Car Sales Resume Examples & Job Description for a Perfect Resume in 2024
If you’re passionate about cars, love working with people, or are looking for a competition-rich work environment, you may be looking for a car sales position. Creating the perfect car sales resume is the first step to landing your dream sales position.
Junior and senior sales associates alike know that the competition starts before you even get the job. With so many people applying for each open sales position, you need a resume that will stand out among the numerous applicants.
If creating a job-winning car sales resume scares you, don’t worry. This guide will walk you through each step of resume building. This guide includes car sales resume examples, tips, and step-by-step instructions on what should be included in each section of your resume. By the end of this, you’ll be ready to make a splash in the job market.
Car sales resume writing guide: Where to start?
Whether you’ve been selling cars for over a decade or trying to get your first sales position, creating a job-winning car sales CV is important. Many applicants will send the same car sales resume to every job they’re applying for. However, that isn’t the best way to stand out.
Instead, you should consider sending a resume specific to the job you’re applying for. Let’s look at the best way to create a new resume for every application effortlessly.
Master car salesperson resume
The first step to a great resume is creating your master car salesperson resume. A master resume will have a full list of your job skills, work history, education, references, and any other relevant information that may help you land a car salesman job.
You want your master resume to be as thorough as possible, so take time to dissect all your work experience for relevant skills. It will take some time to create this version of a resume, but it’s well worth it for the time it will save you every time you create a job-specific resume.
A master resume doesn’t need to follow a particular format. You simply need to make sure you can navigate it easily and find the information you’re looking for while applying for jobs. The point of a master resume is to streamline your application process, so the organization should accomplish that goal.
If you already have an all-encompassing resume, you’re a step ahead of the game. You just need to verify that it is up to date, and you can then use it as your master resume. If not, that’s okay too. Take the time to create one. Once it’s complete, you can move on to the job-specific resume.
Job-specific resume for car salesman
A job-specific resume is what it sounds like. When you apply for a car sales position, you should first read the car salesman job description for your resume building. When you read the job description, it allows you to see the skills and experience a car dealership is looking for.
As you read the car sales job description for your resume, make a list of the required and desired skills that are listed. There may be a list of skills in the job posting, or they’ll be scattered throughout the daily duties explanation. Once you have your list, it’s time to compare it to your master resume.
Look for the job description’s skills in your master resume and choose the skills that best fit what the employer is looking for. A job-specific resume will focus only on relevant employment experience to create a tailored picture of your work history, highlighting the most important skills.
This means that if you’re applying for a new car sales position, you can leave off your used camper sales experience. While the sales experience may be helpful, it isn’t relevant to the job you’re applying for.
A job-specific car salesman CV should follow a specific layout, which helps provide a professional experience for an employer who reads it. The rest of this guide will focus on helping you through each section of your car sales resume, starting with a car sales resume sample below.
Car salesman resume example
Review the above sample resume for a car salesman. Notice that this resume ties in the same skill set through the resume summary, work experience, and the skills listed. Doing this will help provide a well-rounded image of your professional experience that is relevant to the job you’re applying for. Looking at car salesman resume examples is a great way to prepare for writing your own.
Car salesman resume description: Writing tips and examples
Now that you’ve seen an example of a car dealership resume, it’s time to start building yours. A complete car sales resume will have many sections included to provide a full picture of your professional experience.
The following section will walk you through the required sections to make your resume for a car dealership ready to go. Every resume should include a personal profile, work experience, education experience, and skills list. By the end of this section, you’ll be ready to build the perfect car sales resume.
How to write a personal profile on a car sales resume?
The personal profile on your car sales resume is also known as a resume summary. This is a quick snapshot of your most important skills and achievements. Think of your resume summary as an elevator pitch that’s pitching you to a potential employer.
This profile should be only three or four lines long and should focus on catching the attention of a sales manager to make them want to keep reading your resume. You should highlight your skills without giving too much away at once.
The personal profile should go at the top of your resume, right below your name and contact information. It needs to stand out among applicants, so you want to use action words and market yourself professionally and excitingly.
