My Sales Associate Resume Needs Work, What Can I Do

My Sales Associate Resume Needs Work, What Can I Do33The job market for sale associates is estimated to expand by 5% over the next eight years in the US alone. While you might have the best skills for the job, this isnt the aspect applicants struggle with. The difficulty lies in creating a resume that balances length, buzzwords, the right resume headings, and deciding on what experience you should include, and how you should describe it. Polishing up on all of these aspects will bring you closer to getting the interview you know you can ace. So take a look at our actionable tips below Who are ausverkauf associates? Try asking yourself this question when recruiters think of a schlussverkauf associate, do I line up with their expectation? Impactful sales associates can identify consumer needs and utilise their product-knowledge to present problem-solutions and and recommend, market, and sell appropriate products. Youre the customers first point-of-contact with many skills involved in c ustomer support typically coming into play too.This expectation gives you a checklist of criteria to meet in your resumeDemonstrate any previous experience in retail / working with the public Convey your humanity and approachability Detail any educational background in business, sales, or marketing Tell the recruiter who you are, more than just what you do Top 5 sections for your sales associate resume (no matter your background)1. Resume header Hiring managers often sift through dozens of resumes in minutes. Having six-seconds to make an impression on the person reviewing your resume can be difficult, but not impossible. Your resume header is the first thing a recruiter will look to and therefore should be perfected as much as possible. You should include your name, contact details (including a phone number and email address) and any links to your personal website or LinkedIn. Remember to update your voicemail and keep your email address professional. Tip To give the manager an ins ight into your personality, you can customize your resume website with quotes from former colleagues and include a personal photo should this be permissible where you live. 2. StrengthsIf you cant tell the hiring manager what youre skilled in, then why should they consider you? Detailing your top strengths gives a succinct account of what the manager can expect of your ability. Choose strengths and skills that are relevant to the role of sales associate to make the greatest impact. Some strengths you may consider are Human-relations Personal sales Cash handling Problem-solving Merchandising Personal shopping Customer service In Hannahs server resume, she described her greatest strengths in customer service. Tip To make your impact greater, quantify your strengths as you go along with some previous experience. With an Enhancv resume, you can choose an icon to accompany your strengths to guide the hiring managers attention too. Give our resume builder a try 3. EducationA trap you migh t fall into is thinking your education isnt relevant to your role, or you dont have the right education. Rest assured, education comes in multiple forms. You dont typically need a university degree to secure a sales associate job, nor do you need formalised education on related subject matter. If youve taken an online course on marketing, if you have a degree in business, or if you took advanced math in high school, these are all relevant. Niamh mentions her background in psychology and describes how this plays into her understanding of customer relations in her retail resume. 4. TechnologiesIn todays world, jobs that involve no technology are few-and-far between. Whether its navigating POS systems, handling the till at checkout, or using Excel to track stock, your experience with informational systems is relevant to your position as a sales associate. 5. My TimeThe My Time section is an Enhancv exclusive. If youve never come across it before, it can seem peculiar. Why would a hirin g manager care how I spent my time relative to my position as a sales associate? Well, sales associates often wear many hats. There are various tasks youll be responsible for, and an inability to prioritize and manage your time will inhibit your ability to do this. Describing how you spend your time gives insight into your ability to juggle many things at once.In his sales resume, Adam described how his time is divided during a typical work-day. Tip As a student or recent graduate, you can detail how you split your time between coursework, studying, volunteering, and more. Common sales associate resume mistakes you can avoidRepeating the same information Nothing reads worse than an applicant repeating the same information over again in different words. Look at your sales associate resume as a whole. Make a list of things you wish to mention prior to sitting down to write it out to ensure you mention the best examples, and hit all of the points the recruiter is hoping to hear about. Forgetting to quantify your experience Weve all heard the saying You can talk-the-talk, but can you walk-the-walk? This concept is particularly relevant when it comes to the quantification of your experience. You increased sales in your last job. You improved customer solutions. You applied yourself to new situations in volunteering. Thats great but, how did you do those things? You increased sales by 5% by introducing a novel marketing strategy. You improved customer solutions, which doubled customer retention. You learned X new skill after experincing Y scenario in your last job. See how much more of an impact quantification makes? Lacking specificity The days of the general resume are over. With the sheer volume of resumes hiring managers are tasked to go through with their tight schedule, having a general resume that reads as if it could have been submitted to hundreds of places will reduce your chances of getting called for an interview. Look into the type of products the comp any sells, match the color on your resume to their branding, read the job description and use your resume as the answer booklet.Further tips to improve your sales associate resume Format your resume by priority If youve ever looked into formats for your sales associate resume, you may have come across suggestions such as a reverse-chronological resume or hybrid resume. When it comes down to it, the best decision you can make is placing the fruchtwein important parts of your resume first, and creating a funnel of priority for deciding on the next part. If the job description emphasises prior experience, your experience should be firs. If skills are mentioned more than anything else, reference your skills first. With the exception of your resume header coming first, there are no rules you have to follow. Place yourself in the hiring managers shoes, what would you want to see first? Tip With Enhancvs resume builder, you can easily move sections around according to priority without comp romising aesthetics. Our simple rearrange feature means you can moves sections like pieces of a puzzle. Deciding on length The rule-of-thumb when it comes to resume length is one page per ten years of experience. For most sales associate roles, one page will be plenty to discuss your experience and value. Going beyond one page is more likely to bore the recruiter. Theres no guarantee theyll make it to your second page before putting your resume in the No pile. Aiming for a focused one page resume will do wonders for your chances of getting called for an interview. Sales associate action verbsA struggle many applicants have to overcome is how to describe your past work. One way to do this is using action verbs that have real meaning, generate intrigue, and have an impact. Some verbs you can use to catch the recruiters attention are UpsoldIdentified SolvedDoubled MerchandisedSoldReplenishedInitiatedAssisted Conceptualised Augmented Retained Educated Coordinated CalculatedOrganisedRein ventedRelated (to customers)Conduct a resume review No resume is complete without reviewing your content. Your sales associate resume is no different. To complete a resume review, read your resume backwards, print it out, send it on to a colleague to read, or better yet, do all three. Tip With Enhancv, you can avail of our built-in referral link which allows you to send your resume to friends and colleagues for constructive feedback. You can get that sales associate job With the right resume sections, controlling for common mistakes, and some extra advice on how to stand out from the crowd, youre one step closer to getting the job in associate sales youve always wanted. Remember, be specific, quantify your experience, conduct a resume review, and make use of sales associate-specific action verbs Use Enhancvs resume builder to create a resume as aesthetically-pleasing and easy-to-make as all of the examples you see above.

