant keywords. 

List the technical and workplace skills you've gained throughout your educational and professional experience. Next, narrow the list down to those relevant to the job. Finally, as with other sections, focus on the ones you can use to tailor this section to fit the job description. 

When listing your skills, avoid overselling or underselling yourself. Also, don't assume that just because a skill is mentioned or alluded to in another section, you shouldn't add it to your skills section. While it may seem redundant, a recruiter might scan the skills section before reading sections with more depth. 

Wording your cover letter 

A cover letter is an accompaniment to your resume. Sometimes, it will be essential to your application; other times, it is worth including. Doing so demonstrates initiative and allows you to provide a complete introduction. A cover letter is ideally a page in length and complements the important parts of your resume and how you meet the job requirements.

What to include

Your cover letter should provide the reader with a clear introduction, state why you are applying for a particular sales representative role, and express why you are suited to the job. The central part of the letter should cover the latter, and it should end with a closing statement summarizing your key points, including a call to action and asking for an invitation to interview or a chance to speak. You can also consider your cover letter as a sample of your written communication skills.

Importance of customizing each cover letter 

Your cover letter allows you to address the essential criteria of a job role. For this reason, it is vital to write your cover letter with each specific job in mind. A general cover letter will likely cover only some of what a particular employer seeks. Take time to read the job description and selection criteria, and prove how you meet each point with real examples. 

Read more: Cover Letter Tips: How to Stand Out to a Hiring Manager

Resume writing resources 

Using the sections outlined above, you have what you need to begin writing your resume, but you may consider the following helpful resources:

• How to make a resume

• How to list certifications on your resume

• How to add Coursera credentials to your resume

Next steps

Employers often value skills and experience over formal education when hiring a sales representative, so it's important to highlight these details on your resume.  

To help your sales representative resume stand out from the competition, consider showcasing essential skills you'll gain from relevant Professional Certificates, such as the Google Project Management Professional Certificate, to develop your skills in managing multiple clients and accounts.  

For more guidance to help you further develop your resume, consider the How to Write a Resume course delivered by the State University of New York or Writing Winning Resumes and Cover Letter from the University of Maryland on Coursera.