These days, many recruiters and hiring managers use a filtering software that picks out resumes with specific keywords. For example, a sales professional may want to include things like "account management," "sales goals," "profit," "customer relations" and others.
Quintessential Careers is a free resource for college students and grads. They provide some great strategies for writing a keyword rich resume and cover letter that will get through filters and catch the eye of the manager looking over your credentials. Click the link to read their article.
Not sure what to include? First, scan the advertisement or job posting. Your resume should include some of the phrases uses in the ad, so if the post asks for someone with "territory management skills" that term or something very similar should be in your resume. If you're still stumped, check out Keyword Directory to look for the most searched for terms and their related keywords. I put in a query for "sales manager" and got a list of some of the most commonly-used keywords associated with this term:
Good luck with your resumes, and let me know if you see an increase in calls as a result!
Showing posts with label Sales. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sales. Show all posts
Monday, October 11, 2010
Friday, October 8, 2010
Cookie Cutter Sales
So far as I can tell, "Cookie Cutter" sales companies aren't a scam, but it is very difficult to make a living.
Typically, one will find advertisements and job postings for these types of jobs on Monster, CareerBuilder and others asking for "sports minded people" for entry-level marketing. No experience necessary. This sounds okay to you, so you turn in your resume and apply.
The next morning, you get a call. They ask you three questions.
"Are you still looking for a job?"
"This job is located in ______. Is that a suitable commute for you?"
"Do you have a valid drivers license and reliable transportation."
If you answered yes to these three questions, they'll get you in for an interview ASAP. Like, today or tomorrow. The person on the phone may mention management positions opening up soon or a new office being opened in a few months that is close to home.
You go in for the interview. They told you to wear a suit, so you're dressed to the nines and you've got extra resumes tucked in your portfolio. You sit in a waiting room with a few other nervous looking youngsters like yourself. The receptionist gives you a form to fill out that asks for previous work experience and your academic achievements.
You make small talk with the receptionist as she sizes you up. You strike up conversations with the other people as they get called in, one by one, to be interviewed. You notice this place has a lot of chairs in the reception and wonder how many people have already sat in these chairs. You also notice there's one large conference room and one or two rooms in the office, nothing more. Finally, fifteen minutes late, you're called in.
The guy on the other side of the desk doesn't look terribly interested. He or she asks you a few half-hearted questions and gives you a sales pitch about what the company does that sounds strangely rehearsed (it is!)
You are asked to come back in for a second interview. You are told this may take 4 hours, or it may take all day. Ladies are instructed to wear comfortable shoes.
The second round interview is actually walking around with a sales rep going door to door, business to business, or walking around a store soliciting conversations. You'll see the person you're with get some pretty negative responses. You find out that the position requires weekend work, thick skin and you're paid on comission.
Here are the downsides:
As far as I can tell, this is not a scam, but it takes a pretty tenacious person to succeed in this type of role. You must be able to take criticism and hear a lot of "no" before you make a sale. You have to to comfortable with driving to different locations up to 80 miles away from where you live. You need to eat lightening and crap sales on comission to make a living at this. There's a reason sales has the second-highest turnover rate behind restaurants.
I also suggest googling any company before applying, especially if you see that they've got ads for jobs posted all over the internet (this shows that they lose people left and right). They may have a website that is flashy but doesn't tell you much about the job. You may see a few words that stick out, like "telecommunications" (selling for AT&T), "management training program," or "events management."
So, all you Young, Educated & Broke people out there considering a position in one of these firms should think carefully. You went to school to earn your education, and you'll be working alongside people who never went to college- they may even be better salesmen than you. You won't get a steady paycheck, but in theory you could make a pretty decent living if you work really, really, really, really, really hard at it.
Typically, one will find advertisements and job postings for these types of jobs on Monster, CareerBuilder and others asking for "sports minded people" for entry-level marketing. No experience necessary. This sounds okay to you, so you turn in your resume and apply.
The next morning, you get a call. They ask you three questions.
"Are you still looking for a job?"
"This job is located in ______. Is that a suitable commute for you?"
"Do you have a valid drivers license and reliable transportation."
If you answered yes to these three questions, they'll get you in for an interview ASAP. Like, today or tomorrow. The person on the phone may mention management positions opening up soon or a new office being opened in a few months that is close to home.
You go in for the interview. They told you to wear a suit, so you're dressed to the nines and you've got extra resumes tucked in your portfolio. You sit in a waiting room with a few other nervous looking youngsters like yourself. The receptionist gives you a form to fill out that asks for previous work experience and your academic achievements.
You make small talk with the receptionist as she sizes you up. You strike up conversations with the other people as they get called in, one by one, to be interviewed. You notice this place has a lot of chairs in the reception and wonder how many people have already sat in these chairs. You also notice there's one large conference room and one or two rooms in the office, nothing more. Finally, fifteen minutes late, you're called in.
The guy on the other side of the desk doesn't look terribly interested. He or she asks you a few half-hearted questions and gives you a sales pitch about what the company does that sounds strangely rehearsed (it is!)
You are asked to come back in for a second interview. You are told this may take 4 hours, or it may take all day. Ladies are instructed to wear comfortable shoes.
The second round interview is actually walking around with a sales rep going door to door, business to business, or walking around a store soliciting conversations. You'll see the person you're with get some pretty negative responses. You find out that the position requires weekend work, thick skin and you're paid on comission.
Here are the downsides:
- Inconsistent paycheck
- It is possible to work really really hard for no money
- As an independent contractor, you will pay all social security contributions and taxes to the government, whereas employees share this expense with their employers
- Come April, you'll owe the government taxes, probably $1,000 or more depending on how much you made
As far as I can tell, this is not a scam, but it takes a pretty tenacious person to succeed in this type of role. You must be able to take criticism and hear a lot of "no" before you make a sale. You have to to comfortable with driving to different locations up to 80 miles away from where you live. You need to eat lightening and crap sales on comission to make a living at this. There's a reason sales has the second-highest turnover rate behind restaurants.
I also suggest googling any company before applying, especially if you see that they've got ads for jobs posted all over the internet (this shows that they lose people left and right). They may have a website that is flashy but doesn't tell you much about the job. You may see a few words that stick out, like "telecommunications" (selling for AT&T), "management training program," or "events management."
So, all you Young, Educated & Broke people out there considering a position in one of these firms should think carefully. You went to school to earn your education, and you'll be working alongside people who never went to college- they may even be better salesmen than you. You won't get a steady paycheck, but in theory you could make a pretty decent living if you work really, really, really, really, really hard at it.
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