UPDATE:
Head over to A Practical Guide On How To Break Into Tech Sales and download the complete .PDF containing over 75 pages on how to break into the industry.
Hello ladies, gents, cartoon animals, and others.
This is one of the final articles in our 'Breaking into Tech Sales' series. While it may not be as crucial as everyone likes to emphasize → in case you are following our tricks and methods. Still essential to move forward.
When it comes to your resume, you should treat it as a sales letter. You are selling yourself to the decision-maker. It doesn’t have to be the prettiest thing. But it needs to showcase your experience that you can support with compelling stories. Demonstrating the skills you've listed on your resume. Meaning you will be able to handle the new challenges presented.
Before we go forward.
The main material is done when it comes to breaking into tech sales. There are a few more articles we plan to cover down the road. Once we finish. We plan to compile every breaking into tech sales article into one PDF to make it more convenient for interested readers.
Basics Of Your New Resume
The basics of a solid resume are pretty straightforward:
Clean looking layout
One page
Keywords relevant to your role
Max up to the 3 roles
Max up to 3 - 4 bullet points per role → demonstrating quantifiable results
If you're already following the basics outlined here - congratulations. You are in the top 20% of candidates. Before anyone comes after us on the “keywords”. We are sticking to the most optimal approach here. In case someone decides to apply through HR (website/application) - your resume will be scanned for relevant keywords. This is the exact reason why your resume needs to include keywords to pass the filter and screening process.
Clean Looking Layout
Go for a clean and appealing one-page layout. Featuring a maximum of three roles. That’s all you need when it comes to having a clean-looking resume that will catch attention. Don’t worry about anyone saying you need multiple pages with pictures and six different colors because that approach doesn’t work.
One page-looking resume will take you further. Do you think individuals in important positions have time to read 3-page resumes? They don’t. Usually having bigger problems to deal with. Same principle when we are talking about the roles. No need to mention what you have been doing in your college days if you already have more relevant work experience. In case you are yet to get your first job you will have to leverage everything at your disposal to stand out. When it comes to fonts - don’t overcomplicate. Stick with Calibri.
Keywords Relevant To Your Role
Applying over application - HR? You will have to meet certain keyword criteria. Including keywords related to your future role. Not sure how you should approach it?
One of the most efficient strategies is to search for a few examples of tech sales resumes on the front page of Google. Compare examples you have found, analyze, and identify keywords that are relevant to your new role. Arguably one of the easiest ways to fill your resume with keywords that count.
Do yourself a favor and skip HR.
Bullet Points
Limit your bullet points to a maximum of 3-4 per role. That’s it. What the majority gets wrong here is they start fluffing bullet points up. Completely wrong. Focus on presenting quantifiable results. Ones that do matter and will capture the attention of the decision-maker.
Examples:
“Onboarded 2 companies that generated +150k $ in new revenue over the last 6 months.”
or
“Daily volume prospecting up to 100 activities combined with outbound. Leveraging channels such as LinkedIn to source new sales opportunities.”
Follow this framework for creating effective bullet points:
Action verb + Task + Metric
or
Action verb + Metric + Task
You should not have any problems creating solid bullet points with the mentioned framework. Remember when it comes to listing bullet points - sort the most impressive bullet points to the least impressive. Having a good story to back them up is all that matters. Check out the template below to gain a better understanding of what we are talking about.
LinkedIn SEO Trick
Something that doesn’t receive enough of the attention. Similar principle to keyword screening that HR does. That’s why we decided to incorporate this LinkedIn trick into the article. When it comes to LinkedIn keywords are what gets attention from recruiters. The tweet below clearly illustrates the point. Something you should utilize in your interview process.
Think of this technique as an “SEO game” designed to attract more views to your profile.
When it comes to LinkedIn and profile optimization - read the article below if you are serious about landing an offer. Having a good looking profile is essential.
Professional Experience
We initially stumbled upon the exact method in the coding world. Back in the day when things were not so fancy and no one was crazy about platforms such as LeetCode (not sure if it was even around in 2014). The idea behind is pretty straightforward. The first step involves changing the resume section titled “work experience” to “professional experience”. Allowing you to use it to your advantage.
What used to happen back in the day - coders would “simulate” work experience by implying they already had one required for the role. They would list a certification of a certain company with all the relevant keywords. Your goal? Find a course or certification that you can use to your advantage. There are quite a few you could use here. But the easiest example you can include on your resume is the “Salesforce Sales Development Representative Professional Certificate” - one that @SaaSCapo covered years ago on his Twitter profile.
They offer a few variations of the certification that you could use to your advantage. In each case, you are not lying in listing the key activities the course covered. Because you did all of them. The key here is to do it in a way that showoff relevant experience. One that helps with your future role. The great thing about it is that it serves to bypass the HR screening. In case you are having problems getting first-round interview calls.
There is a big chance you will be asked what Salesforce on your resume means.
Similar to other bullet points. You need to have a clear story and explain it in a way - that you are not trying to trick them. You have listed it because you found the experience relevant to your interview. Don’t mention any tricking or how you tried to bypass the HR screening process. We are sure there are few honest readers out there. But this is one of those situations you do not want to be completely transparent.
The resume template you will find below will not include the mentioned method. We are leaving the “work experience” instead of the “professional experience”.
Free Resume Template
We got you covered. The template provided here will have to be adjusted based on your experience. This should allow you to break into the tech sales without a doubt. If you are aiming for a higher position - you can keep the same layout. In that case, we suggest tailoring the “education section” differently. Placing it after your work experience. The template provided here is more suitable for newcomers or recent college grads. We are not saying what we are offering here is the perfect template. But it’s going to get the job done no doubt.
The editable version is ready to download at the following link.
Since Substack doesn't allow us to attach .docx files. We have to use the MEGA as a hosting solution. There is not much more to say. Feel free to play around with the spacing and the text based on your requirements. Ignore the MEGA preview - once you open up the file the layout will appear as shown in the example above
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