When writing a Sales Advisor CV, it’s important that it looks professional. To make your CV easy for an employer to read and engage with, you’ll need a standout personal statement, and sections that separate your skills, employment history, qualifications and education. These sections are the most important parts of your CV, as they’ll show why you’re right for the job.
Use this guide to help you understand what the best approach is for writing a CV, and use our writing tips for some guidance and a checklist of things you should do while writing your application:
1. Start with a strong personal statement
2. Follow with your work experience, listing previous roles in reverse chronological order.
3. Include a section for key skills and qualifications relevant to a Sales Advisor.
4. Finish with your hobbies and interests and references.
How to Write a Personal Statement for a Sales Advisor
To write an eye-catching personal statement, make sure you keep your information brief and to the point. Mention the relevant skills you have and where you acquired them, you don’t need to go into too much detail as you’ll expand on these skills later in your CV.
Your personal statement should be no more than 150 words long, and it is beneficial to mention why you think you’re a good candidate for the role.
Sales Advisor Personal Statement Example
“I have worked in the retail industry for five years, which has given me extensive experience in dealing with customers and customer satisfaction. I often dealt with customer queries, and I pride myself on my ability to answer questions clearly and concisely.
I would regularly receive excellent reviews for my performance, product knowledge and my punctuality. I would engage in conversations with customers while dealing with sales, and my product knowledge allowed me to deal with specific requests from customers.
I believe my overall sales experience and my customer service abilities will be a great fit for your company.”
Ideal Work Experience for a Sales Advisor CV
Some positions may require certain work experience, which an employer will list in the job description. If you have relevant experience, write about it under the “employment history & skills” section of your CV.
Which Jobs to Include
Any jobs that offer customer service experience will be worth mentioning, this might include retail and hospitality work such as waiting/waitressing, event coordinating or front of house positions.
When writing about relevant work experience, separate each job and the skills you gained with bullet points.
Sales Advisor CV Work Experience Example
- Retail Worker at [company name] from [start date] to [end date]
- I was often required to deal with customer queries, both in person and over the phone. I would do my best to give simple, easy-to-understand replies about products and services offered by the company.
- My confidence allowed me to approach customers and check that they could find everything they needed.
- I am also able to multitask when dealing with customers and performing work-related tasks that require my attention.
Key Skills & Qualifications for a Sales Advisor CV
When applying for a job, an employer will list any skills or qualifications they want to see from a candidate. Check your skills match, and write about them in a section of your CV.
Important Skills for a Sales Advisor
A Sales Advisor needs many skills, especially communication and interpersonal skills for talking with customers and solving their issues or giving them advice. You will need to be persuasive and good at negotiating while offering services, and empathetic to the needs of the customer.
You will also need sales and customer service skills for guiding customers through the sales process.
Qualifications Needed to Be a Sales Advisor
Generally, there are no mandatory formal qualifications, but you will need a good foundation in English and Maths, such as GCSE level or equivalent. Some employers prefer candidates with diplomas in business administration or marketing, and bachelor's degrees can be useful for more specialised sales roles.
We have more information about the skills and qualifications needed to become a Sales Advisor in our guide.
Additional Content to Boost Your Sales Advisor CV
Let an employer get to know you better by adding some hobbies and references to your CV. Only use hobbies and interests that have helped you develop your skills, and you will only need one or two references, if you’re including them at the end of your CV.
Hobbies & Interests
Your hobbies and interests should help you develop useful skills, for example, team activities can increase your cooperation and teamwork, this could be sports, or creative endeavors. If you have completed any volunteer work, that might also help develop communication skills, confidence and attention to detail skills.
References
If you’re including any references, make sure that they are from reliable people who worked closely with you during your time at a company. This can be a manager or a line manager who can talk about your performance and work ethic if an employer decides to contact them.
How to Make a Sales Advisor CV Stand Out
It’s important to structure your writing so that it’s easy to understand if you want your CV to stand out. Avoid long paragraphs by using bullet points to talk about important pieces of information, and use titles for the different sections of your CV. Writing too much can overwhelm your CV, so keep your information brief and to the point.
Taking part in volunteer work or mentioning any notable achievements will benefit your CV, as it shows that you’re able to utilise your skills to their fullest, and that you’re interested in pushing yourself outside of work to increase your knowledge and improve your skills.
Mistakes to Avoid
Avoid using unprofessional language in your CV. An employer will not take your application seriously if you use improper language in your writing. Do not add references unless you have permission from the person you intend to include. It’s also important that you check their information is correct before writing it into your CV.
Sales Advisor CV Examples
When you’re ready to start writing your CV, and you’ve checked our writing tips for additional advice, you can download one of the free templates that we provide to help you with the layout and structure of your CV.
Our templates are easy to use and take the stress away from getting started. Use everything at your disposal to write your best Sales Advisor CV.
