A vice president of sales is in charge of a company’s sales department and is also responsible for the company meeting its sales goals. This position requires strong management and communication skills as well as expert knowledge in sales and marketing. This position requires you to be at the forefront of developing sales strategies and concepts, so being a visionary and having creative skills are also extremely important.
This position is a heavily male-dominated position with over 82% of professionals being male. The average salary is over $160k so it is a well-paying position. Recruiters will expect to see at least a bachelor’s degree listed on your resume and may also expect a master's degree; 1 in 10 professionals in this position have a master’s degree.
This guide will show you resume samples for specific titles in this profession, give you recruiter-approved tips to elevate your resume, and give you lists of action verbs and skills recruiters will be looking out for. Take a look.
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A vice president of sales is the leader of a company’s sales department. In this position, you will develop a strategy and set sales targets. You will then work with the sales team to reach those targets. As an executive, you will be expected to show at least 3-5 years in a leadership position in sales. Your resume should show off your leadership/managerial success as much as it shows off your sales success. Take a look at this well-balanced and impressive resume sample.
Position yourself as a particularly accomplished professional by listing any awards of recognition you have received in sales and/or leadership. It is a sure way to put you above your competition. This applicant impressively won a Director’s Award.
As mentioned, you need to show recruiters that you are a talented leader and a talented sales professional. Your skills section needs to cater to both functions so make sure you include management/leadership-related skills as well as sales skills. This applicant has accomplished this balance well.
A vice president of sales leads the sales department. You will oversee operations in the department and your ultimate goal will be to maximize sales. Tasks you can expect in this position include hiring sales staff, training staff, setting sales targets and developing strategies to achieve them, etc. This is a very senior position so you will need to show very many years in sales and many years in a managerial position. Here is a recruiter-approved resume sample.
VP of sales in an executive position and you will be in charge of entire sales departments. You, therefore, need your resume to depict you as an active and successful leader. Using the right action verbs is an easy way to accomplish that. Some effective action verbs that this applicant has used include ‘managed’, ‘spearheaded’, and ‘supervised’.
Recruiters want to get a better idea of the size of the teams you have led in the past so include figures when discussing your previous experience as a leader of various teams. Recruiters also need to see that teams put under your leadership perform well and maximize sales. Include metrics and figures when discussing your previous teams’ successes.
A vice president of sales and marketing handles the entire customer cycle from making the customer aware of the product, to persuading the customer to make a purchase and securing the purchase. In this position, you will create strategies for brand awareness and promotions/campaigns, as well as create sales targets and assist your team in meeting those targets. Recruiters will be looking to see a background in both marketing and sales so make sure your resume shows a successful history in both.
Metrics are a great way to make your resume easier to digest and to make your accomplishments shine. So include impressive figures on how much money your sales efforts brought your previous employers or how fiscally effective your marketing campaigns were. Because this is an executive position, you should also include figures like the sizes of the teams you have led.
This is a dualistic role so ensure that your skills section caters to both functions. So make sure you include the industry-standard marketing tools you are experienced with as well as the industry-standard sales tools. Go the extra step and research to find out what tools the company you are applying to uses and include those tools in your skills section. If you aren’t experienced with those tools, do a crash course online.
A professional in this position uses technology to bolster the company’s sales targets and make the sales process more efficient and fiscally effective. Your tasks may include scrutinizing the sales technology and looking for points of improvement, acquiring new technology for the sales process, supervising the installation of new technology, and overseeing the use of these new technologies.
You must be a technology expert and recruiters will want to see your tech qualifications so make sure you highlight them. They would also like to see your proficiency in sales so highlight any experience and success you have had in sales. Here is a recruiter-approved resume sample.
Starting your resume by highlighting your biggest achievement is a great way to impress recruiters and have them look more favorably on the rest of your resume. For this position make sure you include an impressive and complex technology-related achievement that resulted in more revenue for the company. Include figures of how much money your effort made if those numbers are available.
Certifications show recruiters that you are passionate about your profession and are willing to go the extra mile to improve your skill set. That drive and effort are very impressive to recruiters so if you have any technology or sales-related certifications, make sure you include them in your resume.
We spoke with hiring managers at top companies like Amazon, Oracle, and Salesforce to gather their best tips for writing a VP of Sales resume. They've seen thousands of resumes throughout their careers and know exactly what makes a candidate stand out. If you're aiming for a VP of Sales position, make sure to follow their expert advice below.
Hiring managers want to see that you have successfully led and managed sales teams in the past. Emphasize your leadership roles and the impact you had on your team's performance.
Instead of simply listing your responsibilities, quantify your achievements:
A resume summary for a VP Sales role is an optional section that can be beneficial if you want to provide additional context or highlight key achievements not already covered in your resume. It's a brief overview of your most relevant qualifications, skills, and experiences that make you a strong candidate for the position. However, it's important to avoid using an objective statement, as they are outdated and focus on what you want rather than what you can offer the employer.
When crafting your VP Sales resume summary, focus on showcasing your ability to drive revenue growth, lead sales teams, and develop strategic partnerships. Use metrics and specific examples to back up your claims and make your summary more impactful. Keep it concise, typically no more than a paragraph, and tailor it to the specific VP Sales role you are targeting.
The work experience section is the most important part of your VP Sales resume. It's where you show a hiring manager how you've made an impact in your previous roles and why you'd be a great fit for their company.
In this section, we'll break down everything you need to know to write an effective work experience section step-by-step, with plenty of examples to inspire you.
The education section of your VP of Sales resume should be concise and strategic. It's an opportunity to showcase your relevant academic background and any specialized training or certifications that make you a strong candidate for the role. Here are some key tips to keep in mind as you write this section.
A VP of sales needs to be a strong leader and a sales expert. In their position, they need to be able to strategize and enforce policies that will maximize a company’s sales and revenue. Using the right action verbs is a great way to highlight your success in accomplishing these main functions.
You can highlight your leadership functions by using action verbs like spearheaded, managed, and orchestrated, and you can highlight your sales functions by using action verbs like marketed, secured, and generated. Here is a list of strong action verbs related to your position.
For a full list of effective resume action verbs, visit Resume Action Verbs.
The skills section of a resume provides recruiters with a snapshot of what you offer and what you are capable of. A skills section can be divided into sub-sections that can include industry knowledge, tools, hard skills, etc. Not including a vital skill might result in your resume not making it past ATS filters and you not getting a chance to interview for the job. So concentrate on creating an effective skills section.
The skills section for the VP of sales resume needs to cater to the sales function of the job and the managerial and executive function. Under tools make sure you include the industry standard sales tools used and any administrative tools an executive would use. Use the industry knowledge section to list the tasks and functions of a VP of sales that you have experience in, such as forecasting, sales management, and go-to-market strategy. Here is a compiled list of skills that you can include in your resume.
You can include the above skills in a dedicated Skills section on your resume, or weave them in your experience. Here's how you might create your dedicated skills section:
This word cloud highlights the important keywords that appear on VP Sales job descriptions and resumes. The bigger the word, the more frequently it appears on job postings, and the more 'important' it is.
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.
