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Free Downloadable Sales Resume Templates and Expert Writing Tips
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Any company selling a product or a service cannot function without a sales team to handle the entire operation. Whether you’re looking for an entry-level role or are a seasoned professional looking to climb the corporate ladder, we’ll guide you through the resume-building process to find a position in the sales industry. Take a look at our resume examples for different jobs in the field and select a premium or free template with pre written instructions on how to fill your resume to land the sales job you desire.
Best Free Downloadable Resume Templates for Sales Jobs
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Bright blue
This blue-themed format allows you to display your credentials and qualifications clearly while standing out as a sales banner, but with you as the product. One of its unique features is the blue bubbles you can use to indicate your level of mastery for each of your skills. -
Burgeoning
In this design, the work experience section calls the most attention and is presented in a detailed manner. This allows you to focus on job related tasks, responsibilities and your outstanding achievements. It is followed by the education and the skills sections, which contain concise information, usually in the form of bullet points. -
Circle timeline
This resume features a line down the page creating a type of timeline. By leaving the whitespace on the left side of the margin and putting all the information on the right side, the resume looks organized and clean. -
Column mix
This resume makes use of a table to display the details of each job title, educational qualifications and your skills. This type of presentation looks attractive and easy to read. The reader is able to quickly glance through the columns, making it excellent for recruiters to skim effectively without missing your crucial details. -
Credited
This resume shows your information in a simple and clean manner. By avoiding flashy design elements, you can focus on adding your credentials without worrying about how to format your data to fit very restricted sections. Simply add all the relevant information per section and done! -
Discreetly-modern
In this resume, the sections are divided by a blue accent. This subtle touch of color adds some personality and clearly delimits where one section ends and another begins. Use this template to get the simplicity of a basic layout without sacrificing color.
9 Sales Resume Examples
Every resume contains different sections organized according to one of three common resume templates: chronological, functional or combination. Your choice of format will depend on your career level and credentials you wish to highlight. Below, you’ll find examples of each resume format and how different sales professionals in different roles used them to display their best credentials.
Chronological resume
A chronological format highlights a candidate’s long and illustrious work history in a concise manner. A sales engineer, sales manager and sales supervisor can highly benefit from this format as it requires a certain level of experience to attain these roles.
A few examples of chronological resumes are as follows:
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1. Sales engineer: A sales engineer sells complex technological and scientific products for businesses, requiring them to be highly knowledgeable in the subject matter. The resume above perfectly displays the candidate's experience, with long and detailed work history entries containing quantifiable figures to prove his capacity.
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2. Sales manager: Along with selling products and services, a sales manager has to manage clients and the sales team while developing strategies for customer engagement and to increase conversions. Mae Park details her outstanding experience concisely using her summary statement and work history sections. The reverse-chronological order helps display her current role first, drawing the eye to her most relevant accomplishments.
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3. Sales supervisor – store lead: A sales supervisor in a store has to keep track of stock levels and analyze the product sales accordingly. The example above proves that Jose Rivera has the necessary skills and experience backed up with numerical values to display his knowledge in the field.
Combination resume
The combination format highlights the candidate’s skills and work history equally. Candidates without an extensive professional experience or those changing careers can use this format. Due to the detailed view of your previous experience and expanded skills section, this format is excellent for mid level or entry-level professionals with at least two relevant experiences.
The following are a few example resumes using a combination format for different sales roles:
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1. Automobile sales associate: The resume above displays the perfect need for a combination format. Belen only has a few years of relevant experience, but she can mention the skills she learned in detail when studying for her business degree and other automobile-related roles.
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2. Customer service sales associate: A customer service operative communicates and helps customers around the store while boosting sales. The resume Mina Williams created sheds light on her skills before getting to the work history section. This small formatting trick makes up for the lack of experience by showcasing her subject knowledge.
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3. Pharmaceutical field sales representative: A pharmaceutical sales representative requires knowledge of medical products which he must also proficiently sell. The combination resume above highlights Billy’s five-year career and the skills he’s acquired, making it the suitable format for this position.
Functional resume
A functional resume format is used to highlight the candidate’s skill set above their experience. It is the least recommended approach out of the three as the work history gets sidelined in this format. However, it has its benefits for candidates who have barely any to absolutely no relevant work experience or for those who have been out of the workforce for a long time.
The following sales jobs don’t necessarily need a long work history but still require a decent knowledge of the subject:
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1. Inside sales representative – fashion retail: An inside sales representative position is a great way to start a career in sales. The above resume proficiently uses the expanded skills section to describe the critical skills required to be a sales representative in the fashion industry.
