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When writing a resume pretend that you are a professional athlete. If you were playing
professional golf and you had to write a resume you would not just state that you played
on the LPGA tour. You would state that you won three championships and you were
ranked third on the second last year. Whether you are a professional golfer, or sales
professional, you are both professionals. The only challenge is writing a resume that
showcases both your skills and accomplishments, clearly and concisely.
State the facts in your resume. Start by stating the function you performed and then state
your accomplishments. Employers want to see that you not only were able to perform a
job but that you could do it well. Surprisingly, some of the best candidates we have
worked with have the worst resumes. They leave out great information. Hiring officials
want to see that you were the number one salesperson in the firm, that you were the
employee of the month, or that you were a mentor for all new employees.
Do your best to keep your resume to one page in length. Unfortunately most hiring
officials spend little time reading resumes. Instead they look first at your
accomplishments. If you are a sales professional I want to know your sales numbers, not
the name of your dog or your favorite type of food. Save that for the interview. Be short
and to the point.
Be truthful. We have seen many candidates receive a job offer from a firm only to see
that when the company does a background check they find out that the candidates was
two credits short of graduating. This would not be a problem except for that fact that the
candidate stated that she went to the University of Florida. Be 100% forthright!
Employers appreciate honesty. Many firms use sophisticated techniques to do
background checks and if they find any discrepancies they will view that as being
untrustworthy or deceptive. Most firms would recind their job offer if they found out you
lied on your resume. If you were an employer wouldn’t you? Make sure you use dates to
state when you were with a company and when you left that company. Leaving dates out
makes the hiring official think you are being deceptive. Include all your contact
information on your resume (address, cell phone, home phone, email etc).
Most hiring officials use a resume as a reason not to talk to people. Yes that is right. We
have often heard hiring officials say, “ She could never be a successful pharmaceutical
salesman because she only has experience selling life insurance”. Might this employer
change their mind if they knew you were the firm’s number one life insurance salesman
out of thirty reps? Or would they change their mind if your resume stated that you were
the youngest employee to get promoted to a Vice President role? Or might this employer
be more interested in hearing what the name of your dog is or what your favorite food is?
Only include pertinent information that showcases your skills and accomplishments.
The following is a sample resume that illustrates how to write a short but concise resume.
This is how your resume should appear on WomensResumeList.com
Jane Doe
xxx Street
Chicago, IL 60987 Phone: 913-555-0000 Fax: 913-555-0000
Email: janedoe@kc.rr.com
Objective: A competitive, goal oriented professional looking to apply knowledge of
financial sales and markets to cultivate prosperous business relationships and
exceed personal and professional goals.
Education &
Training
1989-1993 XVZ University New York, NY
Bachelor of Science
-Kinesiology
-Varsity Football Letterman 1989-1995
-Series 6, 7 and 63 Licenses
Professional
experience
September 1998- Present XXX Investments New York, NY
Vice President
A 130 year-old investment banking, securities and asset management firm. Responsible for
serving clients’ investment and wealth management needs through global resources,
relationships, in-depth research and risk management.
-Responsible for sales and marketing of mutual funds and 401(k) plans in a 3
state territory (WA, OR, ID).
-Initiate, strengthen and maintain regional account relationships with
-broker/dealer, wirehouse, bank and independent managers.
-Marketed and closed a 30 million 401k plan- largest in firm history.
-Increased annual sales in territory by 375% since joining firm in 1998.
1998 YYY Investments New York, NY
Vice President
One of the nation’s largest and oldest investment management companies, managing over $100
billion in assets.
-Responsible for sales and marketing of mutual funds, unit trusts and closed end funds
in 6 state territory (KS, NE, IA, MO, CO, UT).
-Initiate, strengthen and maintain regional account relationships with
broker/dealer, wirehouse, bank and independent managers.
- Increased sales in territory by close to 600%.
-UIT Top Producer Award 1997
1993-1996
Senior Internal Sales Consultant
-Partnered with Regional Wholesaler to promote investment sales.
-Responsibilities include relationship development, sales marketing, territory
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