Headphones at Work A Productivity Hack or Hinderance

Headphones at Work A Productivity Hack or Hinderance Audiophiles, those who enjoy white noise when they work and people who appreciate the noise-canceling benefits of headphones, will often tell you that their headphones are an essential part of their work setup. However, headphones detractors argue that theyre distracting, make it difficult to get coworkers attention and can even pose a threat to safety in certain environments.Learn about the advantages and disadvantages of headphones and how best to determine how you can (and cant) incorporate headphones into your work environment.Pros of headphones at work.First, and most importantly, wearing headphones at work can boost focus and productivity. Many people find that controlling the background noise in their environment helps them focus on the task at hand and get work done more quickly. This is likely to be especially true for workers in open-plan offices, which tend to be a bit noisier and, therefore, distraction-filled than oth er types of offices.Boosting employee productivity is good for both workers and companies. Workers who are able to focus on their work get more done, which helps them avoid burning the midnight oil and their employers, who dont have to pay overtime or deal with burnt-out, stressed-out employees, benefit as well.If youre listening to music through your headphones, you may also find that your creative thinking gets a boost. Teresa Lesiuk, an assistant professor in the music therapy program at the University of Miami, explains that music can help people break out of just thinking one way. Lesiuks research shows that music listeners not only complete tasks more quickly but also come up with better ideas than non-music listeners.The right background music or programming can also boost your mood and help relieve stress. Given that the workplace can be a stressful, hectic place, this could be a pretty significant benefit of headphones for many workers.Cons of headphones at work.The most ob vious downside of headphones is linked to their most obvious upside. While headphones can lager out distracting noise and help wearers focus on the work at hand, they can also isolate their wearers and make it difficult for coworkers to get wearers attention. They also eliminate the opportunity for spontaneous creativity, exchange of ideas and casual interactions between coworkers.Theres also some risk that music could be a distraction, rather than a focus-booster, if the listener gets too caught up in the lyrics to the detriment of their actual work. Additionally, if a headphone wearer plays their music too loudly, it could be heard by and become distracting to the people next to them.Its also worth bearing in mind that certain work environments, particularly those involving very detail-oriented tasks or dangerous situations, are poorly suited to wearing headphones. If your job demands that you be as attuned as possible to your environment, headphones are likely a poor choice at work.Finally, the potential health effects of playing music too loudly via headphones must be mentioned. Playing music or other audio at high volumes through ones headphones can lead to hearing damage and even deafness over time.(When) should HR intervene?If an employees headphone use interferes with their own or others work, its time for HR to intervene. This can be handled via an individual conversation with the employee in question. Discussing the issue directly and working with the employee in question to address it should suffice in these cases.However, if theres a broader need for a company-wide policy on appropriate headphone use or a desire to have a company-wide policy on this issue, then its appropriate for HR to take the lead in crafting such a policy and disseminating it to employees. The employee handbook is a good place for such a policy.Some issues that might be covered in a company policy on headphone use includeAllowable types of headphones (over-ear, noise-cancelin g, earbuds, etc.)Whether employees should wear one or two headphonesAppropriate volume levelsA reminder not to sing along or otherwise distract colleaguesTo prevent employees from keeping their headphones on at all times, a company could also consider restricting headphone use to only certain parts of the office, times of day or when completing certain tasks.When crafting a company policy on headphone usage, its important to keep the two competing issues in play in mind on the one hand, its important to ensure that people are able to adjust their work environments to suit their working styles and facilitate productivity, which may mean headphones are a necessity for some employees. On the other hand, its equally important to ensure that employees have opportunities to work together and collaborate on ideas, which isnt possible if everyone has their headphones on all the time.Striking the right balance between these competing objectives in both company policy and individual employee behavior is the best way to ensure that headphones are used responsibly and appropriately in an office environment.Lorelei Yang is a New York-based consultant and freelance writer/researcher. Find her on Twitter and LinkedIn.