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2. Outside sales representative - agricultural supplies: The resume above does a great job with the expanded skills section by mentioning a few quantifiable achievements to validate the candidate’s knowledge, thus making up for his lack of experience.
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3. Territory sales and service representative: This role is a great starting point for sales representatives. The resume above covers the candidate’s skills concisely and effectively, only displaying the job-relevant skills that will qualify him for the role.
What Can You Earn as a Sales Professional?
A sales operative’s main job is to sell the assigned product or service. However, due to how widely salaries vary across jobs and industries, it is challenging to pinpoint the average worker’s salary. Nevertheless, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual wage for professionals in sales was $31,500 as of May 2020.
Keep in mind that the salary range varies widely by role. For example, a retail sales worker’s median wage was $27,320 while a sales engineer’s median wage was estimated at $108,830. Thus, it’s important to keep in mind that the educational and experience requirements of the role will heavily affect the salary you can expect to receive from a sales job.
Here’s a breakdown of a few of the most common roles in sales and their median wage:
Top Sales Skills for Your Resume
Every resume has a dedicated skills section containing six to eight of your top soft, hard and technical skills. However, you shouldn’t limit yourself to adding skills only in their respective section. Instead, integrate a variety of skills throughout your resume, taking extra care not to repeat any.
For starters, you can mention your best two to three skills in your opening statement. For example, you could mention your excellent “communication” and “relationship building” skills for sales representative and associate roles, while a sales engineer may boast their “product knowledge” and a sales manager their “leadership skills.”
The work history section includes entries of your relevant previous jobs. When describing the tasks, responsibilities and achievements you had in each role, take advantage of the space to demonstrate how you applied a skill at work. Pairing your skills with quantifiable metrics will make your entry even more impressive. For example, instead of simply listing “effective customer service” as a skill, demonstrate how you use it by adding an entry like, “Created rapport with 10-15 customers daily, resulting in a five-star rating for my service.”
Finally, any other skill you haven’t mentioned previously should be added in the skills section. Select between six to eight of your best skills, especially the ones you found mentioned in the job ad for the role you want. For example, you could focus on technical skills like “proficiency with TouchBistro POS system,” hard skills like “visual merchandising” and soft skills like “excellent listening skills.”
We’ve gathered a list of soft, hard and technical skills that are relevant for roles in sales. Include some of these to increase your chances of getting the recruiter’s attention.
Soft skills
The skills that extend to your work ethic and team collaboration efforts are called soft skills. The following are the top soft skills required for a sales job:
- 1. Communication skills
- 2. Empathy
- 3. Listening skills
- 4. Adaptability
- 5. Public speaking and presentations
- 6. Flexibility
- 7. Time management
- 8. Organizational skills
- 9. Relationship building
- 10. Critical thinking
Hard skills
Hard skills are job-specific and include the tasks that are required by the position. These skills are usually learned during your degree or through training. The hard skills required from a sales professional are:
- 1. Generating sales leads
- 2. Negotiating client contracts
- 3. Strategic planning
- 4. Customer service
- 5. Maintaining clientele records
- 6. Answering product-related questions
- 7. Researching customer’s needs
- 8. Scheduling
- 9. Creating expense reports
- 10. Developing sales strategies
Technical skills
Technical skills relate to the tools, technology and software of your trade. A few beneficial tools for the sales industry are:
- 1. Zoho CRM
- 2. Salesforce
- 3. Gmail
- 4. HubSpot
- 5. Microsoft Office 365
- 6. MailChimp
- 7. PandaDoc
- 8. Google Workspace
Best 5 Certifications for Your Sales Resume
While the best credentials are your achievements in the field, certifications are another good way to boost your candidacy. Some of the best certifications for sales professionals are:
- Certified Professional Sales Person (CPSP)
- Certified Inside Sales Professional (CISP)
- Certified Sales Executive (CSE)
- Certified Sales Leadership Professional (CSLP)
- HubSpot Inbound Sales
FAQ
What are the top three skills of a sales professional?
Every sales job requires a specific skill set. However, the top three standard skills a sales professional should have are:
- Communication skills
- Listening skills
- Empathy
What do sales professionals mention under a professional summary statement?
A professional summary statement is a quick introduction of who you are as a professional. It should mention one of your key achievements, two to three of your best skills and your years of experience. A summary statement to attract recruiters should also include:
- Essential tasks accomplished in previous employment with quantifiable figures.
- A statement explaining how your expertise makes you the right person to help the employer in your new role.
- Skills and keywords picked out from job postings online.
What are examples of sales duties?
The standard duties of a sales job are as follows:
- Generate sales leads.
- Maintain inventory levels.
- Provide customer service.
- Maintain and update client records.
- Answer product-related questions.
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