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CV tips for: sales execs

Study potential employers’ requirements, and make sure you mention relevant aspects of your career which apply to these specific needs.

Key achievements should be highlighted and substantiated with facts and figures. A good sales CV will include plenty of these.

Include your performances versus target, particularly if your track record shows consistent above-goal performance.

If your track record shows a variable or poor success rate, you will need to incorporate specific facts which enhance your merits.

There is no point in giving your performance versus track record if you failed to hit your numbers more often than you succeeded. So instead, focus on stating positive accomplishments. Sell your benefits; don’t emphasise your shortcomings.

Tell prospective employers about any significant sales for which you have been responsible, e.g: biggest order, highest value client and/or first sales of new proposition types.

Name-dropping of high profile client names, where you have won business or grown revenues, will add weight to your application.

However, if the emphasis of your success is based on achievements gained some years ago, you will be considered yesterday’s news; employers hire people who are successful now or who have been very recently.

Include awards and accolades you have won, and mention your membership of achievers' clubs or similar.

You don’t need to reveal everything - every sale, every year, every detail - but do include the most significant achievements, and make your sales career look as successful as possible.