Winning C.V's for Sales People

I have been receiving many C.V's for people who work in Sales and Marketing, Account managers and the like. Many of the C.V's surprisingly lack any real marketing edge.

Your Curriculum Vitae or C.V. as it is more commonly known is a record of your life( that's the meaning of the Latin words). More specifically it is a record of your working career. It is your marketing tool. Your C.V will reach the employer before you do and when it reaches the employer, based on what you have presented you will either be called for an interview or your CV will be filed away.

I have a few tips that will help you come up with a winning CV and help you clinch that job you have been eying.

• ACHIEVEMENTS

When you compose your CV it is important to clearly outline what your achievements have been throughout your working career. Remember you are marketing yourself and a potential employer wants to know what you have achieved. They want to know that they are bringing in an individual who has a proven sales track record. The employer wants to know that you will make a difference to the bottom line. Be specific, eg:

- Grew total sales by 80%
-Achieved a customer retention rate of 75%
-Created and marketed a new product and gained 50% of market share.

• EXPERIENCE

Start with your current or Last Employer and work backwards. If you start with the very first job you ever did it may not be relevant to the job you are applying for.

Write the dates of employment for each company you worked for. An employer wants to ascertain if he will get value from you in terms of years. Some people change jobs every six months.

When you write the name of the company give a brief description of what the company is involved in. Do not assume that the person reading your CV knows the company you worked for. Eg:

Career Human Resources Consultants - 2004 to Date
This company is involved in recruitment, training and human resources consultancy.

You can list the duties in point form. Do not write essays, nobody will read them.

• EDUCATION

O' & A' Level results- List the subjects and results. Depending on what level you are in your career this can be a great marketing tool, especially if you had impressive results. If you have a masters or a PHD this is not necessary.

Diploma's & Degrees - List the name of the diploma or degree, where you did it and the year as well as your result. Unless you are looking for a graduate trainee position do not list every subject and result you obtined throughout your three years of study.

• HOBBIES

This helps the employer have an idea of what you enjoy and your social skills. One of the good sports for Sales people is golf. As is commonly said business is done not in the boardroom but on the golf course. So if you are in sales and marketing it may be a good idea to start learning golf if you have not already done so.

• REFERENCES

It is important to list at least three references. Make sure that these people know that you have put them down as referees. Also make sure that their email, telephone and mobile contacts are correct and current.

I hope this helps and hope we will be seeing more winning sales CV's. If you have any questions or comments please make a comment on this site and I will reply.

Remember you can also view some of the jobs we have on offer by looking at our August posts.