Composing a resume can be quite a stressful task for many people because this paper has a certain format and requires exact information. Making resumes in a specific sales sphere is more difficult: you have to remember the peculiarities of an area, highlight important skills, use proper and suitable language and include sufficient experience to show management you are ready to convince and please customers, make their product important and desirable, attract purchases, promote business with providing strategies of development. It is a bit different than a business analyst position. A thorough sales associate resume is what you need to start a great career and leave no questions for HR specialists.
On the Internet, you can find sample sites, online builder, work experience summary constructors, templates, and examples of sales resume writing. But this article will teach you how to create a go-getting relevant resume for salespeople. Don your knowledge, check your school education and experience. Let’s get you to work within a commercial section together.
Key Skills to Highlight in a Sales Resume
Despite professional goals to achieve, every company expects their associates to be competent, friendly and highly motivated to make sales. Let’s get into these aspects a bit deeper.
- Professionalism. An associate having experience related to products a company sells is more likely to be hired. Try to highlight your experience, profile education or at least high knowledge of the sphere. An excellent sales associate position does not exist. Please, develop your career within a narrow market niche.
What if you don’t? What to do if you want to change specialization to sales or do not have experience at all? To stand a high competition and become the best employee, you need to read about things and theory your desired company is based on. Reflecting it in your associate resume is obligatory. Mention training you’ve passed or write that you know much about how to sell software (as an example) in your cover letter. Including a few sentences will not take much time, but will show that you are interested in a company. It is a perfect way to get some points to your final score.
Wrong - Enthusiastic professional seeking sales associate position.
Right - Enthusiastic sales associate with 5 years of experience in software sales. Responsible for improving sales by 15% year on year.
- Sociability is not a simple skill for a sales associate to provide, but a cornerstone feature. Writing a mere “expert of communicability” is your sales resume is a common mistake. A helping strategy is trying to show a positive result of your activity in communication (the last negotiations I took part in finished with signing a contract).
Wrong - Expert communicator.
Right - Communications specialist with experience in contract negotiations and deal closing.
- Attention is needed to work with documents and transactions during sales. A document signed by mistake, a wrong date or a missing point can crush an entire contract. That’s why it is vital to exclude all errors and glitches from your associate resume - it displays your thoughtfulness. Would you entrust cash and selling items to a careless person?
Sales Associate Resume Example
234 East Speedway Blvd., Tucson, AZ 85719
(480) 452-5337
[email protected]Sales Associate with 5 years of experience in retail environments. Recognized for ability to communicate with customers, providing exceptional service that ensure client retention and positive feedback. Proven ability to increase sales through upselling techniques as well as implementing processes that drive profitability.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE*
H&M Tucson, AZ
Sales Associate June 2013 – Present
- Assist an average of 40 customers per day in finding or selecting items, and provided recommendations that generated $8K in additional revenue
- Stock, replenish, and organize inventory with accuracy and efficiency, completing function 10% faster than average associate
- Achieve an average of 140% of sales goals for three consecutive months
- Manage proper and attractive merchandise display, ensuring strategic placement of products that maximized purchases
- Provide outstanding customer service, receiving 96% in customer service feedback surveys
TARGET Phoenix, AZ
Sales Associate Oct 2010 – May 2013
- Helped an average of 50 customers per day by responding to inquiries and finding products
- Recommended better merchandise display to management, which was implemented and resulted in 35% improved sales
- Assisted team members when necessary in handling cash registers, organizing inventory room, labeling products, unloading merchandise, and cleaning up
- Aided Spanish-speaking customers, increasing repeat and loyal customers by 30%
EDUCATION*
GATEWAY COMMUNITY COLLEGE Phoenix, AZ
Associate of Arts in Humanities, June 2008
- Member of Student Activities Management (SAM)
- Vice-President of Women’s Forum
ADDITIONAL SKILLS*
- MS Office
- Bilingual in English and Spanish
- Retail Software
- Social Media
Sales Associate Resume: Structure and Appearance
There is no standard or widely used format of the associate resume related to the sales position. Some companies keep their rights to have own forms. We can recommend you using specialized software or hiring a consultant to be confident your sales resume is filled with essential information, strong English language, and good recommendations. Hiring experts passionate about making associate resumes can save you from many problems and ensure your satisfaction.
Let’s take a look at the most widely-spread format. First, write down the proper name of a position you want to occupy. It will be easier for a manager to keep your sales resume by hand. Tip: an HR manager has a tough job — lots of responsibilities, lots of positions to open, hundreds of employers to look for, continuous interviews and hiring, etc. An average sales associate resume is read for about a minute. There is no more time. Try to make it noticeable and catchy.
Then, be sure you have written correct personal data - address, phone number, city, state email, Skype, messengers, etc. You should be easy to find, track, reach and contact with. Do not forget to mention a date you are ready to start from.
Then, provide information about your education. Name of a college or university, year of graduation, degree, etc. Some managers may require both attaching a diploma to a sales resume and getting it to an interview. On the Internet, it is reasonable to create a kit with all supporting documents available to observe.
Make a simple bullet point list of your job experience. Mention company name, years of work, positions, a brief description, promotions, and 1-2 main responsibilities. Write down some valuable achievements and accomplishments. Try to connect them with your future responsibilities. Worked as an inventory manager - found out exceeded wastes of products; have been a merchandise clerk - managed to get a lot of free space reserved, etc. Apply for a downgrading order - start with the latest workplace.
Recommendations and Skills
Recommendations are vital to your success and in marketing and sales on the whole. Many experts related to the sales sphere assume that an illustration got from a trusted person or coworkers is more valuable than a simple line in a sales resume. There are lots of samples on how you can arrange recommendation sections.
- Do we have to mention that the best way to lose your job and spoil your sales associate resume mentioning people who do not exist? Be sure, if an HR specialist is interested in you, he/she is ready to record every mistake while processing your associate resume.
- Prepare a list of the most reliable people, who are ready to help and know about it. They should prove your qualifications for a current sales position. Do not forget to write a word for all those who assisted you.
- Write down a list of specific skills required for jobs related to associate sales. Do not get into details, but be ready to prove what you are writing about. Other skills go into additional section: knowledge of specialized software systems used in sales, the ability to stand the stress, teamwork, knowledge of office etiquette, organization or social skills, etc. Be honest and objective, and you'll get a top job.
That’s it. An average sales associate resume is ready. Tip: the competition in this position is one of the most severe in the sales market. Do not fall into despair if you fail. To raise your chances, hire a specialist online. Reasonably priced, you can get a perfectly blended sales resume, a cover letter, and other important documents and get a job of your dream. With a good trustable service, you will get ROI from your investment quickly.
Formatting A Sales Associate Resume
Formatting a sales associate resume isn’t exactly as easy as it sounds. While other resumes might have sections like ‘certifications’ or ‘publications’, these are not relevant for a sales associate resume. Rather, make sure to have a clear statement for resume objective.
First off, in any sales associate resume, you should list your skills and education in reverse chronological order. This puts emphasis on your latest skills and puts them first. Other sections that you must include are soft skills such as languages you speak. Even if you don’t have any industry-specific work experience, these are important for the job description.
You can even include an interest section, but be sure to tailor it according to the position you are applying for. This will create an interest when the manager browses through your resume. For example, experience in sports may indicate that you are a team player. Other interests that you can include are volunteering, mentoring and passions, provided they are relevant to the position in question.
Going through resume samples or resume examples is a good idea.