A recruiter or hiring manager will spend under a minute on your résumé. A referral buys you a closer look, but you still need something clean to send the moment someone says "send me your résumé and I'll pass it along."
The rules
- One page. Always, until you have many years in sales.
- Results, not duties. "Served 40 tables a night" is a duty. "Top 3 in sales on a team of 25, six months running" is a result.
- Numbers everywhere. Percentages, rankings, dollar amounts, counts. Sales people think in numbers, and hiring managers read for them.
- Simple format. No photos, no columns that break when copied into an application system. A plain PDF.
The structure
- Name, city, email, phone, LinkedIn URL.
- A two-line summary (optional but useful when you're changing careers): "Former teacher moving into tech sales. Five years of persuading tough audiences, setting goals and hitting them."
- Experience, most recent first, 2–4 bullets each.
- Education (and any certifications or sales courses).
- Skills: tools you've used (Salesforce, HubSpot, Excel, Google Workspace) and languages.
Bullet formula
Did X, measured by Y, by doing Z.
- "Grew private-event bookings 30% year over year by following up with every past client personally."
- "Answered 60+ support tickets a day with a 96% satisfaction score; became the go-to for billing questions."
- "Recruited and onboarded 12 volunteers for a fundraiser that raised $18k."
Translating your background
Hiring managers for SDR roles look for: hitting targets, handling rejection, persuading people, staying organized, and learning fast. Find one bullet for each in what you've already done.
Tailor it lightly
You don't need a new résumé for every job. Do change the summary line to mention the kind of company or role, and move your most relevant bullet to the top.
After you send it
If someone offers to refer you, send the résumé and the job link in the same message, and thank them. Then apply, and tell them you applied. How to handle the referral conversation.