Tag Archives: Sales career

By Gavin Redelman

What are the Key Ingredients to preparing a sales resume that will get you interviews?

I decided this week to bake a double chocolate chip cake. It was so delicious and cooked to perfection that I only managed one piece before my friends had collectively finished off the rest of the cake. Before I baked the cake, I prepared the ingredients and even added in a few “extra” items to make my cake as tasty as possible. When it comes to resume writing the exact same process is required:

Key Ingredients:

1.       Strategic Keywords
Using strategic keywords throughout your resume is imperative for a number of reasons. Recent reports suggest 80% of companies use some kind of software or scanning program to search for candidate resumes.  In today’s society it is no longer good enough to target your job toward the role you are applying for – you also need to target your resume toward software programs that are now performing first rounds of candidate selections.  In this technological world where applying for a job can literally take a couple of clicks of a button, hiring managers are seeing hundreds of resumes (sometimes thousands) for one particular job. As much as we would like a hiring manager or recruiter to read through our entire resume, this rarely happens.  As such, using strategic keywords will help your resume rank higher and ensure that it passes the first test of being read by either a recruiter or hiring manager.

2.       Highlighting Achievements
Resume writing and job seeking has changed a lot over the past couple of years. With new online networking sites such as LinkedIn being available and making it easier for a job seeker to network with a potential boss, highlighting your achievements on your resume and cover letter is more important than ever. When a boss or hiring manger decides to employ a new person to their staff, the first thing they want to know is how this person is going to add value to their organisation. Including basic duties and responsibilities is not enough to make you stand out as the perfect person for the job. You need to prove that you are the best person by highlighting your skills and achievements.

3.       Presentation and Format
Your resume is the first impression a hiring manager will make about you. A well presented and structured resume that is written in a clean font will portray your resume in a professional manner and immediately give your resume application a higher ranking. Alternatively, a resume application that has spelling and grammar errors, different sized fonts, long sentences (as opposed to bullet points) and a lack of headings will not portray a positive image to the reader, and you won’t look like the right person for the job. A lack of professionalism may even lead to your resume being deleted without even being read. No matter how good your skills and experience may be, once your resume is deleted, it will never be read again.

In order to prepare the perfect resume follow these three main ingredients. Take time to prepare your resume and ensure that you give yourself every opportunity to succeed!

During the last decade, RedStarResume has successfully written hundreds of professional resumes for candidates across the globe. From the student or entry level position to the CEO, our unique, custom-made resumes are written specifically to match the goals and desires of our clients and to help them land jobs

© RedStarResume Publications – www.redstarresume.com

When the stock market fell off a cliff and credit was frozen and virtually impossible to find, companies moved aggressively to take shelter and weather the storm by cutting payroll and other expenses.  Those who managed to survive and stay standing at the end of 2009 will see revenue growth in 2010.  Those resilient companies will prosper on this long road to recovery throughout the coming years and they will create opportunities and focus on growth, not consolidation.  The strong companies today are betting on their ability to bring in revenue and they are confident and see an incredible opportunity to grow their business.  2010 will be a building year, a year to focus on re-securing the footings and foundation in order to build a stronger more aggressive company in 2011.  So what is the one job companies create when they are feeling confident in their ability to drive revenue?  

SALES JOBS!
Companies are now starting to see some relief.  As credit continues to loosen, companies become more confident in their ability to bring back jobs.  The first and most sought after jobs in 2010 will be sales.  According to a report by Forbes.com*, two of the Top 10 most recession proof jobs are Financial Advisors (4^th on the list) and Sales Representatives (6^th on the list).

So why are sales roles considered more secure?  Companies cut to the bone in 2009 due to the loss of revenue.  Companies can often reduce workforce while increasing workload in every department across the enterprise, however the same is not true in the sales department.  When companies reduce a sales force, they’ve reduced company revenue.  Sales representatives can’t cover 3 territories and produce the same combined revenue that their past counterparts produced.  When sales representatives are overloaded they lose deals to the competition.  As a result, companies are looking to hire and replenish their once prosperous sales force in order to regain market share and increase revenue.  They have lost revenue over the past year and are at risk of losing top talent.  The top sales professionals that have weathered the storm are starting to explore new opportunities.  They are the reason that companies have survived and as the sales job market begins to open, more options are presented to them.  They are no longer fearful of losing their job and are, in fact, more comfortable taking the chance to see what other options they have in the market. 

