Get Noticed by Recruiters & Employers with a Professional Looking CV

Most sales people are expert at preparing client proposals, designed to portray the product, sales person and company in the best possible light and to be informative in terms of pricing, product comparisons and details of ongoing costs and after sales service. Indeed it is used to pre-empt questions prospective clients might have on a company’s reputation, warranties, delivery times and service level agreements. Therefore, if we agree when it comes to changing jobs; that we now become the commodity been sold, why is it our CVs let us down?

Myth: “I rely on my face to face selling skills to impress an interviewer”.

Fact: Nowadays you need a comprehensive CV to get shortlisted and land that interview

Myth: “My track record in sales will suffice. I don’t need to put effort into my CV”

Fact: You are putting yourself at a competitive disadvantage to other shortlisted candidates

Solution: Decide here and now if you want to “scratch with the turkeys or soar with the eagles.” Taking purposeful action in preparing an excellent CV is the first step in landing the job you want.   

Most Common Mistakes Best Avoided:

Right, now that we’re agreed to draw up a professional looking CV, what additional “tricks of the trade” should we consider that may not be included in self help books but which will help impress any prospective employer?  Listed below, I have included the most common mistakes made by sales people, based on reviewing thousands of CVs: 

• A written career objective stating a particular interest in a career different from the role you have applied for.
• Graduates in particular not deciding if they want Sales or Marketing as a career
• Unsuitable email addresses – it looks unprofessional
• Omission of home address or email address from your contact details
• Duplication of a generic job description for several roles
• A detailed breakdown of subjects taken at school – irrelevant at this stage
• The use of artistic fonts or colours other than black
• An intro page stating your name with “Curriculum Vitae” in huge block lettering
• Contact details listed in the Header & Footer columns
• A space allocated for a personal signature and dated
• The statement “References provided upon request”
• Allocating more space to irrelevant roles
• Using four pages when two pages could be used
• An essay style of narrating instead of bullet points
• Detailing a list of responsibilities; no mention of achievements

How Do We Differentiate Our CV?

• Describe companies you have worked for in the following terms:

o  Year established

o  Turnover

o  Staff employed

o  Business Activity.

• Include a Personal Profile detailing your unique selling points relevant to sales.
• Insert a professional photograph if it is to your advantage
• What Vertical Markets or Geographical areas do you cover?
• What do you sell?
• Who is your Target Audience? Who do you sell to?
• How many accounts do you manage?
• How do you source your business leads?
• How long is the average Sales Cycle and Sales Process?
• What are your sales activity levels / KPIs for a particular week?
• What is the percentage of new business to existing business?
• How have you performed against Target over the years? Provide evidence
• List notable Accounts you have won and if you wish their respective values.
• State the reason for leaving each employment.
• List salary / ote details for each role.
• State if you have a full clean driving licence and if a car owner.
• State computer literacy and in what programs
• Mention if you have a Home Office
• Include lots of key words, buzz words specific to sales and to your industry
• Join the professional network site LinkedIn and include your profile page address
• List two most recent references including your present employment. This shows you have confidence in the referees you have listed, and that you have done an excellent job in each case. If it concerns you omit their contact details. You can follow up with a statement requesting no contact to be made without your prior consent.

Remember your CV provides clues to the following:

• Written communication skills
• Organisational ability
• Attention to detail
• Prioritisation skills
• Computer skills
• Personality type – individual, team oriented; introvert or extrovert
• Where career lies in your list of priorities
• Evidence of career trends you tend to follow

Don’t forget also that your CV must impress the Recruiter; we are the gatekeepers employed by clients and to assist you we need plenty of ammunition to get you interviewed. A well planned CV speeds up the screening process so that more time can be spent with you discussing your job opportunities. Also, with key buzz words scattered throughout, you are more likely to come up more often in candidate searches throughout your career even in times when you are a passive candidate.

Acid Test: If someone were to read your CV, would you be described as a person with as Napoleon Hill puts it, “definiteness of purpose” or are you according to Zig Ziglar a “wandering generality”?

Remember to use this article as a checklist and take on those ideas which are relevant to you. Some of the information may not be relevant and that’s fine. Use your common sense to decide what is best for you. But do use the CV to sell YOU.

Mark O'Donoghue is a professional sales recruiter trading as Sales Appointments offering a personalised service to sales professionals in B2B sectors. He is contactable for a confidential career advice on 087 2867692 or you can email him on mark@salesappointments.com

Top of Page