Quick Career Tips for Job Seekers in Sales (Bonus: Resume Dos and Don’ts)

You can always count on some daily LinkedIn posts from our CEO, Joel Petino, where he provides career tips for job-seekers in the areas of sales recruiting, sales consulting, and sales training. (You can follow Joel’s posts here) We’ve compiled a few of Joel’s recent posts to give you a quick overview on how to go about looking for a job as well as some resume dos and don’ts:

Follow Our Career Tips: Invest in Your Job Search

If you are looking for your next sales job, investing money in the process can increase your potential to land that next big gig. What I mean is: 

1)     Purchase a Premium subscription on LinkedIn. This gives you access to great tools that help you be more proactive in contacting hiring managers/recruiters at the companies you are applying to.

2)     Consider working with a career coach and a resume writer. Using these resources will not break the bank, but if you are on a tight budget, reallocate the money you would spend each week on social/shopping/non-essential items to finding a job.

3)     Refresh your business wardrobe. The first impression is the most important one, so you want to make sure you update any of your old and shabby wardrobe for some refreshed attire and/or a professional bag or notebook to bring to interviews.

4)     Invest in your health and wellbeing. It’s important to remember that when you feel good, you’ll be at your best. So whether it’s a gym membership, yoga, or a spin class, make sure to invest in your physical and mental health so you can be at the top of your game.  

The Truth About Job Hopping

Many might think that working between 6 to 24 months at most of your jobs throughout your career won’t raise flags. The fact of the matter is, it will – and this is coming from the companies we work directly who are looking to hire salespeople. The reality is that most of our clients won’t engage with these types of candidates.

It’s okay to have a few shorter stints over the course of 10 to 20 years and to even have a few brief stints very early in your career, but people who have longer tenures at their jobs tend to be a bit more attractive as candidates.

Overall, you should have more 3, 5, and 7+ year jobs than 1 to 2-year jobs.

A few of our clients have referred to serial job hoppers as “jumpy.” So the bottom line is, you want to avoid falling into the “jumpy” salesperson bucket. 

Bonus: Resume Do’s and Don’ts

Your resume will get initially reviewed by a company for 30 seconds at most. Keep this in mind. 

1. Structure

Under the company name and title of your role, including what that company does. For example: What do their services or products do? It can look something like:

ABC Company 2010 – present

Head of Sales and Marketing

ABC Company provides sales recruiting and sales assessments to medium-sized businesses. 

If the company is gigantic and you are in one of many divisions that sells one of many products, give a quick, broader overview of the company and then get specific as to what division you are in and what services/products that division provides. That can look something like this:

ABC Company 2010 – present

Head of Sales and Marketing

Leader in sales recruiting and sales assessment. 

Division of Recruitment and Assessment; Online assessment and consulting services

Lastly, if you are in sales, it’s equally important to list WHO you sold to (CXOs) in which departments. Show this using bullet points (I am a bullet point guy).

2. Resume Wording

Don’t use vague wording on your resume. For example, avoid using a word like “liaison.” Whenever I read the word liaison on a resume, I immediately think of the scene in Office Space when the two consultants, the Bobs, are questioning Tom Smykowski about his role at the company.

In short, the Bobs learn that Tom is essentially a liaison between the customers and the engineers. The conversation ends with the Bobs merely asking, “what would you say, you do here?"

Don’t get me wrong; your role at your company could be a critical one. Just make sure you choose words and phrases that better describe your role and the impact it has on your organization. 

Searching for a new role, especially in sales, doesn’t have to be complicated. But following these career tips and making a few small investments, making sure your resume reflects the specific job you’re looking for, and being very clear about your contributions at past jobs will help you land that next big gig. For more help landing the sales job of your dreams, reach out to our sales recruiting experts at BD Strategy.