Sales Person CV Examples & Guide for 2025

Crafting a CV that effectively showcases your sales achievements without seeming boastful can be a tricky endeavour. Our guide offers practical tips on striking the perfect balance, helping you to highlight your successes with the right mix of humility and confidence.

How to ensure your profile stands out with your sales person CV format

It's sort of a Catch 22. You want your sales person CV to stand out amongst a pile of candidate profiles, yet you don't want it to be too over the top that it's unreadable. Where is the perfect balance between your CV format simple, while using it to shift the focus to what matters most. That is - your expertise. When creating your sales person CV:

• list your experience in the reverse chronological order - starting with your latest roles;
• include a header with your professional contact information and - optionally - your photograph;
• organise vital and relevant CV sections - e.g. your experience, skills, summary/ objective, education - closer to the top;
• use no more than two pages to illustrate your professional expertise;
• format your information using plenty of white space and standard (2.54 cm) margins, with colours to accent key information.

Once you've completed your information, export your sales person CV in PDF, as this format is more likely to stay intact when read by the Applicant Tracker System or the ATS. A few words of advice about the ATS - or the software used to assess your profile:

• Generic fonts, e.g. Arial and Times New Roman, are ATS-compliant, yet many candidates stick with these safe choices. Ensure your CV stands out by using a more modern, and simple, fonts like Lato, Exo 2, Volkhov;
• All serif and sans-serif fonts are ATS-friendly. Avoid the likes of fancy decorative or script typography, as this may render your information to be illegible;
• Both single- and double-column formatted CVs could be assessed by the ATS;
• Integrating simple infographics, icons, and charts across your CV won't hurt your chances during the ATS assessment.

What information should you include in your sales person CV header?

The CV header is potentially the section that recruiters would refer to the most, as it should include your:

• Contact details - your professional (non-work) email address and phone number;
• Professional photograph - if you're applying hinting at the value you bring as a professional.

Many professionals often struggle with writing their sales person CV headline. That's why in the next section of this guide, we've curated examples of how you can optimise this space to pass any form of assessment.

Your sales person CV introduction: selecting between a summary and an objective

sales person candidates often wonder how to start writing their resumes. More specifically, how exactly can they use their opening statements to build a connection with recruiters, showcase their relevant skills, and spotlight job alignment. A tricky situation, we know. When crafting you sales person CV select between:

• A summary - to show an overview of your career so far, including your most significant achievements.
• An objective - to show a conscise overview of your career dreams and aspirations.

Find out more examples and ultimately, decide which type of opening statement will fit your profile in the next section of our guide:

Narrating the details of your sales person CV experience section

Perhaps you've heard it time and time again, but, how you present your experience is what matters the most. Your CV experience section - that details your work history alongside your accomplishments - is the space to spotlight your unqiue expertise and talents. So, avoid solely listing your responsibilities, but instead:

• adverts' keywords and integrate those in your experience section;
• Use your CV to detail how you've been promoted in the past by including experience in the reverse chronological order.

Before you start writing your sales person CV experience section, dive into some industry-leading examples on how to structure your bullets.

Writing your CV without professional experience for your first job or when switching industries

There comes a day, when applying for a job, you happen to have no relevant experience, whatsoever. Yet, you're keen on putting your name in the hat. What should you do? Candidates who part-time experience , internships, and volunteer work.

The CV skills' divide: between hard and soft skills

Of course, you may have read the job requirements plenty of times now, but it's key to note that there is a difference between technical and personal skills. Both are equally relevant to your job application. When writing about your skill set, ensure you've copy-pasted the precise skill from the job requirement. This would not only help you ensure you have the correct spelling, but also pass any Applicant Tracker System (ATS) assessments.

• Hard skills show your technological capabilities. Or whether you'll be a good technical fit to the organisation. Ensure you've spotlighted your hard skills in various sections of your CV (e.g. skills section, projects, experience) by including the technology and what you've attained;
• Soft skills pinpoint your personality and people or communication skills, hinting at if you'll easily accomodate into the team or organisation. Quantify your soft skills in your CV achievements, strengths, summary/objective, and experience sections. Always support your soft skills with how they've helped you grow as a professional.

CV education and certificates: your academic background as proof of your skill set

A common misconception about your sales person CV education is that you only need it, if you have less professional experience. That is completely false. The CV education section serves to back up your technical (and sometimes personal) capabilities, fill in gaps in your work history, and show you have the initial industry background and know-how. When creating your education section:

• List your degrees in the reverse chronological order, starting with the most recent (and relevant) ones first;
• Include your degree and university names, start and graduation dates. It's optional to also denote you received a "First-Class Honours" for diplomas that are more relevant to the role;
• Curate your relevant university coursework, projects, or thesis work if you happen to have less professional expertise and need to integrate more job keywords and skills.

Your professional qualifications don't need to stop at your academic background. It's advisable to also select up to three of your most noteworthy (and relevant) industry certificates and feature them in a dedicated section. Once more, include the certificate name, the institution that issued it out, and the date you obtained it on. You could feature both hard skills and soft skills certificates, as in the examples below:

Key takeaways

Your successful job application depends on how you well you have aligned your sales person CV to the job description and portrayed your best skills and traits. Make sure to:

• Select your CV format, so that it ensures your experience is easy to read and understand;
• Include your professional contact details and a link to your portfolio, so that recruiters can easily get in touch with you and preview your work;
• Write a CV summary if you happen to have more relevant professional experience. Meanwhile, use the objective to showcase your career dreams and ambitions;
• In your CV experience section bullets, back up your individual skills and responsibilities with tangible achievements;
• Have a healthy balance between hard and soft skills to answer the job requirements and hint at your unique professional value.