Sales Administrator CV example

Sales administration roles can be challenging and competitive, but they are also very varied and rewarding.

There are lots of opportunities to work in this area. However, you still need to be able to sell yourself effectively on your CV if you hope to impress employers.

To help you do this, we’ve put together our top tips below and an example of a sales administrator CV.

 

Guide contents

• Sales Administrator CV example
• Structuring and formatting your CV
• Writing your CV profile
• Detailing work experience
• Your education
• Skills required for your Sales Administrator CV

 

 

Sales Administrator CV example

 

Unsure of what your Sales Administrator CV should look like?

Take a good look at the CV example above to get familiar with the structure, layout and format of a professional CV.

As you can see, it provides plenty of relevant information about the applicant but is still very easy to read, which will please busy recruiters.

 

 

Sales Administrator CV structure and format

The format and structure of your CV is important because it will determine how easy it is for recruiters and employers to read your CV.

If they can find the information they need quickly, they’ll be happy; but if they struggle, your application could be overlooked.

A simple and logical structure will always create a better reading experience than a complex structure, and with a few simple formatting tricks, you’ll be good to go.

 

 

Formatting Tips

• Length: Two sides of A4 makes for the the perfect CV length, though one page is okay for less experienced applicants. This forces you to make sure that every single sentence adds value to your CV and ensures you avoid waffle.

• Readability: Help out time-strapped recruiters by formatting your CV for easy reading. Using lots of bullet points and lists will help them to skim through your info, while clearly formatted headings will allow them to navigate towards the content which is most useful to them.

• Design: Don’t waste time adding fancy designs to your CV. It generally adds no value to your application and may even end up distracting recruiters away from the important written content.

• Avoid photos: If your CV has photos, images or profile pictures, hit the delete button. They’re not needed and won’t add any value to your applications.

 

 

Structuring your CV

For easy reading, write your CV to the following CV structure:

• Contact details – Make it easy for recruiters to get in touch with you by listing your contact details at the top of your CV.

• Profile – A short and snappy summary of your experience and skills, showcasing what makes you a good fit for the position.

• Work experience / career history – Note down all your work history, with your current position first, then working backwards.

• Education – A short list of your academic background and professional/vocational qualifications.

• Interest and hobbies – This is an optional section, which you can use to highlight any relevant hobbies or interests.

Now I’ll guide you through exactly what you should include in each CV section.

 

 

CV Contact Details

 

Kick-start your CV with your contact details, so recruiters can get in touch easily.
Here’s what you should include:

• Mobile number
• Email address – Make sure it’s professional, with no silly nicknames.
• Location – Your town or city is sufficient, rather than a full address.
• LinkedIn profile or portfolio URL – Ensure they’ve been updated and are looking slick and professional.

Quick tip: Avoid listing your date of birth, marital status or other irrelevant details – they’re unnecessary at this stage.

 

 

Sales Administrator CV Profile

Your CV profile (or personal statement, if you’re an entry-level applicant) provides a brief overview of your skills, abilities and suitability for a position.

It’s ideal for busy recruiters and hiring managers, who don’t want to waste time reading unsuitable applications.

Think of it as your personal sales pitch. You’ve got just a few lines to sell yourself and prove you’re a great match for the job – make it count!

 

 

Tips for creating an impactful CV profile:

• Keep it brief: When it comes to CV profile length, less is more, as recruiters are often time-strapped. Aim for around of 3-5 persuasive lines.

• Tailor it: Not tailoring your profile (and the rest of your CV) to the role you’re applying for, is the worst CV mistake you could make. Before setting pen to paper, look over the job ad and make a note of the skills and experience required. Then, incorporate your findings throughout.

• Don’t add an objective: Career goals and objectives are best suited to your cover letter, so don’t waste space with them in your CV profile.

• Avoid cliches: Clichés like “blue-sky thinker with a go-getter attitude” might sound impressive to you, but they don’t actually tell the recruiter much about you. Concentrate on highlighting hard facts and skills, as recruiters are more likely to take these on board.

 

What to include in your Sales Administrator CV profile?

• Summary of experience: Start with a brief summary of your relevant experience so far. How many years experience do you have? What type of companies have you worked for? What industries/sectors have you worked in? What are your specialisms?