Organizations must be on the offensive in 2010 to build and hire top producing sales forces while recognizing that they will see increased attrition as the market gains momentum.  Therefore, many companies will be aggressively searching for talented sales professionals that can add value immediately.  If a company is not recruiting top talent, you can bet that their competition is.  Those companies that capitalize on this market and recruit the greatest sales talent in 2010 will see exponential growth in 2011. 

Here at Treeline, we are seeing this exact trend.  Our clients had more urgency in December of 2009 than the entire year.  They are eager to get back to pre-recession revenues and growth and are betting on a talented sales force to get them there.  That being said, companies are building more efficient and effective sales forces.  Therefore, there is currently a movement transitioning from large field sales presences to larger inside sales presence.  Consumers are more comfortable buying online and with a SAAS based software model, web demos and video conferences, companies can close large deals without setting foot in a prospect’s office.  Today, companies are preserving costs and doing business from one highly motivated, scalable and sustainable central location.  The most aggressive of these companies are using many effective Sales 2.0 selling tools and are adapting quickly.

With the significant decline of many industries in 2009, many sales professionals are finding that it is time to re-invent themselves and build a skill set that is marketable for years to come.  They find themselves burnt out and exploring new options.  Many are looking back to the hottest industry in sales right now: the technology sector.   We find that technology companies are adapting quickly to the Sales 2.0 methodology.  They are focused on consistent revenue growth and are building sales forces with urgency.  They are cutting costs by bringing their sales force inside and by using new technology solutions that help build pipelines and close business.  They are consolidating their outside sales force by recognizing the needs of today’s consumer and the new sales process.  Therefore, they have identified how to increase the efficiency of their sales team by reducing costs and increasing revenue. 

In short, we see the hottest job in 2010 to be sales jobs and the hottest industry to be technology.  Companies can no longer afford to work with a skeleton crew and definitely cannot afford the risk of loosing a top performer to their competition.  It is too great a risk for companies to sit idle when most of their competition is on the hunt.  Companies are selective and will only hire those that have a proven track record of success.  However, for sales professionals there will be many more options to choose from in 2010 than 2009.  So for talented sales professionals, consider yourself lucky to be in a great career. 

For both company and candidate, keep pushing aggressively in 2010 and get ready to enjoy the fruits of your labor.   
*http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/23/recession-proof-jobs-leadership-careers-employment.html

Searching for a job has become more difficult than ever. With hundreds of candidates with similar backgrounds competing for the same job, employers are seeking alternative ways to evaluate their pool of candidates.   One of the most frequently used tricks is to Google them.  A potential employer’s first impression of you is more often than not based on that Google search.  With a simple search on the popular search engine, potential employers will uncover multiple sources of information about you including Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.  This means that your status update on Facebook, or latest tweet on Twitter could be the deciding point on whether or not you get the job.  So how do you make sure that your “Google-able” information is appropriate? 

Here are 6 Social Networking tips:

1. Have a profile picture that exemplifies a person a potential employer would want to hire.
2. Make sure your status update is appropriate and is something you do not mind sharing with a room full of CEO’s.
3. Don’t include any links to websites containing inappropriate content.
4. Be careful what your friends post on your Facebook wall.
5. Any pictures tagged of you should be appropriate and portray a mature, responsible person.
6. If you have a blog, steer clear of controversial topics or personal problems that could be perceived in a negative way.

Do you have a story of an employee passing on you because of your Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn profile? Are you an employer that has hired, or passed on a candidate after finding something about them on the web? Do you have a tip that’s not on the list and we should add? Leave us a comment and let us know!
http://blog.treeline-inc.com/blog/bid/32093/Tips-for-Using-Social-Networks-While-Searching-for-a-Job