Dos and Don'ts for a Sales Professional Resume

Sales professional resumes should be written just the same as other resumes—but with a little twist. That is why instead of relying on general resume references, you should instead focus on highlighting your track record in sales and selling.

Here are some things you should include in your sales-oriented resume.

• Identify your sales achievements. Avoid generic statements like “worked for a kid’s store.” Instead, include specifics and metrics, like “helped a toy store consistently increase sales increase by about 10% annually.”
• Use a professional layout. Resumes should be printed on good quality paper. Employers get turned off with resumes printed on vintage bond papers or brightly colored stationery. Though content is the most important thing in sales professional resume, packaging should also be given importance.
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• Write a good cover letter. A cover letter will help a potential employer by indicating the position you are applying for, and will say something about you. It will be easy for them to know your qualifications with the cover letter. But make sure to limit the content of your cover letter to about half a page, and to refer to your attached resume for details. Lengthy cover letters are boring and most of the time not necessary.
• Emphasize your sales edge. Give emphasis to your communication skills. You should also indicate sales positions you have held as well.
• Use proper and correct grammar. Capitalize only the letters that should be capitalized. Use proper punctuations, and make sure your statements make sense.

These are some things you should avoid when writing a professional sales resume.

• Unnecessary information. Do not including everything you have done for all companies you've worked for if these are no longer related to sales. You don't need to put in your family background, unless you have experience with sales as part of a family business.
• Salary expectation. This aspect of prospective employment is usually discussed during interviews with hiring managers.
• Over-accessorize. Resumes with too many colors, differently-formatted text, underlines and italics are very straining to the eyes. Don’t cause discomfort to potential employers' eyes by over-accessorizing your resume.
• Apply for just any suitable position. Do not apply with a company if you can’t decide the position where you fit in. This might indicate that you are desperate for a job, and that you don't have expertise in any specific field.
• Send out a generic resume. Don't make it obvious that you have sent the same resume or cover letter for different companies already. Creating fill-in-a-blank on your resume will give an idea that you did that. Be sure you at least customize each cover letter for a company. Research the name of the hiring manager, the correct company name and address, so you can put these in the cover letter.

Securing a good sales position with a company starts with a good first impression, and you can ensure this by submitting a sales resume. The next thing you should worry about is following through with the interview and salary negotiation.