Looking for a new job is tough. Many people spend months of their time applying to dozens of jobs without getting an interview. In fact, according to flexjobs, only 20% of applicants will even receive an interview. 

So why is it that you’re perfectly qualified for these sales manager positions, but you’re not getting called back? 

Well, when a hiring manager receives your resume, the first thing they do is check for relevant experience and how it corresponds with what they need, and how effective you were at that role. 

To make it to the interview stage, you need to have a great resume.

Oftentimes, resumes fall subpar because people miss key information that is relevant to the job they’re applying to, they have formatting errors, and classic spelling and grammar mistakes. 

Other times, it’s due to the fact that resumes aren’t tailored to the job posting enough, or you’re not properly showcasing yourself and your talents. 

For this reason, don’t sell yourself short. Highlight your skills and show the positive impacts you had at your last role so that it would be practically impossible for them to deny you the opportunity for an interview. This is especially important if you’re applying to be a sales manager, not only do they have to know you’re up for the task, but they need to know how well you can sell, by your abilities to sell yourself. 

To avoid this, here are some sales manager must-haves for your resume to help you land that interview:

• Projects you have worked on and their impact on sales and the team. 
• Roles in which you were a team coach, leader, or mentor and how your team thrived in your leadership.
• Skills you have gained through previous positions that will make you successful in your potential new roles. 

Discover the essential skills and traits sales managers need to succeed.

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Your resume is your story. You have to be able to effectively communicate your results and impact on people, projects, or organizations while in your previous roles. Don’t worry about squeezing it all in. You can dive in deeper and communicate the lesson you learned from each role you have played in the cover letter or your in-person interview. 

Your resume should be tailored to the job requirements, you may have to remove the fluff to focus on what really matters. 

Use this guide to write a top resume for a sales manager’s position:

Contact Information

The recruiter will need to get in touch when they finally decide to interview, so the first thing you want to have on your resume is current contact information. State your phone number and email address as they are the most common ways to get in touch. While it’s not as common to put your home address on a resume anymore, feel free to add your ZIP Code. This will let recruiters know your general location and can sometimes be an advantage, as they might want to hire someone who lives closer to their offices to avoid tardiness and long commutes. 

Education

List and explain your academic credentials from the most recent, not forgetting any academic certifications you may have received.  Additionally, you can add certifications you have received through organizations such as Hubspot, LinkedIn, or Google. 

Work Experience

This is where the recruiter is likely to pay the most attention since it shows how your skills align with what they need. Remember to only include relevant work experience in your resume. However, if you lack previous relevant experience, you can always highlight other positions in which they gave you transferrable skills necessary for this new role. You want to start with the most recent, and at each, you will emphasize these points: 

• Achievements
• Coaching
• Leadership
• Recruitment 
• Improvements
• Mentorship
• Training
• Collaborations

Any recruiter wants to know what you contributed to your previous role so they can see if there are similarities in the new role and what you can bring to it. You are in a good position to look better if you left your team better than you found it, empowering and mentoring along the way. 

You want to bold keywords and statistics that make you stand out, so they are easy to find. These days, recruiters recommend links to professional social sites such as LinkedIn, so you may want to add these even if they weren’t asked. 

Skills

You have already mentioned these in passing, so this section will require a more thorough description of your skills. Everything you have earned along the way that counts as experience should be here. Be brief without really leaving anything behind. 

Here are some examples you may want to include as a Sales Manager:

• Leadership and coaching skills
• Ability to give meaningful feedback based on observation 
• Being able to strategize and execute plans 
• Communication and listening skills 
• Time management, flexibility, and punctuality skills
• Being able to motivate and encourage others 
• Delegation to your team
• Ability to remain unperturbed under pressure 
• Knowledge of the business or industry 
• Team development, hiring, and team-building

In addition to your soft skills, you’ll also want to highlight any hard skills you may have. This includes technical, computer, analytical, marketing, presentation, and language skills. By knowing how to use industry-specific tools such as software, CRM, or being able to speak a foreign language commonly used in that industry or among clients, you’ll be able to show your value to hiring managers. 

Samples of Resumes

Here are two templates for two skill levels in Sales Management. 

Regional Sales Manager 

Sales Manager Resume

Conclusion

In the end, you want to maximize your opportunity with recruiters and hiring managers so you get more interviews and potential job offers. First impressions have never been more important and by nailing your resume, you’ve taken the first step to land your dream job as a sales manager. By following these tips, you’ll be sure to find yourself face-to-face with the hiring manager and in the role of sales manager in no time. 

Author Bio: Molly Gibson is a blogger and professional career coach at Resume Writing Lab. When she isn’t creating content on how to make others more visible to potential employers, she is mentoring upcoming content creators online.