• Relevant skills: Employers need to know what skills you can bring to their organisation, and ideally they want to see skills that match their job vacancy. So, research your target roles thoroughly and add the most important Sales Administrator skills to your profile.

• Essential qualifications: Be sure to outline your relevant Sales Administrator qualifications, so that anyone reading the CV can instantly see you are qualified for the jobs you are applying to.

Quick tip: Your CV is your first impression on recruiters, so it’s vital to avoid spelling and grammar mistakes if you want to appear professional. Use our partner’s CV builder to add pre-written content that has been crafted by recruitment experts.

 

Core skills section

Next, you should create a bullet pointed list of your core skills, formatted into 2-3 columns.

Here, you should focus on including the most important skills or knowledge listed in the job advertisement.

This will instantly prove that you’re an ideal candidate, even if a recruiter only has time to briefly scan your CV.

 

 

 

Work experience/Career history

By now, you’ll have hooked the reader’s attention and need to show them how you apply your skills and knowledge in the workplace, to benefit your employers.

So, starting with your most recent role and working backwards to your older roles, create a thorough summary of your career history to date.

If you’ve held several roles and are struggling for space, cut down the descriptions for your oldest jobs.

 

 

Structuring your roles

Whilst writing your CV, it’s essential to look at it from the eyes of a recruiter.

If they’re met with giant blocks of text which are impossible to navigate, they might get frustrated and skip onto the next CV.

Instead, make use of the 3-step structure shown below, to give them a pleasant reading experience.

 

 

Outline

Firstly, give the reader some context by creating a punchy summary of the job as a whole.

You should mention what the purpose or goal of your role was, what team you were part of and who you reported to.

 

Key responsibilities

Follow with a snappy list of bullet points, detailing your daily duties and responsibilities.

Tailor it to the role you’re applying for by mentioning how you put the target employer’s desired hard skills and knowledge to use in this role.

 

Key achievements

Lastly, add impact by highlight 1-3 key achievements that you made within the role.

Struggling to think of an achievement? If it had a positive impact on your company, it counts.

For example, you might increased company profits, improved processes, or something simpler, such as going above and beyond to solve a customer’s problem.

 

 

Education

Although there should be mentions of your highest and most relevant qualifications earlier on in your CV, save your exhaustive list of qualifications for the bottom.

If you’re an experienced candidate, simply include the qualifications that are highly relevant to Sales Administrator roles.

However, less experienced candidates can provide a more thorough list of qualifications, including A-Levels and GCSEs.

You can also dedicate more space to your degree, discussing relevant exams, assignments and modules in more detail, if your target employers consider them to be important.

 

 

Interests and hobbies

Although this is an optional section, it can be useful if your hobbies and interests will add further depth to your CV.

Interests which are related to the sector you are applying to, or which show transferable skills like leadership or teamwork, can worth listing.

On the other hand, generic hobbies like “going out with friends” won’t add any value to your application, so are best left off your CV.

 

 

Essential skills for your Sales Administrator CV

Tailoring your CV to the roles you are applying for is key to success, so make sure to read through the job descriptions and tailor your skills accordingly.

However, commonly desired Sales Administrator skills include:

• Administrative support: You will be offering key administrative support for the sales teams by answering customer enquiries, taking phone calls, monitoring emails and more
• Organisation: As well as keeping on top of customer and sales communications, admin support will also be required to organise meetings between sales reps and their clients
• Basic financial skills: As admin support, you might also have to run credit checks, raise invoices and deal with financial paperwork, so you need some basic maths/financial skills
• IT skills: You must be competent at using computers and some of the main software packages such as Microsoft, as well as industry-specific tools
• Communication skills: As well as working closely with the sales team, administrators will also need to be friendly, approachable and able to build relationships with customers and clients

 

 

Writing your Sales Administrator CV

Once you’ve written your Sales Administrator CV, you should proofread it several times to ensure that there are no typos or grammatical errors.

With a tailored punchy profile that showcases your relevant experience and skills, paired with well-structured role descriptions, you’ll be able to impress employers and land interviews.

Good luck with your next job application!