A perfect resume summary will do the following:
- Show your professional track record
- Specify your job-related experience
- Show off your biggest achievement as a car salesperson
- Back your claims with data when possible
Many people suggest writing your resume summary after putting the rest of your car sales resume together. This will ensure that your summary will read kind of like a car sales resume description, focusing on highlighting only what made it to your resume. It’s easier to highlight certain parts of your resume if your resume has already been built.
Car sales skills for resume
The car sales skills on a resume are what showcase your unique ability to sell cars. As mentioned earlier, the best way to decide what skills to list in your car sales resume is to refer to the job description.
Take the skills in the description and compare them to your skillset (which should already be listed in a master resume). Choose the most relevant skills that you’re most confident in and include them in your resume.
Depending on the layout of the resume you choose, you’ll want to also include how experienced you are in each skill so the employer has an idea of your confidence level.
Many employers are now using application tracking systems that will filter out any resumes that don’t include specific keywords or qualifications. This is why using the car sales job description for your resume development is so crucial. You don’t want your resume to be one that never makes it past the software.
When choosing the skills to highlight on your resume, you should opt for a mix of hard and soft skills. Hard skills are your technical skills that are focused on the car sales field. Soft skills are more like character traits that make you a great team member and develop your customer service skills.
Here’s a good mix of possible car salesman resume skills for you to look for in job descriptions:
- Lead development
- Business development
- Financial records processing
- Accounts payable
- Account management
- Drafting sales contracts
- Decision making
- Interpersonal skills
- Problem-solving skills
- Attention to detail
- Time management skills
- Cold calling
- Client relations
- Customer retention
- Sales management
- Sales negotiations
How to write work experience on a car salesman resume?
The work experience section of your car sales resume is often the largest. This is where you get the chance to show employers the successes you’ve experienced in the sales field so far. The goal here is for your resume to stand out among the competition.
It’s not enough to simply lay out your previous positions. Car dealerships want to know how your previous positions helped prepare you for the position you’re applying for now. Once again, this is why a job-specific resume is so important if you want to get your dream job.
Unless a job posting says otherwise, you should organize your work experience in reverse chronological order. This means that you’ll list your most recent position first and then work your way back to your oldest position.
Each job you include should have the following information:
- Your most recent position title at the company
- The company’s name and location (city and state)
- The dates you worked at the company
- Three to five skills that you utilized in this position
You don’t want the skills you mention in each previous position to be vague. You should highlight skills that will transfer to the new position and be as specific as possible. Instead of simply “worked with customers to sell cars,” use data: “worked with over 100 customers a month on average to help them choose a vehicle that met both needs and budget.”
Being specific will help show potential employers that you have a true track record in the industry. Car sales is a numbers-driven line of work, so showing that you understand that and have succeeded in the past will help you stand out to employers.
As a rule of thumb, try to follow these tips for your work experience section:
- Use action words that highlight your car sales skills: boosted, produced, consulted, negotiated, etc.
- Make your skills sections focus on achievements, not just responsibilities. This shows that you were able to meet or exceed what was expected of you.
- Use data and numbers when you can to back up your claims.
How to list education on a car sales resume?
The majority of car sales positions don’t require higher education. However, certain degrees may help you stand out from the competition, such as a business or sales and marketing degree. If you have a college degree, include it on your resume. If you don’t, you can include your high school diploma to confirm you’ve graduated.
Any education listed should include the following:
- The name of the degree or diploma you earned
- The name of the school it was earned from
- The year you graduated (if it was more than 10 years ago, you can skip this to avoid potential age discrimination)
List your schooling in reverse chronological order, just like your work experience. If you have college experience, you can omit your high school diploma altogether.
Certifications
Another section that’s part of education but should be a separate section on your resume is certifications. If you have any sales-related certifications, include them under your education experience.
Certifications should include the following:
- The certification’s name
- The organization that awarded it
- The year it was completed
Formatting a car sales resume can be intimidating if you’re unsure how to do it. Fortunately, you can use the CVMaker resume-building tool to have the formatting done for you. Simply put in your professional information, choose from one of over 30 templates, and have a ready-to-download resume in seconds. It doesn’t get much easier than that.
Key takeaways on building a professional auto sales resume
Your car sales resume is what will win you job interviews and, ideally, your dream sales position. Knowing how to make your resume stand out among hundreds of applicants is how you make it happen.
