If you have read The Hire Sense for any period of time, you know we have some strong feelings about using resumes to filter sales candidates. This approach is ripe with problems. However, we know it occurs and until we change the world on this topic, we’ll have to make the best of it.
In that light, here are the items we look for when reading through resumes:
Performance. Has the person succeeded by what you can see in their work history? Is this success supported by specific numbers?
Progression. Has their sales career shown overall growth through their different positions? Have they been with only 1 company or have they worked in multiple cultures?
Punctuation. Fine, I need another “p” word. Does the document contain proper grammar and punctuation? The reason is that this document is the showcase of their abilities. You have to consider their attention to detail if the document has composition errors.
For sales, it is far more valuable to interact with the candidate via phone conversations and email. These are the mediums in which they work so our focus is on their abilities there. When hiring salespeople, I would recommend you put your focus there as opposed to drawing too many conclusions from a resume.