If you’re looking to land a top sales role with a leading organisation, then you need a high performing CV that will land you plenty of interviews. As a sales professional, you know how important first impressions are, and your CV is your one and only chance to make a big first impression on potential employers.

Here are our 3 tips to ensure that your CV stands out...

1. Perfect your pitch

At the very top of your CV, you should include a professional profile, this should be a short, sharp and punchy summary of what you have to offer.  Treat your objective as your personal sales pitch. If it’s weak, there is a chance the recruiter will doubt your abilities, and stop reading your CV altogether. Craft something outstanding and you’ll be on your way to making the sale!

To ensure your objective statement is as persuasive as possible, treat it like a sales pitch to a potential client, highlighting features and benefits. The features are your skills, knowledge, and abilities, and the benefits are the results and achievements you can accomplish if you are hired.  It is always worth spending time tailoring this to each role to ensure that you are at the top of the shortlisting pile!

2. Key Achievements

The most effective selling weapons you have in your armoury are your achievements. Too many people focus on the duties of their job, we suggest  that instead of jumping straight in to the job description, you are more likely to catch the hiring manager’s attention if you start with a list your achievements.  For example you may want to make them aware of some of the following examples:

• Awards or recognition.  Were you a top performer within the company?  Did you win any sales awards?
• Increased territories or client base.  Previous sales success is vital to any potential employer
• Leading by example.  Were you given responsibility to train/ mentor any new members to the team?
• Performance.  How did you perform against targets?
• Initiative – Include any systems or procedures you implemented which improved performance.

Sales is a competitive sector so you need to think of as many instances when the light has shone on you, where you gained recognition for your work.

3. Numbers facts and figures

Salespeople love numbers and top performers.  Make sure you list numbers wherever possible.  This is your opportunity to ensure that the recruiter can really see what you are capable of and gives extra weight to your achievements.  Focus on detail such as how much revenue you have generated, what percentage you over achieved your targets by and how many new clients you have managed to secure.  For example there is a huge difference in the impact of ‘I increased revenue for the company’ to ‘I increased revenue by 40% and generated business from 12 new clients’.  This is the first thing employers will look for when scanning your CV because it instantly marks someone out as appropriate for the role.