Remember that it’s helpful to create a master resume before you begin job hunting. This gives you one document that holds all of your relevant professional experience that you can then pick from each time you apply for a job.
Utilize the car salesman job description for resume building. This lets you pull out keywords that you should include to showcase relevant skills and experience. Staying relevant to the individual job you’re applying for will make a bigger impression on employers.
Here are the most important tips to remember:
- Create a data-driven resume summary that highlights your most impressive accomplishments.
- Organize your work experience section in reverse chronological order and highlight accomplishments from each position you’ve held.
- Include any relevant education and certifications you’ve earned, even if they aren’t a requirement for the position.
- Tailor your skills list to match the job description and required experience that the car dealership is looking for.
- Always proofread for spelling and grammatical errors before sending your resume to employers.
Next steps?
Still feeling overwhelmed about building the perfect car sales resume? Utilize the CVMaker resume writing service to take all the guesswork out of it. Work with professional resume writers, and in just four days, you’ll have an editable resume that you can send out to employers. All you need to do is provide your relevant experience, and the team will take care of the rest.
FAQs
How to write a car sales resume with little or no experience
If you want to apply for a car sales position but don’t have experience, there are some easy adjustments you can make to your resume to make it work. First, ensure that you’re applying for entry-level positions or ones that offer on-the-job training to give you the best chance of being hired.
Instead of a resume summary, you will include a car salesman resume objective at the top of your resume. This short paragraph will explain what you’re hoping to achieve in a car sales position and how being hired at a particular car dealership will help you achieve that.
Instead of listing work experience before education, you’ll want to flip the two around. In your relevant education experience, include any extracurricular activities, achievements, or coursework that helped prepare you for a sales position. If you had a relevant internship, you can include that as well.
When in doubt, focus your skills section on customer service. Customer service soft skills are a large part of being a successful car salesperson, so showing your foundation in those skills can help get your foot in the door as a car salesman.
What other sections should you put in your car sales resume?
There aren’t any other required sections that you must include in your resume. However, sometimes employers ask for certain sections, or you may need to fill in some empty space if you have minimal experience.
If necessary, you can include some of the following sections in your resume:
- Professional references: people you’ve worked with before who are willing to vouch for your professional experience.
- Relevant achievements: if you’ve earned many awards or achievements in the car sales field, you may want to add this section.
- Language skills: for those who speak more than one language, a language section may be necessary. This is especially important if you live in an area where another language is prominent.
- Relevant hobbies or extracurriculars: if you have an extensive knowledge of the cars you’d sell just because you love them, you can include that.
Should you include a cover letter with your car salesperson resume?
With so much competition in the car sales field, you need to do all you can to stand out. A cover letter can be that extra step you take that catches an employer’s attention and sets you apart. A cover letter highlights both your professional and writing skills, so you want to do it well.
A proper cover letter will help initiate a personal connection between the employer and you. Use it to showcase why you’re the perfect fit for the open position.
Are there keywords you should use in your car sales resume?
With more employers using software that filters out only qualified applicants, using the right keywords is essential to catching their attention. The proper keywords that you should include will vary based on the job you’re applying for.
Remember that the best way to find out what keywords to include is by looking at the job description when building your resume. If the description lists certain skills, it’s a good idea to name them specifically in your resume (assuming you’re skilled in them).
Though not a catch-all list, these are the top three keywords that will likely be on your resume:
- Automotive sales
- Lead development
- Car sales process
These keywords can be included in your skills section, resume summary, or work experience.
What format should your car sales resume be in?
In most cases, your car sales resume should only be one page long. The exception to this is if you’re a salesman with a lot of experience or you’re applying for a management role. Your resume should be sent in PDF format. This is a file format that is easy to open across all devices and will look the same for all.
Utilize only one or two accent colors throughout the document to keep it looking professional. Opt for bulleted lists when possible instead of paragraphs to make the resume easy to scan. Finally, choose a simple font that’s in size 10 or 12 to make it readable.
Don’t stress the formatting of your resume. Utilize the CVMaker resume-building tool to get a professional resume created for you. Provide your experience, pick your template, and have a resume that will help you win your dream car sales position.