Here are the keywords and skills that appear most frequently on recent Buyer job postings. In other words, these are the most sought after skills by recruiters and hiring managers. Go to Sample Templates ↓ below to see how to include them on your resume.
Remember that every job is different. Instead of including all keywords on your resume, identify those that are most relevant to the job you're applying to. Use the free Targeted Resume tool to help with this.
Does your resume contain all the right skills? Paste in your resume in the AI Resume Scan ↓ section below and get an instant score.
Paste your resume below and our AI will identify which keywords are missing from your resume from the list above (and what you need to include). Including the right keywords will help you get past Applicant Tracking Systems (i.e. resume screeners) which may scan your resume for keywords to see if you're a match for the job.
The following word cloud highlights the most popular keywords that appear on Buyer job descriptions. The bigger the word, the more frequently it shows up on employer's job postings. If you have experience with these keywords, include them on your resume.
Here are common soft skills that appear on Buyer job postings. Unlike hard skills, which refer to tools, software or techniques, soft skills focus on character traits and interpersonal skills. Instead of listing these phrases on your resume, try to show them through your bullet points like in the examples below.
Tip: Do not list these words or phrases on your resume, and instead focus on the hard skills we described above.
Here are examples of proven resumes in related jobs and industries, approved by experienced hiring managers. Use them as inspiration when you're writing your own resume. You can even download and edit the resume template in Google Docs.
A retail buyer is a professional agent that procures goods for the retail industry. They must plan the type of products they’ll buy based on consumers’ demands and trends. Retail buyers must determine the quantity of those products and find suppliers with the best deals. It is also a retail buyer’s responsibility to evaluate existing merchandise and determine whether they are still competitive in the market. As a retail buyer, you must have excellent communication skills and a combination of education and relevant industry experience. You must be familiar with the retail sector.
As a retail buyer, you must have an eye for marketing trends, but this goes beyond intuition. Data-backed decision-making will be your best friend when deciding which products to buy or which vendor to choose. Therefore, you must highlight your research skills, such as data collecting, competitor analysis, price comparison, etc.
A senior buyer is an experienced agent, usually with more than five years of work history in the market. They are familiar with complex and highly technical procurement procedures, including managing regulatory compliance. A senior buyer’s goal is to reduce costs while still maintaining a feasible production cycle. Senior buyers also create performance reports, monitor inventory, and manage restocking when needed.
Contract agreements are the guarantee between the vendor and your employer. As a senior buyer, you will often have to evaluate these contracts to ensure your employer’s needs are met and it all falls under legal regulations. A good contract will avoid risks in the supply chain, determine fair costs, and help both parties maintain a successful relationship over time.
A fashion buyer forecasts potential trends in the industry and purchases products that consumers might be interested in. They assess consumers’ purchasing patterns, demands, and current prices in the market. Then they will find suppliers that offer the best prices and products and establish an alliance with them.
Your potential employer wants a buyer agent that is completely familiarized with the apparel industry. You must understand how the fashion industry works in order to identify trends in consumers. Knowing about textiles and color theory and being up-to-date with the current industry trends is definitely a plus.
Merchandising is a technique in which you promote items to resell in wholesales or retail companies. The way you present those products is going to affect sales, so being familiar with merchandising techniques is important in this occupation. Some of those methods can be having well-restocked shelves, including promotional items, and enhancing a product’s features with lighting or color.
Assistant buyers’ role is to negotiate prices, specifications, and delivery schedules with suppliers. They must also prepare reports and statistical presentations for their superiors. This is a highly dynamic occupation in which your main purpose is to increment your employer’s consumer audience.
There are five stages of strategic sourcing: evaluation, determining an agreement model, identifying the ideal supplier, contract implementation, and monitoring. If you are familiar with this process, you can secure better deals with suppliers. Don’t forget to mention your familiarity with technical sourcing on your resume.
As an assistant buyer, you will constantly work under pressure, so your future employer needs to know if you’re capable of handling that work environment. You must meet deadlines and make sure suppliers also do.
This resume template is suitable for experienced hires or mid-level hires. The education contains two examples of an education experiences, but only include one (your most recent one) if you're a senior level employee.
It strikes the right balance between white space and content, and doesn't waste space on unnecessary images and icons. Remember, recruiters aren't looking at how creative you are when it comes to your template. Your content is core and should be the focus.
This job seeker uses resume bullet points that uses strong action verbs, and most importantly, contain numbers that demonstrate the significance of their accomplishments.
This template is clean, readable by resume screeners, and is effective at calling out key accomplishments and projects from specific work experiences. This would be useful if you have been at a company for a while, or been in a consulting-type of role, and want to point hiring managers to your most impressive accomplishments.
Action verbs are important on your resume are vital. They evoke strong imagery to your reader, and this resume does an excellent job by using words such as “spearheaded,” “managed,” and “drove.” These words will help you to put your achievements in perspective, in conjunction with measurable results. Use action verbs relating to the skills you want to highlight.
Many of your accomplishments will involve your responsibilities in your employer's high-level projects. Recruiters want to see what you’ve completed in previous roles -- such as the Operations Improvement Project and new iPhone app launch highlighted in this resume. The numbers make your experience real, rather than a vague “oversaw several teams for a project.” What did you do specifically? Be specific.
Here are some of the most popular skills we see on Buyer resumes:
If you are writing a Buyers Agent resume, try to emphasize skills like Real Estate, Buyer Representation, Residential Real Estate, Real Estate Transactions, Investment Properties, Single Family Homes, Sellers and Relocation.
Similarly, if you are writing a Buyers Assistant resume, emphasize skills like Fashion Buying, Retail Buying, Trend Analysis, Fashion, Retail, Apparel, Visual Merchandising and Merchandising.
Depending on the specific role you apply to, you may need to emphasize different skill sets. Here are a few examples:
Examples of Buyer soft skills include Working with First-Time Home Buyers, Working with Relocation Buyers, Working with Investors, Negotiation and Time Management.
While the keywords above are a good indication of what skills you need on your resume, you should try to find additional keywords that are specific to the job. To do this, use the free Targeted Resume tool. It analyzes the job you are applying to and finds the most important keywords you need on your resume.
It is personalized to your resume, and is the best way to ensure your resume will pass the automated resume filters.
Thank you for the checklist! I realized I was making so many mistakes on my resume that I've now fixed. I'm much more confident in my resume now.
