Sample Resume for a Sales Professional – Before & After Samples

Before

After

Before

Donald’s company had recently downsized when he approached me for career writing and coaching. His goal was to target jobs at mid-sized companies in diverse industries based on experiences at Fortune 500 and mid-sized manufacturing organizations.

Donald’s current resume covered the traditional resume bases: it offered a Profile and reverse chronological Professional Experience overview, including measurable outcomes defined by revenue and gross margin improvements.

Though it wove in key words and bullet statements that were truthful, Donald didn’t feel it differentiated him or knit in the nuances of his leadership, sales and marketing style.

He wanted my help to propel his resume to new heights, distinguishing him from the multiple other Senior Sales & Marketing Executives who possess a solid track record.

After

Applying powerful visual strategies, including a commanding chart that highlights a series of sales and profit growth successes and functional subheadings that lead-in to achievements statements, we moved his resume from standard to powerful and compelling.

Within a week and a half of polishing the resume and cover letter suite, Donald had cinched an interview for a sales management position at a mid-sized manufacturing organization. The interview opportunity spurred us to accelerate progress on a leadership addendum “leave-behind,” which we accomplished in time for the meeting.

Donald’s ability to share the lead during interview meetings helped him to conduct the internal company research to identify areas of need and pain that fueled his meaningful and high-impact follow-up letters, 90-day sales plans and value proposals.

An interview with a second company materialized within three weeks of finalizing Donald’s resumes and was garnered through circulation of his senior-level resume. The position was a vice president of sales at a medical equipment manufacturer. Following a positive interview and a prompt thank-you follow-up letter, Donald quickly switched gears and prepared for yet a third company’s interview, this time at a German-based manufacturing company, during which he again leveraged the senior-level resume.

Fast-forward to two months later when Donald notified me that he had been offered a position as national sales manager for a custom bag manufacturer – compensation $175k. If he accepted this position, Donald’s future potential was a role as vice president, sales and marketing, as the incumbent was scheduled to retire in two years. Concurrent with this offer, Donald was offered a vice president of sales position at a $45M, very profitable manufacturer in the pharmaceutical industry – Donald’s compensation: $200k.

Donald carefully examined the pros and cons of both opportunities, determining which job most aligned with his passion, skills, long-term goals and work-life balance and decided upon the vice president of sales position. He negotiated final terms of the offer and began work in January of the new year, just three months after he initiated his job search.

Sample Resume for Business Development Professional

A focused headline underscores Jessica’s Marketing and Business Development focus, followed by key drivers in specific value areas (front-end strategy, corporate branding, relationship building and so forth).

An attention-grabbing bar graph punctuates her 5-year track record of climbing sales and revenue.  A keyword section corrals critical language that may be picked up by either a human-eye or keyword scan.

The Executive Performance Overview communicates Jessica’s overarching impact as a driving force in turnaround, growth and profits and showcasing her 3000% sales growth in 5 years.

Sample Resume for Account Executive/Loan Broker

A meaty Profile brands this tightly woven and high-impact Sales Resume focused in the Commercial Banking arena. Jack’s rapid and steady career progression igniting sales, proving #1 sales performance and persevering in the highly competitive mortgage industry were captured via pithy Performance Highlights and underscored by his Personal Success Philosophy.

A Professional Experience section is headed by a powerful lead-in sales pitch focused on his dynamic individual performance and team performance. On the second page, two prior and similar Account Executive positions were combined to streamline the message.

Sample Resume for a Chief Financial Officer

This senior financial executive’s go-forward goals leveraged his progressive achievements and talents in high-level and visionary leadership shaping strategic financial direction. The resume leads in with a focused headline and sub-headlines that guide the reader as to this CFO’s areas of industry and functional focus.

As well, bottom-line improvements are illustrated through a visually appealing chart.  Further, the reader is provided an overview of his record of corporate financial improvements and leadership impact.

An Executive Performance Overview immediately is summarized via a powerful headline regarding

Slashing Costs, Consolidating Operations and so forth. Organizational Challenge summaries help the reader quickly glimpse at and digest this candidate’s overarching corporate role before the resume dives down into the more detailed achievements stories.

Sample Resume for IT Consultant

John’s young career proved him a go-getter and success agent. As well, he is highly targeted in his go-forward goals facilitating a tightly woven target – Executive: Process Re-Engineer / Business Architect / Consultant. His intimacy with his target functional value proposition shows in the sub-headline beginning with Process Improvement / Transactional Processing, etc. 

An attractive grid illuminates three critical initiatives that drove his results and financial impact home, including his identifying $135 million in improvement opportunities.

A deep dive Core Competencies section further exemplifies John’s leadership vision and proven

Sample Resume for General Management (Diverse markets)

Alberto is a dynamic, positive and engaging personality. Capturing his combined business savvy, integrity, drive and optimism were goals in this design-savvy and content-driven resume.

A storied Profile offers layers of Focus, Expertise, Skill sets and Profile statements and is punctuated by a strong Value Quote. A personal photo and Emmy graphic further exemplify Alberto’s individuality. Driving forces are laid out in a clean grid, offering a clear view of his results.

Moreover, an Executive Performance Overview provides both overarching impacts as well as bulleted achievements stories.

Sample Resume for Sales Management

This Sales Leader’s resume is stamped with a ‘growth-oriented’ brand. A clean, sales-focused headline is underscored by high level sales management, operations and general management areas of focus. A personal quote describes his approach in leading sales managers and his focus on results versus activity.

Moreover, a pithy chart stacks a series of achievements stories with triple-digit outcomes; and an Executive Performance History further amplifies his accomplishments.

Note the headlines summarizing his bulleted achievements stories; i.e., Positive Upward Trending in Net Sales / Efficiency &

Sample Executive Bio

This Operational Leadership Executive offers a distinguished manufacturing industry career exemplified by his change management, acquisitions management, business modeling, financial leadership and team direction talent.

A biography’s narrative format shepherds the reader through a brief, snapshot overview of John’s value proposition, followed by an overview of more recent ventures in corporate reengineering, continuous improvement methodologies and maximizing shareholder returns. The biography then backs into John’s earlier career, foundational success stories that punctuate his crisis management and leadership in creating sustainable company revenues.